Big Idea

The argument in one line.

ChatGPT's Sites feature turns one detailed written prompt into a hosted, database-backed team app in minutes, and pairing it with an external skill and API key produces a working tool without writing code.

Who This Is For

Read if. Skip if.

READ IF YOU ARE…

You're paying for multiple SaaS subscriptions to organize or share creator/social data with a team and want to see if a prompt-built app could replace them.
You're curious what ChatGPT's Sites feature actually produces when you ask it to build something, beyond the marketing pitch.
You want to see how a non-technical builder debugs and polishes an AI-generated app using plain-language browser annotations instead of code.

SKIP IF…

You're a developer already comfortable shipping full-stack apps and don't need a no-code walkthrough.
You're looking for a deep technical explanation of how ChatGPT Sites' database or auth is implemented under the hood.

TL;DR

The full version, fast.

Riley Brown rebuilds Social Scrape, a ChatGPT Sites app that pulls videos, stats, and transcripts from TikTok and Instagram creators into one team-shared database. He writes a single long prompt describing the layout, sign-in, storage, and scraping behavior he wants, and ChatGPT Work builds a working, hosted site in about 25 minutes. He fixes visual bugs by circling them in the live browser and typing plain-language annotations instead of editing code, and shows how the underlying Scrape Creators skill runs on an external API key pasted directly into the agent. The finished site ships with its own authentication, file storage, and a browsable database, and can be shared with a team or renamed and re-skinned for other use cases.

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Chapters

Where the time goes.

00:00 – 01:04

01 · Intro

Riley states the claim (replaced three paid SaaS tools in three prompts) and previews the built-in database, auth, and storage every ChatGPT Site gets.

01:04 – 03:26

02 · Inside ChatGPT Work

Shows the ChatGPT Work tab and the @sites trigger phrase; explains what a hosted site with database, auth, and storage means in practice.

03:26 – 03:32

03 · Background on ChatGPT Work

Positions ChatGPT Work as the midpoint between casual ChatGPT chat and the Codex coding agent.

03:32 – 06:09

04 · Creating Our First Prompt to Use in Sites

Writes and runs one detailed prompt specifying layout, sign-in, video storage, database, the Scrape Creators skill, and a named creator's videos to pre-load; the site builds in about 25 minutes.

06:09 – 08:16

05 · Editing the App

Uses the browser's annotate tool to circle UI problems and describe fixes in plain language (full-screen video, shorter top bar, better download button); the agent applies all three at once.

08:16 – 10:19

06 · How the Scraping Skill Works

Explains that a 'skill' is an external API wired in via a pasted key, using Scrape Creators as the example, and how the Sites app presents the scraped data.

10:19 – 12:08

07 · Site Settings and Database

Tours the settings panel: renaming the site, custom domains, environment variables, analytics, and a directly browsable database table of stored records.

12:08 – 13:06

08 · Wrap Up

Closes with a pitch for the WebMCP Challenge, which lets a Sites app expose tools ChatGPT and Codex can call directly, and thanks OpenAI as sponsor.

Atomic Insights

Lines worth screenshotting.

One long, detailed prompt to ChatGPT Sites produced a hosted, database-backed team app in about 25 minutes with zero code written by hand.
ChatGPT Sites bundles hosting, a database, authentication, file storage, and custom domains into every app it builds, so none of those get wired up separately.
ChatGPT Work sits between ChatGPT and Codex: too heavy for a normal chat, lighter than a full coding-agent session.
Bugs in an AI-built app get fixed by circling them in the live browser and typing a plain-language annotation, not by editing code.
A 'skill' inside ChatGPT Work is an external API wired in with a pasted key, which the creator admits is not best practice but is how he ships fast.
The Scrape Creators skill pulls a creator's videos, stats, likes, comments, and transcript straight from TikTok or Instagram into the app's own database.
Every ChatGPT Site gets its own analytics, environment variables, and browsable database tab under Site Settings, the same controls you'd expect from a real hosting dashboard.
The same annotation loop that fixed a broken profile picture also pulled in ten more videos from a second creator, showing edits and new data requests share one interface.
A deployed ChatGPT Site works outside the ChatGPT app too: it's a real URL that opens and requires sign-in in an ordinary Chrome tab.
WebMCP extends a Sites app so ChatGPT and Codex can discover and call its live functions directly, turning a static site into a tool agents can operate.

Takeaway

Three prompts and no code built a hosted team app.

WHAT TO LEARN

ChatGPT Sites turns a single detailed prompt into a hosted app with its own database, auth, and storage, and plain-language browser annotations replace code for every fix afterward.

