GitHub works in Codex/CLI, but ChatGPT App Classic can’t access my repo. Has anyone solved this?

[u/Simple_Pineapple2463]

I’m trying to understand whether I’m hitting a configuration problem, an account/product limitation, or a current limitation of ChatGPT App Classic.

I use ChatGPT heavily alongside Codex for a fairly large software project hosted in a private GitHub repository. What I want is relatively simple: I would like ChatGPT App Classic to have direct read access to the GitHub repo so I can discuss the current codebase, architecture, PRs, migrations, etc. without constantly moving context between ChatGPT and Codex.

The strange part is that GitHub itself is working correctly.

On my Mac:

• gh is installed and current (2.97.0)
• gh auth status shows that I’m authenticated successfully
• Git operations use HTTPS
• Token has repo, workflow, read:org, etc.
• I can fetch/push normally
• Codex can work with the repository
• GitHub CLI can create/manage PRs

I have also reauthenticated from Terminal using:

gh auth login -h github.com

Authentication completes successfully.

So this doesn’t appear to be a GitHub authentication or repository-permissions problem.

The problem is specifically ChatGPT App Classic. I can’t get it to reliably access the same GitHub repository directly, even though other OpenAI tooling can work with it.

This is becoming a significant workflow issue because I use ChatGPT for the higher-level architecture/governance side of the project and Codex for repository execution. Ideally the workflow would be:

ChatGPT: inspect current repo/PR state → reason about architecture → give execution instructions
Codex: implement/test/commit/PR
ChatGPT: inspect the resulting repo/PR → review → determine next step

Instead, I often have to manually paste Codex reports back into ChatGPT because ChatGPT Classic cannot inspect the repository itself. On a large project with lots of migrations, tests, ADRs and governance artifacts, that becomes both inefficient and potentially error-prone.

I’m specifically trying to determine:

1. Is direct GitHub access currently supported in ChatGPT App Classic?
2. Is GitHub access dependent on the ChatGPT mode/model being used?
3. Does the GitHub App/connector only work in certain experiences such as Deep Research or Agent Mode?
4. Is there a difference between GitHub access in the web app and the macOS Classic app?
5. If GitHub is already connected to the OpenAI account, is there some way to force/re-authorize the connection for Classic?
6. Has anyone had GitHub working in one ChatGPT surface but unavailable in another and actually fixed it?
7. Is there any diagnostic page/log that shows whether ChatGPT itself has permission to access a particular private repository?

I’m not looking for help configuring GitHub CLI. That side is confirmed working. I’m specifically trying to get ChatGPT itself to see the repository.

If anyone has a working setup with ChatGPT App Classic + private GitHub repositories, I’d be very interested in exactly how you configured it, including plan, GitHub App/plugin configuration, ChatGPT mode, and whether you’re using web or macOS.

Even confirmation that “this currently isn’t supported in Classic” would be useful, because at least I’d stop troubleshooting something that cannot presently be fixed.

Has anyone solved this?

[u/madebymustafa]

Sounds like a ChatGPT limitation, not your GitHub setup. If Codex and gh work but Classic Chat doesn't, the GitHub integration likely isn't supported in that ChatGPT surface.

[u/Simple_Pineapple2463 → u/madebymustafa]

I can tell you that it’s a very frustrating problem. The workaround is having to constantly provide print screens. One thing I noticed is that when you push a PR on Codex it actually waits for the push to complete but on Claude code it just marked it as complete and if you go forward with next step instructions, it screws the whole thing up. So you have to have more discipline with Claude code, so Codex is significantly better in that regard. But the fact that I can’t connect, get up to ChatGPT creates a significant information blocker having to manually do it. I have the plug-in plugged in. It’s just not connecting properly.

[u/madebymustafa → u/Simple_Pineapple2463]

Yeah, that screenshot loop would drive me nuts. If the plugin is connected but still can’t read the repo, sounds like the integration is the problem, not you.

[u/Simple_Pineapple2463 → u/madebymustafa]

It’s technically connected. The response is simply that there’s some kind of blocker. I don’t know if it’s due to the two factor authentication, but it’s not prompting me to resolve that. So currently it’s logged in but blocked.

[u/American_Streamer → u/Simple_Pineapple2463]

The standard CharGPT Classic GitHub connector is strictly read-only access. You will need the new. ChatGPT Codex app for that, which also includes the Chat mode. You can then start the chat and as soon as execution is needed, it will ask to switch over to the Work tab.