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OpenAI today announced Chronicle, a new opt-in research preview feature in the Codex app on macOS. This new feature builds memories from a user’s recent screen context. Instead of forcing developers to repeatedly mention what they are working on, Chronicle will enable Codex to get that context automatically and use it in future prompts.
Chronicle feels a lot like Microsoft’s infamous Windows Recall feature, which was heavily criticized by privacy personnel and security researchers after Microsoft first revealed it. Recall was designed to capture snapshots of what users do on their PCs and make that information searchable later. Chronicle is not aimed at general PC users in the same way; instead, OpenAI is targeting developers and professionals who want Codex to better understand their workflows through on-screen activity.
OpenAI mentioned in the official documentation that Chronicle augments the existing Codex memories feature. Through Chronicle, Codex can understand what is currently on screen, fill in missing context from recent work, and even learn which tools and workflows a user typically relies on. For example, instead of asking a user to manually share an error message they saw on screen, Codex can use Chronicle memories to infer that context and respond accordingly.
To take advantage of Chronicle inside the Codex app on macOS, users need to turn on Memories in the app settings, enable Chronicle under Personalization, and then grant macOS Screen Recording and Accessibility OS permissions.
Chronicle has some disadvantages as well. First, OpenAI claims that it can burn through rate limits quickly because it relies on sandboxed agents running in the background to generate memories from captured screen images. Users may also be exposed to the risk of prompt injection attacks from content visible on screen, and the generated memories are stored as unencrypted markdown files locally on the user’s device. The screen captures will be deleted after six hours while Chronicle is running, but users should be aware of the fact that they may contain sensitive information.
The Chronicle feature is currently limited to ChatGPT Pro subscribers on macOS, and it is not yet available in the EU, UK, or Switzerland.
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