Deep Dive
How Computer History Works
Computer History is a new macOS feature that records what you do on your desktop—window switches, clicks, typing—and converts it into a timeline the AI can reference. Unlike screen recordings, it captures only interaction events, making the system faster and more efficient. Once enabled in settings, ChatGPT and Codex remember your recent activities. In the demo, when asked about the last Google Doc edited, the agent immediately retrieved it from the captured history. This context persistence lets users ask followup questions naturally without restating the full situation each time.
Privacy and Control
OpenAI built granular controls directly into the feature. Users can quickly exclude entire websites or apps from the menu bar, or configure blocklists in settings. All captured memories remain on the local file system—not cloud-synced—so users can inspect what the agent has recorded. The settings panel shows a summary of captured activities, lets you delete individual entries, clear recent history entirely, or view the raw memory files. This design prevents the agent from accessing sensitive apps while maintaining full transparency about what it does see.
Automation and Personalization
Once the agent understands your workflow patterns, it can suggest automations based on repetitive work. In the demo, Computer History spotted that the user spent the morning drafting and refining scripts, prototyping prototypes, and triaging feedback—then summarized it accurately. The system can now generate skills to run automations like drafting a standup update every morning or tailoring tool use to match your habits. This personalization transforms ChatGPT from a question-answering tool into a workflow assistant that adapts to how you actually work rather than forcing you to adapt to it.