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Install guides / ChatGPT

Install your agent in ChatGPT

There are two ways to install it. Option A works on every plan. Option B adds skills if your plan has them.

Note: OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs on 11 December 2026 (later for some Enterprise workspaces) and moving them to plugins, which bundle skills and connected apps. This kit doesn't use a GPT, so nothing here is affected: it uses a Project for the agent and Skills for its job.

Option A: a ChatGPT Project (all plans, about 3 minutes)

  1. Open ChatGPT and click New project in the sidebar. Give the project your agent's name, for example Ava. If it offers a memory choice, pick Project-only so your agent's chats stay separate from your other chats. You can't change this later.
  2. Open the project, click Edit (or the ⋯ menu), then Advanced settings.
  3. Open chatgpt/project-instructions.md from your kit, copy all of it and paste it into the Custom instructions box (it fits easily in the 8,000-character limit). Close the box to save. Paste the text: don't attach the file as a project file, as files are treated as reference, not instructions.
  4. Optional: add any reference files your agent needs, such as a price list, FAQs or a style guide, with Add files.
  5. Start a new chat inside the project. Chats you started before saving the instructions won't pick them up. From now on, start every chat for this agent inside the project.

Option B: add skills (plans with Skills)

  1. In ChatGPT, open Skills, then Create, then Upload from your computer.
  2. Upload each .zip file from chatgpt/skills/, one at a time.
  3. ChatGPT scans each upload. Most are approved instantly, and a few may show Needs review.
  4. In a chat, ask for the task by name, for example "Use the invoice-chaser skill on this list."

Option C: share it with your team as a plugin (optional)

Plugins bundle instructions, skills and connected apps so others can install them. In ChatGPT, open the plugin directory and install Plugin Creator. Then start a chat with @plugin-creator, and ask it to build a plugin from your agent: paste in chatgpt/project-instructions.md and the skills from chatgpt/skills/. A new plugin is private until you share it.

Test it

  • Ask: "Who are you and what are your rules?" It should introduce itself by name and list its rules.
  • Ask it to send an email. It should draft the email and wait for your "send it", not send it.
  • Ask it about something it can't know. It should say it doesn't know, not make something up.

Notes

  • The ChatGPT desktop app now includes Codex. If you'd rather work from a folder on your computer, use the kit's codex/ folder and the Codex guide instead.
  • Your avatar is in avatar/. Projects don't show a picture, but you can use it on your other apps.
  • Menu names in ChatGPT change often. If a step looks different, look for Advanced settings or Custom instructions.