Pets
Pets are optional animated companions for following work. Where a pet appears and what it shows depend on the interface you use. Choosing a pet changes its appearance, not how ChatGPT completes tasks.
Use a floating pet
In the ChatGPT desktop app, a pet can float above other app windows and help you follow activity across your tasks.
Choose and wake a pet
- Open the profile menu at the bottom of the app and select Pets. You can also open Settings and go to Pets.
- Choose a built-in or custom pet.
- Enter
/pet, or open the command menu and select Wake Pet.
Select Tuck Away Pet in Settings > Pets or the command menu, or enter
/pet again, to hide the pet. Your selection and the pet's position persist
when you reopen the app.
When you select a custom pet, it also appears in your Profile view.
Understand pet status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Running | A task is actively working. |
| Needs input | A task needs your approval, answer, or another decision. |
| Ready | A task has completed and has unread activity. |
| Blocked | A task failed or encountered a system error. |
When more than one task has activity, the pet prioritizes tasks that need input, followed by blocked, ready, and running tasks. Open the activity tray to choose a task.
Select the pet to return to ChatGPT, or select an activity to open its task. The activity tray is separate from system notifications.
Follow Computer Use
On macOS, the Computer Use picture-in-picture window can attach to an awake pet. Move the pet, and the window follows.
Create a custom pet
- Open Settings > Pets and select Create your own pet.
- The app installs the bundled
hatch-petskill, reloads skills, and opens a new task. - Describe the pet you want and send the prompt.
- When the task finishes, return to Settings > Pets, select Refresh, and choose your new pet.
Custom pets created in the desktop app are stored locally on your computer. They don't automatically sync to ChatGPT web.
Reduce animation
Pets respect your operating system's reduced motion setting. When reduced motion is enabled, the pet uses a still frame instead of sprite animation.