OpenAI ChatGPT App starter DevXP feels like 2010, I built a better one
Hi HN! Two weeks ago at their Dev Days, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT apps, interactive widgets that render inside ChatGPT using the Apps SDK and MCP. Building them using their template repository was surprisingly painful: every time you make a change on your React widget, you need to rerun the entire build pipeline to get fresh JS and CSS assets. The dev feedback loop was pretty terrible. That’s why I built a TypeScript starter that gets you up and running in under a minute. Clone, npm install, npm run dev, paste your ngrok URL into ChatGPT, and you're iterating on widgets with Hot Module Reload…
In plain words
This is a TypeScript starter kit for building interactive widgets in ChatGPT using OpenAI's Apps SDK and MCP protocol. It streamlines the development process by replacing slow build pipelines with hot module reload, allowing developers to see changes instantly in ChatGPT without rebuilds. The starter includes Vite for fast development, an Express server for MCP, and deployment-ready production builds. It targets developers creating ChatGPT apps who want a faster feedback loop than OpenAI's official template.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN! Two weeks ago at their Dev Days, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT apps, interactive widgets that render inside ChatGPT using the Apps SDK and MCP. Building them using their template repository was surprisingly painful: every time you make a change on your React widget, you need to rerun the entire build pipeline to get fresh JS and CSS assets. The dev feedback loop was pretty terrible. That’s why I built a TypeScript starter that gets you up and running in under a minute. Clone, npm install, npm run dev, paste your ngrok URL into ChatGPT, and you're iterating on widgets with Hot Module Reload in the ChatGPT interface, just like building a regular web app. When you're ready to ship, the production build pipeline deploys instantly to Alpic or any other PaaS. What's included: - Vite dev server with Hot Module Reload (HMR) piggy-backed on your MCP server Express server - Skybridge framework: an abstraction layer I built on top of OpenAI's skybridge runtime that maps MCP tool invocations to React widgets, eliminating manual iframe communication and component wiring. - Production build pipeline: one-click deploy to Alpic.ai (with bundling, hosting, auth, MCP-specific analytics included) or elsewhere - No lock-in: uses the official MCP SDK, works with OpenAI's examples Quick start: git clone https://github.com/alpic-ai/apps-sdk-template cd apps-sdk-template pnpm install && pnpm run dev ngrok http 3000 # Add https://your-url.ngrok-free.app/mcp to ChatGPT Settings → Connectors Feedback welcome, especially if you hit rough edges or want specific features! Starter Kit GitHub → https://github.com/alpic-ai/apps-sdk-template Skybridge Github → https://github.com/alpic-ai/skybridge
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