ChatGPT: the official desktop app

modules/home/apps/chatgpt.nix, package pkgs/chatgpt/ (an override of nixpkgs pkgs/by-name/ch/chatgpt). Upstream: https://chatgpt.com/download.

Why it is here, and why this buildCopy Anchor Link

OpenAI shipped an official Linux build on 11/08/2026, in public preview: one Electron app with ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex, as .deb and .rpm. nixpkgs-unstable packages that binary (unfree, three maintainers, its own update.sh); stable still lists it for Darwin only.

Always the newest build: unstable's recipe, OpenAI's srcCopy Anchor Link

The channel alone trails: on 03/11/2026 the lock gave 26.1013, nixpkgs master had 26.1027 and OpenAI's apt repo already 26.1029. So it follows VS Code's shape (layer 3): flake/overlays.nix keeps nixpkgs' recipe (the wrapper, the launcher, the Codex wiring) and swaps only passthru.source, which is where that recipe reads version and src from.

chatgpt-bump (its passthru.updateScript, run by update/upgrade through vendored-bump, see docs/notes/repo/version-bumps.md) reads the repo's Packages index: Version, Filename and the published SHA256, so a no-op costs one small download and a bump never downloads the 200 MB .deb to hash it.

If a new build changes its layout and nixpkgs' recipe breaks on it, the fix is the recipe's next version: nix flake update nixpkgs-unstable, or pin source.json back until the channel catches up.

What was weighed on 03/11/2026, and why each lost:

• Community flakes that repack the official .deb (danielbodart, cgumb/poeck, B-Shinchan): the same binary, one more third-party input, no gain over nixpkgs.
• Ports that convert the macOS DMG (ilysenko/codex-desktop-linux, EricKrouss/chatgpt-desktop-linux): made before the official build existed, an unofficial repack of a proprietary app.
• A web app (chromium --app=https://chatgpt.com): the most robust, but no Codex and no desktop features. The fallback if the preview breaks.
• WinBoat (Windows in a container, shown through RemoteApp): a whole Windows VM for one Electron app, still beta, with thin NixOS reports.

The Codex CLICopy Anchor Link

The app runs Codex through a CLI binary. The package's codex argument is overridden with pkgs.codex (pkgs/codex, the official release), the one modules/home/shell/codex.nix installs, so the wrapper's CODEX_CLI_PATH and the terminal use the same version and the same ~/.codex/config.toml.

Known limits (preview)Copy Anchor Link

• OpenAI tests only Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora.
• Computer use works only inside the app's own browser.
• Early reports of input-method and scaling problems on Wayland.