# ChatGPT Dots with GitHub: connect it and get pull requests Connect GitHub to your dot, see the two setups it codes in and which usage each draws on, and copy three prompts that end in a pull request to review. *From How to Use Dots, an independent guide (not affiliated with OpenAI). Web version: https://howtousedots.com/github Last verified: 2026-10-06.* Connect the GitHub plugin and your dot can read your repositories. To change code, your dot starts a Work or Codex task, on your computer or in a Codex cloud environment, and brings you a pull request to review. **In short** - The GitHub plugin reads code. It doesn't push. - Code changes happen in a Work or Codex task your dot starts and steers. - Those tasks count toward your Work and Codex usage. Talking with your dot doesn't. - You review and merge. Say "don't merge anything" in the request. **What you need** - [ ] A dot ([set one up](https://howtousedots.com/setup) if you haven't). - [ ] A GitHub account that can install apps on the repositories you want read. - [ ] For changes: your computer [connected to your dot](https://howtousedots.com/connect-your-computer), or a Codex cloud environment. ## How a request becomes a pull request Your dot doesn't write the code in the chat. It hands the job to a task that runs in one of two places, then checks the result and reports back. Diagram: You ask your dot. Your dot starts a task in one of two places: your connected computer, or a Codex cloud environment. Either one ends in a pull request on GitHub. The arrow from you to your dot is labeled: not counted. A note under the drawing reads: a task in either place counts toward your Work and Codex usage. - You → Your dot: not counted - Your dot → Your connected computer - Your dot → A Codex cloud environment - Your connected computer → Pull request - A Codex cloud environment → Pull request - Note: a task in either place counts toward your Work and Codex usage Your connected computer has to stay on, with the ChatGPT app open. A Codex cloud environment keeps going with your laptop closed, once you've created it in Codex. ## Which setup does your job use? With the two places in mind, pick the job you have. The answer tells you what to have ready and which usage it spends. **Interactive: Which setup for this coding job?** Open it: https://howtousedots.com/widgets/github-engineering-setups.html What it does: A chooser. Pick one of five coding jobs and see where the work runs, what it needs and which usage it draws on. Answering a question about code: the GitHub plugin, no Work or Codex usage. Fixing a bug in a repo on your laptop, or carrying on a Codex task you started: your connected computer, switched on with the ChatGPT app open, counted toward Work and Codex usage. Fixing a bug while your laptop is closed: a Codex cloud environment you created in Codex first, counted toward Codex usage. Following up on a task your dot started: the same computer or cloud environment it began in. Its content as text: ### Which setup does this job use? Pick a job. You'll see where the work runs, what has to be in place, and which usage it draws on. Answer a question about our code #### The GitHub plugin does this - **Where it runs:** In your conversation. Your dot reads the repositories you selected on GitHub. - **You need:** GitHub connected, and the repository selected. - **Usage:** None of your Work or Codex usage. Talking with your dot isn't counted. Fix a bug in a repo that's only on my laptop #### Your connected computer - **Where it runs:** A Work or Codex task your dot starts on your machine, with your local files, tools and skills. - **You need:** Your computer allowed in your dot's profile, switched on, with the ChatGPT app open. - **Usage:** Your Work and Codex usage, as usual. Fix a bug while my laptop is closed #### A Codex cloud environment - **Where it runs:** A coding task your dot starts in an environment you set up in Codex. Each task gets its own fresh workspace. - **You need:** The environment created in Codex first, with its repository and setup. - **Usage:** Your Codex usage, as usual. Carry on a Codex task I already started #### Your connected computer - **Where it runs:** In the Codex task that's already on your machine. Your dot picks it up and sends it instructions. - **You need:** To name the task and say what to change. Your computer has to be on. - **Usage:** Your Codex usage, as usual. Follow up on a task my dot started yesterday #### Wherever that task started - **Where it runs:** On the same computer or cloud environment as before. Changing computers doesn't move a task. - **You need:** That computer on, if the task began there. Nothing, if it began in a cloud environment. - **Usage:** The same usage the task has drawn on from the start. ## Connect GitHub Whichever setup you use, your dot needs the GitHub plugin to read your repositories. If you already connected GitHub to ChatGPT, Work or Codex, your dot has it and you can skip this. 1. Open **Plugins** from the **@** icon at the far left of ChatGPT and click **+** on the **GitHub** row. 2. On GitHub, install and authorize the ChatGPT app. 3. Select the repositories it can read. Pick specific ones, not all of them. 4. Wait about five minutes, then ask your dot: "Which repositories can you read?" The **+** sits at the end of the GitHub row. ![The Plugins page with a Popular list. Gmail and Google Drive end in three dots. GitHub, described as Triage PRs, issues, CI, and publish flows, ends in a plus](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/github-plugins-row.jpg) Image: Skill Leap AI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfh6l3DxHK0) Your dot looks through connected repositories without being asked, so choose them on purpose. You can change the list later in the app's settings on GitHub. ## Three recipes that end in a pull request Each recipe says where the work runs. Swap in the parts in [BRACKETS], and keep the last line: it leaves the merge with you. **Recipe: Fix an issue and open a draft pull request** For a bug with a clear report. It runs in the cloud, so you can close your laptop. - Apps it needs: GitHub, a Codex cloud environment - Rule to set: Merging a pull request: Hand off to you ```prompt Use my [ENVIRONMENT NAME] Codex cloud environment. Investigate issue #[NUMBER] in [OWNER/REPO], reproduce it, and prepare a fix with tests. Open a draft pull request and send me the link, with a summary of what you changed and what you couldn't verify. Don't merge anything. ``` You get back: Progress notes as it works, such as "The code is updated and the tests are passing. I'm preparing the pull requests." Then a link to the pull request. This is what done looks like. The pull requests are opened under the dot's own name, and each one waits for a person. ![A GitHub page listing three open pull requests: Migrate the background jobs, Update checkout and subscriptions, and Replace the legacy API client. Each one reads: alfred opened just now, Bot, Review required, checks 3 out of 3](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/github-pull-requests.jpg) 1. Opened by the dot, here named alfred, and tagged **Bot**. 