ChatGPT for macOS Gets Upgraded With Code Editing Capability Directly in IDEs

ChatGPT for macOS is getting a new feature that will make it easier for software developers to get coding assistance. Announced last week, the new artificial intelligence (AI) feature allows the OpenAI chatbot to work with integrated development environments (IDEs) and edit code in the user's preferred coding tool. This will enable them to not spend time manually transferring code and make the process more seamless. The new feature comes just a couple of months after OpenAI expanded the Canvas feature to the Mac version of ChatGPT.

ChatGPT for macOS Gets Code Editing Capability

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) the official handle of OpenAI Developers announced the new feature. So far, getting coding assistance from ChatGPT's macOS desktop app was tricky. While the AI could take context from the user's existing codebase with the screenshot feature and generate changes to the code based on text prompts provided by the user, transferring the edited code was a cumbersome process.

This was because there was no automated workflow to transfer the code to the IDEs. As a result, users would have to manually copy and paste the code while ensuring only the changed portions get carried over, and no repeated lines are accidentally pasted. The manual nature of the task also made it prone to errors, fixing which would take additional time.

However, with the last week's update, macOS users can now edit code and directly apply the changes to the user's codebase. The functionality works with XCode, VS Code, and JetBrain, but it is unclear whether other development environments are supported.

Currently, this feature is being rolled out to ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Team subscribers. The company stated that the Enterprise and Edu users will get it next week alongside those on the free tier of the chatbot.

Notably, this capability is being extended via OpenAI's “work with apps” capability which was first released in November 2024 in beta. It is an agentic function that lets ChatGPT access certain apps on the device and perform tasks on behalf of the user. This functionality was already offered by existing AI platforms such as Cursor and GitHub Copilot.

In January, the AI firm expanded Canvas to ChatGPT for macOS. The sandbox-styled pop-up window allows users to work alongside the chatbot to make inline edits in projects involving coding or creative writing. OpenAI has also upgraded the feature with the support of the o1 AI model.