So, I was just thinking the other day how cool it would be if ChatGPT could, like, automatically send me a daily lesson on something I’m trying to learn. Well, guess what? It seems like OpenAI heard me (or maybe a whole bunch of us). They’ve just rolled out a new feature that lets you schedule tasks and reminders in ChatGPT!
This is a pretty big deal because it feels like we’re moving past simple generative AI and diving headfirst into Agentic AI territory. It’s the next frontier for all the major AI companies trying to achieve AGI. We saw Google and Anthropic making moves in this direction with Project Mariner and Computer Use for Claude, and now OpenAI is throwing its hat in the ring.
The new feature is already live for ChatGPT Plus, Teams, and Pro users on the web, and on iOS, Android, and macOS apps. The Windows app will get it later in the quarter.
So how does it work? It’s pretty simple, really. You can schedule tasks in ChatGPT to trigger at specific times (either once or recurring), or activate them right there in the UI. You could, for instance, have ChatGPT pull up a news summary every morning at 9 AM, or set a reminder for a birthday.
It’s still in beta, so it’s a little limited, but it’s essentially capable of running automated prompts and giving you the output at a scheduled time. When the task is done, you’ll get a push notification and an email.
How to schedule tasks in ChatGPT
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to schedule tasks in ChatGPT:
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First, click the model picker menu and select ‘4o with scheduled tasks’.
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Now, just type your task into ChatGPT and specify the time you’d like it to run. You can set up recurring tasks as well. Just be specific in your request!
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A task will be created in ChatGPT Tasks.
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To keep track of all your tasks, click on your username and select ‘Tasks’ from the menu.
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You’ll see a list of all your tasks (note that this page is currently only available on the web app). Here, you can edit the task instructions, or click the three-dot menu to pause or delete it.
As it’s a beta feature, there are a few minor hiccups. For example, you’re supposed to get a prompt to enable notifications when you schedule the first task. That didn’t happen for me at first, and I had to schedule a second task to trigger the prompt.
Also, there is a limit of 10 active tasks. To create new tasks once you hit this limit, you will need to pause or delete an existing one. Note that tools like file uploads, custom GPTs, and voice chat are disabled in chats with this model that has scheduled tasks.
While Tasks might be a basic look at agent-like abilities for ChatGPT and not the massive leap we might have hoped for, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.