ChatGPT Developer Mode: Where It Is and How to Turn It On
ChatGPT Developer mode is the setting that lets you add your own MCP server to ChatGPT. Once it’s on, a third option, Create MCP App, appears in the Add menu on the Plugins page. OpenAI documents the switch under Settings → Security and login, but plenty of personal accounts don’t show a toggle there at all and have Create MCP App already. Check the menu before you go hunting for the setting.
Most guides still send you to Settings → Connectors → Advanced. That path stopped existing when OpenAI renamed Connectors to Plugins in July 2026, which is why so many people go looking for the toggle and come back empty-handed.
How to turn on Developer mode
- Open the Plugins page in a browser and click Add. If Create MCP App is on the menu, Developer mode is already on for your account. Skip ahead to adding a server.
- If the menu only shows Create plugin and Upload plugin archive, click your profile picture, then Settings.
- Select Security and login.
- Turn on Developer mode and accept the warning.
It’s available on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, per OpenAI’s developer docs. The Free plan doesn’t get it. On a workspace plan, an admin decides who can turn it on, covered below.
What changes in the Add menu
Open the Plugins page and click Add next to the search box. With Developer mode off you see two options. With it on you see three.
| Option | What it does | Needs Developer mode |
|---|---|---|
| Create plugin | Builds a packaged plugin by chatting with OpenAI’s Plugin Creator. Installing and testing a local plugin runs through the ChatGPT desktop app. | No |
| Upload plugin archive | Installs a plugin someone already packaged, as a .zip, .tar.gz or .tgz file. | No |
| Create MCP App | Connects a remote MCP server by URL, or a private one through a Secure MCP Tunnel. | Yes |
If all you have is a server URL from a vendor’s docs, ignore the first two. They’re for packaging and distributing plugins, and they won’t take a bare URL. Create MCP App is the one you want.
Adding a server once it’s on
- Click Add, then Create MCP App.
- Give it a name and description you’ll recognize later in the tools menu.
- Under Connection, leave Server URL selected and paste the endpoint, including the full path (usually ending in
/mcp). For a server that isn’t on the public internet, switch to Tunnel. - Set Authentication to OAuth, No Auth or Mixed. Most hosted servers use OAuth.
- Tick I understand and want to continue, then click Create.
The new app shows up under Drafts in your app settings. Its details page lets you switch individual tools off and refresh the app when the server adds new ones. If the connection fails or no tools appear, Connect an MCP Server to ChatGPT walks through the fixes, and ChatGPT MCP Servers lists the servers worth adding.
Using the app in a conversation
A Developer mode app doesn’t sit in every chat by default. In the message box, open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and pick the apps you want for that conversation.
Write actions ask for your confirmation by default, and ChatGPT treats any tool the server hasn’t marked read-only as a write. You can tell it to remember your approval for one tool for the rest of a conversation. A new conversation asks again. When two connected apps can do the same job, name the app and the tool in your request (“use the HubSpot app to update the deal”) so ChatGPT doesn’t guess.
On Business, Enterprise and Edu
Workspace plans put an admin in front of the switch. Per OpenAI’s help center:
- Business: only admins and owners can turn on Developer mode, and each one turns it on for themselves. An admin can’t switch it on for a regular member.
- Enterprise and Edu: admins can grant Developer mode to specific people through role-based access control, and those people then switch it on in their own settings.
- Publishing: an app you create starts as a draft. Only an admin or owner can publish it to the workspace, after which members see it in their apps marked custom.
If you’re a member on a company workspace and the toggle isn’t in your settings, that’s almost always the reason. Ask your ChatGPT admin rather than hunting through menus.
When the toggle or the menu item is missing
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| No Advanced section under Connectors | You’re following a pre-July 2026 guide. Go to Settings → Security and login. |
| Add only offers Create plugin and Upload plugin archive | Developer mode is off on this account. Turn it on under Security and login. |
| No toggle under Security and login, but Create MCP App is on the menu | Your account has it on already. There’s nothing to switch on. |
| No toggle and no Create MCP App | Free plan, the mobile app, or a workspace where an admin controls it. |
The risk OpenAI attaches to it
OpenAI’s own documentation calls Developer mode “powerful but dangerous.” The warning is specific: prompt injection from content a tool reads, the model making a mistake on a write action that changes or deletes real data, and malicious servers built to pull information out of your chats.
Three habits cover most of it. Copy server URLs from the vendor’s own docs, not from a search result. Read the tool list ChatGPT shows after it connects, because approving a server approves everything it exposes. And leave write confirmations on until you trust the server.
Apps that skip Developer mode entirely
Developer mode is for servers nobody has listed yet. Plenty of apps are already in ChatGPT’s plugin directory, where you search, click to add, and sign in, with no toggle and no risk dialog.
Carly is one of them. Click Get the Carly plugin, add it, and sign in. The Carly plugin puts all of your inboxes, calendars and files into the same chat, and Carly connects to thousands of apps, so one plugin covers what would otherwise be a stack of custom servers.
MCP is only starting to learn how to start things. ChatGPT can now kick off an automation from an MCP event, but it is building on a proposal: the protocol's own Triggers and Events working group still lists the specification as ideating, and every app has to ship its own event support. OpenAI's docs still list only three apps whose events can start a task: Gmail, Slack and GitHub. Carly workflows start on their own when an email comes in, a meeting gets booked, a lead changes stage in the CRM or a row lands in a spreadsheet, and Carly can keep an eye on any app with an API.
Zapier-style workflows in Carly are free, and AI agents start at $35/month. Set it up at carlyassistant.com.
FAQ
Where is Developer mode in ChatGPT? OpenAI documents it under Settings → Security and login, on the web. Many personal accounts no longer show the toggle and have Create MCP App in the Plugins Add menu already, which means it’s on. It used to sit under Settings → Connectors → Advanced, which no longer exists. On Business plans only admins and owners can turn it on.
Is ChatGPT Developer mode free? No. It needs Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu. The Free plan can still add some of the apps already listed in the plugin directory.
Can I turn on Developer mode in the ChatGPT app? OpenAI lists it as a web feature. Turn it on at chatgpt.com in a browser.
How do I turn Developer mode off? Switch off the toggle under Settings → Security and login, on accounts that show one.
Is ChatGPT Developer mode a jailbreak? No. The “Developer Mode” prompts that circulated in 2023 were jailbreak text pasted into a chat and never unlocked anything. The real setting is an official OpenAI feature for connecting MCP servers.
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
