It's runtime dependent on the browser being used! A skill file wouldn't be able to have this dynamically injected for the browser that's about to be used.
Skill file could indicate general instructions for all browsers. This provides guidance for the browser that's about to actually be used.
My comment here is entirely justified in this case.
Someone else submitted my vibe-coded slop site to the front page without any context, and it accumulated enough votes to show up at the top.
I could have linked to my blog post about it, but instead I linked to a Hacker News comment precisely because I anticipated complaints about "spamming" if I linked to my blog.
I just tune out every post that says “I wrote about this already” and then links to it. Simon is great and kudos for his self promotion but it’s interesting to see as it’s often called out for anyone else.
The guy is good but he certainly stretches the limit. I just auto ignore his stuff but I know others enjoy!
Anyone using ChatGPT Work given Sam Altman's richly documented history(1), the essential elimination and/or public exit of the safety function at OpenAI(2), and the huggingface debacle's exposure of the abject operational, cultural and technical failures at OpenAI(3), is making a serious mistake.
Meta comment: I've been wondering why AI-generated websites/artifacts/reports always have the same "look". It reminds me of Bootstrap (CSS Framework) days when every startup website looked the same.
This can be replaced, you just have to do the work of building a design library yourself and the guidance components. Then building skills around their use.
I think these guideline are built into the llms. After all with llms, any decision you don't take will be taken for you. For a so called slop site (Simon's words, not mine :P) I don't think they specified a style so the llm just decided the default it knows. One day I will run experiments (when I can afford it) trying to identify the "taste" of different llms.
I think the most interesting skill here is the control-browser one: https://codex-tool-reference.simonw.chatgpt.site/skills/cont...
It tells ChatGPT Work how to launch a Playwright instance via its Node.js REPL, and tells it to run:
To get further instructions.That method returns this text with full details about how to use the browser: https://codex-tool-reference.simonw.chatgpt.site/skills/cont...
I'd love to know why it's defined like that, as opposed to including all of the instructions directly in the skill Markdown file.
It's runtime dependent on the browser being used! A skill file wouldn't be able to have this dynamically injected for the browser that's about to be used.
Skill file could indicate general instructions for all browsers. This provides guidance for the browser that's about to actually be used.
I'm guessing, but can be because then the skill will always fetch the latest docs.
No, that makes too much sense
See this comment for background (and creation prompt): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504625#49505116
Simon, stop using this forum to spam on every opportunity.
Simon is not the OP. He’s just commenting on his own work. How is that spam?
Simon, thank you for your comments and the great content you create. I've learned a lot from your blogposts and your experiments.
You don't know, SimonW made Django Python framework?
Having done a thing does not make a person into a demigod embodiment for life, please remember that guys.
Didn't he leave the project before it even had an official release?
Chuckling at a Python reference in a comment thread arguing about spam.
My comment here is entirely justified in this case.
Someone else submitted my vibe-coded slop site to the front page without any context, and it accumulated enough votes to show up at the top.
I could have linked to my blog post about it, but instead I linked to a Hacker News comment precisely because I anticipated complaints about "spamming" if I linked to my blog.
I share the sentiment of the parent (downvoted) commenter.
I totally agree!
I just tune out every post that says “I wrote about this already” and then links to it. Simon is great and kudos for his self promotion but it’s interesting to see as it’s often called out for anyone else.
The guy is good but he certainly stretches the limit. I just auto ignore his stuff but I know others enjoy!
I don't get how this is different from Codex if Codex can do all the same things.
[dupe] Discussion on associated blog post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504625
Anyone using ChatGPT Work given Sam Altman's richly documented history(1), the essential elimination and/or public exit of the safety function at OpenAI(2), and the huggingface debacle's exposure of the abject operational, cultural and technical failures at OpenAI(3), is making a serious mistake.
(1) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may... (2) https://thenextweb.com/news/openai-preparedness-team-disband... (3) https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2026/08/29/metr-and-redwood-off...
Which provider currently lives up to your moral code?
Meta comment: I've been wondering why AI-generated websites/artifacts/reports always have the same "look". It reminds me of Bootstrap (CSS Framework) days when every startup website looked the same.
Are they following some sort of common guideline?
In this case they really are, and you can read the guidelines that helped create the site on the site itself in the skills: https://codex-tool-reference.simonw.chatgpt.site/skills/site...
Scroll down to the "Establish the visual direction" section.
This can be replaced, you just have to do the work of building a design library yourself and the guidance components. Then building skills around their use.
Because most AI generated websites are from people who don't know much and as such cannot even articulate the look they want
I think these guideline are built into the llms. After all with llms, any decision you don't take will be taken for you. For a so called slop site (Simon's words, not mine :P) I don't think they specified a style so the llm just decided the default it knows. One day I will run experiments (when I can afford it) trying to identify the "taste" of different llms.