If you've used ChatGPT in the last year, you may have noticed something new: businesses are building rich, interactive experiences that run natively inside the ChatGPT interface. Not external links, not redirects — actual UI panels, product cards, booking flows, and order builders that appear alongside the conversation. This is the OpenAI App SDK in action.
What is the OpenAI App SDK?
The OpenAI App SDK is a developer framework that allows businesses to build custom applications that integrate directly into ChatGPT. When a user opens a ChatGPT App SDK experience, they get a two-panel interface: the familiar ChatGPT conversation on one side, and your branded business application on the other.
The key difference from a chatbot or plugin is that the business UI is rendered natively inside ChatGPT — your customers never leave the conversation. The AI and your application work in tandem: the AI understands what the user is asking for, and your application surfaces the right UI — product cards, booking calendars, option selectors, confirmation panels — in response.
How does it work technically?
At a high level, the App SDK works through a combination of:
- A hosted web application — your app, built with any web technology (Next.js, React, vanilla JS) and deployed on any hosting provider
- The App SDK client library — a JavaScript SDK that handles the communication protocol between your app and ChatGPT
- OpenAI's App SDK platform — which handles routing user intent to your application and passing context between the conversation and your UI
When a user interacts with your experience, ChatGPT understands their natural language intent and signals to your application what to display. Your app responds by rendering the appropriate UI component. The user sees a seamless experience — they describe what they want in plain English, and your application responds with exactly the right interface.
What can businesses build?
The App SDK is best suited to business use cases where customers currently have to navigate complex decisions — product customisation, property search, appointment booking, service configuration. Here are the strongest commercial applications:
E-commerce and product ordering
Instead of navigating a product page with dozens of dropdowns and options, a customer can describe what they want in plain English. "I want a large hot chocolate with oat milk, extra foam, and a shot of vanilla" — the App SDK surfaces a confirmation card showing exactly that, with a one-tap order button. This is particularly powerful for businesses with complex product catalogues: food and drink, made-to-order furniture, custom clothing, or anything with multiple configuration dimensions.
Property and accommodation search
A property developer or letting agent can let prospective buyers describe what they're looking for — "I need a 2-bed flat near good schools, south-facing garden, under £450,000" — and the App SDK surfaces matching properties as structured cards with photos, key details, and a direct booking link. This collapses what used to be a 15-minute search-and-filter session into a 2-minute conversation.
Appointment and service booking
Healthcare clinics, salons, mechanics, legal services — any business that currently requires a phone call or web form to book an appointment is a strong candidate. The App SDK can walk a customer through triage questions, surface available time slots, capture the information needed, and confirm the booking, all inside a single ChatGPT conversation.
Insurance and financial services configuration
Insurance products are notoriously complex to compare and configure. An App SDK experience can guide a customer through the key questions — "what are you covering, what's your budget, do you need business or personal cover" — and surface a shortlist of appropriate options with clear comparisons, rather than forcing them through a 40-question online form.
Travel and hospitality
Hotels, tour operators, and airlines can let customers build their entire trip through a conversation. "I want a long weekend break for two, somewhere warm, budget around £1,200 including flights, we like food and history" — the App SDK surfaces curated options with rich detail cards, itinerary builders, and booking confirmation all within a single flow.
Why now?
The App SDK represents a step change in what's possible because it meets customers where they already are. ChatGPT has over 200 million weekly active users. Many of your target customers are already using it every day. An App SDK experience doesn't require them to download a new app, create an account, or visit a new website — it lives inside the tool they're already using.
From a competitive standpoint, the App SDK is new enough that very few businesses have integrated it yet. The businesses that move first will own the early-adopter advantage: more visibility in ChatGPT's app discovery, brand association with cutting-edge AI, and a head start on the learning curve before this becomes table stakes.
What does it cost to build?
A production-ready App SDK experience typically requires:
- A discovery session to map your use case to the App SDK's capabilities
- A front-end developer experienced with the App SDK client library
- A backend to power your business data (product catalogue, availability, booking system)
- Testing and deployment to Vercel or a similar host
At app-sdk.com, we handle the full build — from discovery to deployment — for a fixed fee, so there are no surprises. The discovery session alone is often enough for technical teams to take the build in-house if that's preferred.
Getting started
If you're exploring whether the App SDK is the right fit for your business, the best first step is a discovery session with someone who has already built on the platform. In 45 minutes, you can understand exactly what your integration would look like, what data it would need, and what the build would cost.
Book a discovery session or see our pricing to learn more.