02Inside ChatGPT Work

ChatGPT Sites ships every app with a database, hosting, authentication, storage, and a custom domain by default, so a builder doesn't wire those up separately.
The trigger phrase for the feature is literally asking ChatGPT to 'build a @sites that does X' inside the Work tab, on desktop or mobile.

03Background on ChatGPT Work

ChatGPT Work sits between ChatGPT and Codex: heavier than a normal chat, lighter than a full coding-agent session, and runs as an agent in the cloud with its own computer.

04Creating Our First Prompt to Use in Sites

One long prompt describing the layout, sign-in requirement, video storage, database, and even a named skill produced a working hosted app in about 25 minutes.
Naming a specific creator and dataset in the prompt ('Riley Brown's best videos from 2025 that are not sponsored') let the agent pre-populate real content instead of shipping an empty shell.

05Editing the App

Visual bugs in an AI-built app get fixed by circling them in the live browser's annotate tool and typing what should change, not by opening code.
Multiple annotations can be batched and sent together, and the agent applies all of them in one pass.
The same annotation loop also handles net-new data requests, like fixing a wrong profile picture and pulling in ten more videos from a second creator.

06How the Scraping Skill Works

A 'skill' is an external API wired into the agent by pasting that service's API key directly into the chat, which the creator flags as not best practice but functional.
The scraping skill alone only pulls raw data; wrapping it in a Sites app is what makes that data presentable and shareable with a team.

07Site Settings and Database

Every ChatGPT Site has a settings panel for renaming the site, adding a custom domain, setting environment variables for API keys, and viewing traffic analytics.
The site's database tab is directly browsable, showing every stored record without needing a separate database tool.

Glossary

Terms worth knowing.

ChatGPT Sites: A ChatGPT feature that turns a prompt into a hosted web app with its own database, authentication, file storage, and custom domain, built without writing code.
ChatGPT Work: A ChatGPT mode positioned between casual chat and the Codex coding agent, used to run longer agentic tasks like building and editing a Sites app.
Codex: OpenAI's agent platform for developers, aimed at intense coding tasks rather than casual conversation or app-building prompts.
Skill (ChatGPT): A capability added to ChatGPT Work that calls an external service, typically by pasting that service's API key directly into the agent.
Scrape Creators: A third-party API that pulls videos, engagement stats, and transcripts from social platforms like TikTok and Instagram for use inside another app.
WebMCP: A protocol that lets a live website expose tools ChatGPT and Codex can discover and call directly on the page, rather than just reading its content.

Resources

Things they pointed at.

08:23toolScrape Creators

12:32productWebMCP Challenge ↗

Quotables

Lines you could clip.

00:05

“Yesterday, I built an app that replaced three SaaS tools that I was paying thousands of dollars for, and I did this in just three prompts using ChatGPT.”

concrete cost and speed claim, strong stand-alone hook→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote

09:18

“This is technically not best practice, but this is how I create my skills.”

honest caveat mid-tutorial that adds credibility→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote

The Script

Word for word.

Read-along

Don't just watch it. Burn it in.

See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.

metaphoranalogy

Today, I'm gonna show you how easy it is to build any app you want inside ChatGPT. Yesterday, I built an app that replaced three SaaS tools that I was paying thousands of dollars for, and I did this in just three prompts using ChatGPT. So the app that I created is called Social Scrape, and we're actually gonna be building this app again today.

It analyzes all short form platforms. It can scrape the entire videos from Instagram or TikTok, all of the stats and the transcript, and it can store all of this information in a site that my whole team can use for creating content and ads.

And literally anyone can build an app just like this in minutes using ChatGPT Sites. And many of you may not know, but ChatGPT Sites has a built in database hosting authentication storage and custom domain.

And so that's exactly what we're gonna do today in this video. Even if you have zero coding experience, by the end of this video, you'll be able to open ChatGPT and create any app you want, and you'll be able to use it with your team.

Alright. So this right here is ChatGPT. And if you enable the work tab, this right here is ChatGPT work.

One of the coolest features of ChatGPT work is you can say something like this. Hey.

Please build a at sites that does blank.

This will automatically build a hosted site, meaning it's on the Internet with database, meaning the data is stored in the app, authentication, meaning people can sign in, storage, meaning you can upload images and videos just like any normal app, and you can even share it with other people.

And today, we're gonna be talking about this sites feature. Real quick for those of you who don't know what gbt work is. You can almost think of chat gbt work as the midpoint between ChatGPT and Codex.