2. **Review required**: the merge is yours. Image: OpenAI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fls_onRviPM) For code that only lives on your machine, have your dot find the problems first and fix them after you've read the list. **Recipe: Find and fix bugs in an app on your computer** - Apps it needs: Your connected computer - Rule to set: Starting a Work or Codex task: Ask before taking action ```prompt Open [THE APP: a folder or a local address] on my computer and test it. Check the layout at different screen sizes and the main flows. Bring me a prioritized list of bugs with what you'd change. Don't change any code until I say so. ``` You get back: A numbered list of bugs and "Want me to fix these issues and rerun the checks?" Say yes, and it fixes them with the original files backed up, then tells you what it verified. Once your dot is [in Slack](https://howtousedots.com/slack), it can pick up bug reports where your team posts them. **Recipe: Turn bug reports in a channel into pull requests** - Apps it needs: GitHub, Slack, a Codex cloud environment - Rule to set: Merging a pull request: Hand off to you ```prompt Watch #[CHANNEL] in Slack for bug reports about [OWNER/REPO]. When one comes in, investigate it, prepare a fix with tests in my [ENVIRONMENT NAME] Codex cloud environment, and reply in the thread with a summary and the pull request link. Don't merge anything. Confirm what you've set up. ``` You get back: A reply in the Slack thread with what it changed and a link such as "PR #10", ready for review. ## What your dot can and can't do with GitHub The table below sorts the jobs by what does them. | Job | What does it | |---|---| | Find and read code, READMEs and docs | The GitHub plugin, in the repositories you selected | | Edit code, run tests, open a pull request | A Work or Codex task your dot starts | | Check on a task and send it follow-ups | Your dot, from your conversation | | Merge | You. Tell your dot not to, and set a rule | | Read a repository you didn't select | Nothing. The choice is made on GitHub | ## Fixes If something's off, find what you see in the left column. | What you see | What to do | |---|---| | A repository doesn't show up | Wait five minutes. Then check the ChatGPT app is installed for the right account or organization on GitHub and can reach that repository | | Your organization blocks the app | An owner has to approve it. With an IP allow list, OpenAI's address ranges have to be added | | Your dot mentions a private repository you never showed it | GitHub was already connected to ChatGPT. Narrow the repository list on GitHub, or uninstall the plugin | | Your Codex usage drops after a simple request | Your dot started a task. Add a custom rule, "starting a Work or Codex task", set to **Ask before taking action**: [the steps](https://howtousedots.com/limits#keep-your-dot-off-your-plans-usage) | | It says it's working and nothing arrives | Open your dot's profile and click the task under **Recent activity** to see where it stands | ## Check you've got it One question before you go. **Quick check: Your laptop will be shut all afternoon. Which request can still end in a pull request?** - "Fix the bug in the repo on my Mac." - "Use my Codex cloud environment to fix issue #212." - "Read the repo and tell me where the bug is." Answer: "Use my Codex cloud environment to fix issue #212." A cloud environment runs without your computer. **Next:** [Microsoft Teams](https://howtousedots.com/microsoft-teams) You can't message your dot in Microsoft Teams yet: it's an invite-only alpha. Your dot can still read Teams through a plugin. Here's what works today. ### Does working on a repository use my Codex usage? Tasks your dot starts or steers in Work or Codex count toward those limits as usual. Talking with your dot doesn't count toward your ChatGPT limits. [What counts toward which limit](https://howtousedots.com/limits). ### Does OpenAI train on the code my dot reads? On Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, not by default. On personal plans, including Pro, it follows your **Improve the model for everyone** setting. [What your dot can see](https://howtousedots.com/privacy-security). - 2026-10-06: Rebuilt as a recipe page with a drawing of the two setups, a chooser and three recipes. - 2026-10-05: First published. ## Sources - [OpenAI Help Center: Connecting GitHub to ChatGPT](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11145903-connecting-github-to-chatgpt) - [OpenAI docs: Connect computers and apps to your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps) - [OpenAI docs: Tasks and memory (task types, Codex cloud environments)](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/tasks-and-memory) - [OpenAI Help Center: Getting started with your dot](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot) - [OpenAI: Introducing dots (pull request example, usage rule)](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/) - [OpenAI Help Center: Dots privacy, security, and safety FAQs](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001529-dots-privacy-security-and-safety-faqs) - [OpenAI DevDay 2026 keynote: screenshot of pull requests opened by a dot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fls_onRviPM) - [Skill Leap AI on YouTube: screenshot of the Plugins page](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfh6l3DxHK0) - [Taha El Harti on YouTube: a dot finding and fixing bugs in a local app](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coZBDmD13-A)