Learn 95% of ChatGPT Work in Under 20 Minutes

About this video

Jeff Su explains ChatGPT Work (Desktop, which he recommends over the less capable Web version, distinct from regular ChatGPT Chat and from Codex for coders) as ChatGPT that does work by connecting to your tools and remembering your rules. The core is mounting a folder containing a file named exactly agents.md — downloaded as markdown from his starter Google Doc template with Purpose, Global Rules, Voice Principles, Maintenance and a Routing Map. Once mounted, ChatGPT Work reads agents.md before every task, so a rule taught once — e.g., birthday calendar events get a cake emoji in the title and ‘reminder to buy gift’ in the description, meetings default to 45 minutes with bottom-line-up-front plus three bullets, or image files get short descriptive names — persists in new sessions. Plugins connect apps like Google Calendar, Gmail, Notion and Slack (called connectors in Claude and connected apps in Gemini), but value comes from teaching conventions; to avoid bloat he moves app-specific rules into a separate tool-conventions.md file that agents.md points to. The side panel offers preview/editing of files, an in-app browser with annotation for pointing at web elements, and /side side chats that see main-chat context without polluting it and are deleted on close. Skills turn your edits into reusable learning — e.g., an ‘improve’ skill comparing his draft vs. final newsletter identified seven repeatable learnings to update voice principles. A routing map lets subfolders like Travel hold their own context, and the same folder can be mounted in both ChatGPT Work (agents.md) and Claude Cowork (claude.md); he notes having over 30 workstations in his own system.

Key takeaways

• ChatGPT Work without a mounted folder is just regular ChatGPT; mounting a folder with an exactly-named agents.md file is what creates persistent, consistent behavior.
• Teach rules once in plain English — say ‘remember this’ — and ChatGPT Work writes them into agents.md and applies them in future sessions.
• Plugins alone are not enough; pair each connected app with your conventions, and keep agents.md lean by offloading tool rules to tool-conventions.md.
• Use the side panel deliberately: preview pane to edit files, in-app browser with annotation to share web context, and side chat for tangents that should not change the main deliverable.
• Create skills from your own corrections, like comparing draft vs. final, so the system learns your voice and preferences and you re-explain yourself less over time.

Episode details: published August 25, 2026 · 19:35 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Jeff Su’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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