Codex is OpenAI's agent platform for developers. So for intense coding tasks, you have Codex.

For normal chats, you have ChatGPT, and then in the middle, you have GPT work. And if that doesn't fully make sense, you can also think of ChatGPT work as an agent in the cloud with a computer.

And whether or not we're using ChatGPT work on the desktop app that like it is open right here or on our phone, which is open right here, we can use sites by simply at mentioning sites. So here it is on the desktop app.

I'll do it on my phone. I can at mention sites.

And my favorite place to build ChatGPT sites is directly on the ChatGPT desktop app. If you remember, about a month ago, OpenAI combined the ChatGPT app and the Codex app into one platform, and you can now access GPT work directly from the desktop app.

And so yesterday, I created a short form scrape. And what I'm able to do is I'm able to scrape any social media platform and pull the videos, and they show up here.

So I can scrape all of my content. I can play the video. New category in And as you can see here, I also scraped Rowan Chung's videos.

Japanese scientists just And I can also click on transcript, and I can copy the transcript. So I can scrape all short form platforms, and I can literally download this video.

This video is being hosted on this ChatGPT sites. And so now it's time for us to build our own app using GPT sites on ChatGPT work.

So this is the prompt that we're gonna be using. So we're gonna build a GPT sites that has a beautiful front end that is all white, and it's a phone frame big and center. This app will be an app that I share with my team.

The site also allows anyone from the team to sign in and view the presentation that I create. I should be able to upload short form videos to the site manually or copy a prompt beneath the phone frame by pressing an icon and give it to any agent, and the agent can upload videos to that app. So the app should have video storage and a database so that all of the stats for each video are there.

And then I go along to say, this app will be used with the scrape creator skill, which uses the scrape creator's API. Instead of adding it to the actual app or site, I'll simply ask the agent to scrape creators, and it will create a playlist with the title as the creator, and then I'll be able to play the video you scrape in the hosted app.

And I'm also gonna add start with Riley Brown's best videos from 2025 that are not sponsored.

Put those in the app, and there should be a download button so anyone can download the videos who is on the app.

So this is the prompt that we're going to be using inside ChatGPT. So I'm going to paste this in, and we're using ChatGPT work on the desktop app using the new sites feature, and we're going to run it.

Okay. There we go. So it just worked for twenty five minutes and eight seconds.

And we can just hit open in browser, and here we go. So this is the app that it created.

And notice here, it's like you're almost in. This site uses ChatGPT security to securely sign you in. And so we can hit continue with ChatGPT.

I'm going to sign in with my account, and now I'm going to hit continue. And now it is loading Reels.

And take a look at this. So it just created this app right here. It's a little bit clunky, but no worries.

We will fix it. And what we can do here is we can see that it scraped six of my videos.

So it found six of my videos and it put them right here. And it looks very similar to the other app that I created yesterday.

And it does have a few mistakes, but it's very easy to change that. So what I can do here, I can very easily come to this browser, and I'm gonna just hit this annotate button.

And we're gonna come here and I'm gonna click on this. I'm gonna say the video should be full screen, and the likes and comments should be overlay like TikTok slash reels.

And I added that annotation as a comment. What are some other things that we need to add? Um, make top bar less tall.

Um, Yeah. Make the download button better.

It looks weird. And let's just go ahead and send those in. So I'm just gonna say make these changes, and those three annotations are basically comments are going to be edited.

And now it is done. So we can open this up in the browser once again. Actually, let's go ahead and refresh this.

There we go. Now it is full screen. So we can go to the next one.

Is programming gonna be replaced by vibe coding? There we go. This has 10 k likes.

I can see all the stats. There we go. One other thing that I'm noticing isn't correct is the profile picture.

The profile picture of the account, is not correct. It just says r b for instead of Riley Brown.

I wanna make sure that the profile picture matches the one from Instagram. And also, please look up Callaway on Instagram and bring in 10 of his videos as well.

As you can see, any change that you wanna make, you can just do that, and it will update to your site that is actually deployed on the Internet. This doesn't just work on the ChatGPT app in the in app browser.

You can also open it in Chrome. As I you can see here, I do need to sign in once again. I'll sign in to the same account that I signed in on ChatGPT, and I will be able to get access to this site that is actually on the Internet right here.

Okay. So our site is looking pretty damn good right now. So what I wanna do is I wanna first explain how this is all working.

So when you use codecs or GBT work, you can use these things called plugins and skills. A skill is when I could use a skill, for example, called scrape creators.

And I used this a lot even before I found out about GBT sites. And what this allows me to do is exactly what you see here, where it can scrape data from any social media account.

And the way this works is this actually uses an external API. If you were to go to Google Chrome and just type in scrape creators API, This is an external service that if you go to scrape creators and get an API key, you can then go back to ChatGBT work or Codex and say, I want to create a skill that uses scrape creators.

Please create it. Here is my API key.

That's all you would need to do, and then you would paste your key right here. This is technically not best practice, but this is how I create my skills.

And then you could just use the agent to pull data from any social media platform, and this is incredibly useful. However, presenting it was the annoying part, and that is why I put it in a site.

Now I can simply scrape social media platforms with this API and then have the agent place it directly in the app. And that's exactly what it did.

It scraped the video. It scraped the likes, the comments. It also scraped the transcript, and I can very easily copy that to my clipboard as you can see right here.

I now have a better way to display the data that was pulled using the scrape creator's skill, which uses the scrape creator's API.

And I'll put all the information for all the skills that I use in the description below, But that is, in essence, how this works. And this site is live, and it is shareable with anyone. And before we go, I do wanna talk about one thing, which is site settings.

So in order to see all of your sites, you can go over to the left panel right here and click sites. And here, we can see all of the sites that I've created. On these sites, if you come down to our app that we've created here, I can press these three dots and I can click settings.

And here, I can actually change the domain. Right? We can change the domain right here.

We can also add custom domains. You can also change the name of it. And so we can call this social scrape to change the name of this site here.

And then also, you can add environment variables. So if you wanted to add one of those API keys that I was talking about earlier to your app, you can add it here.

You also have access to the analytics for your app. Right now, I'm the only one who's used my site, so there is very little daily traffic.

It's just me. I actually haven't sent this to anyone on my team yet because we just built it. In the database section, we can see all of the data in our app.

The sites feature within ChatGPT has built in database, as you can see here, and you can go through and see the data. Right? You can see real Riley Brown and Callaway verified.

They have have an avatar key, and you can see when they're created. And here you can see the videos as well.

Here are all the videos. Here's the caption for the video, the file name, the content type, and that is where all the data is stored for your app.

Anyway, guys, this is the app that we created. It is a perfect interface for the use case, which is scraping data from social media that I can send to anyone on my team. And that's what I encourage you to do.

When you need to send any type of information to anyone else on your team, think what is the best possible interface that I could send them? More than likely, you'll want to fully customize that little mini app that you send them. And I think the easiest way to do that is with sites.

One last thing. If you wanna take the site that we just created or any site that you create one step further, you should just update to the latest ChatGPT desktop app and ask Codex to make it WebMCP enabled and deploy it to sites.

WebMCP lets your site expose tools that ChaiGBT and Codex can discover and use right on the live page while you follow along and guide it. And the ten day WebMCP challenge is live now with $35,000 in cash prizes.

You can build something new, or you can just add WebMCP to a site that you've already created. The link is in the description.

And, again, thank you so much to OpenAI for sponsoring this video, and I'll see you guys here for the next one.

The Hook

The bait, then the rug-pull.

Riley Brown says he replaced three paid SaaS tools with one ChatGPT Sites app, built in three prompts and no code. This walkthrough rebuilds that app live: a hosted site with its own database, sign-in, and file storage, wired to a social-scraping skill that pulls videos, stats, and transcripts from TikTok and Instagram.

Frameworks

Named ideas worth stealing.

01:35concept

ChatGPT vs. ChatGPT Work vs. Codex

ChatGPT — normal chats
ChatGPT Work — an agent in the cloud with a computer, used for building things like Sites
Codex — OpenAI's agent platform for intense coding tasks

Riley Brown's three-tier mental model for which ChatGPT surface to reach for on a given task.

Steal forexplaining which AI tool tier fits a given task

00:43list

What a ChatGPT Site ships with by default

Database
Hosting
Authentication
Storage
Custom domain

The built-in infrastructure every ChatGPT Sites app gets without extra setup.

Steal forquickly explaining ChatGPT Sites' value proposition

CTA Breakdown

How they asked for the click.

VERBAL ASK

12:31link

“ask Codex to make it WebMCP enabled and deploy it to sites... the ten day WebMCP challenge is live now with $35,000 in cash prizes... the link is in the description... thank you so much to OpenAI for sponsoring this video”

Sponsor plug folded in as the natural 'next step' for the exact site just built, rather than a hard interruption; challenge link left in the description, not read aloud.

MENTIONED ON CAMERA

12:32productWebMCP Challenge ↗

FROM THE DESCRIPTION

PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.