OpenAI Replaces Chronicle with Opt-In Computer History on Mac

Computer History replaces OpenAI's earlier Chronicle research preview, but the company describes it as a rebuilt system rather than a renamed version. Chronicle used screenshots. Computer History instead records interaction events exposed through macOS accessibility services, such as clicks, typing, keyboard shortcuts, app switches, and related context.

OpenAI says the feature does not capture screenshots, screen recordings, microphone input, or system audio. Private-mode browsing is excluded. The company also makes the feature off by default: users must opt in, select which apps and websites may contribute, and can pause collection from the menu bar. 9to5Mac independently reported the launch and the shift away from Chronicle's screenshot-based design.

The event stream is temporarily stored on the Mac and periodically sent to an ephemeral Codex session so OpenAI can generate summaries and local memory files. OpenAI says temporary event files are deleted after no more than 48 hours and are not retained after server processing unless required by law. The resulting Markdown memory files remain on the user's filesystem until they are deleted or cleared.

Those local memories can contain sensitive information and are not encrypted by Computer History. The documentation also warns that content encountered in apps or websites can increase prompt-injection risk. Users can inspect timeline items, reveal memory files in Finder, delete individual entries, clear a time window, or stop collection. OpenAI recommends pausing the feature during communications with other people unless they have given prior express consent.

The product change moves desktop memory from image capture toward a structured stream of user interactions. That can help ChatGPT and Codex resume recent work, locate a document or conversation, summarize a day, and suggest a skill or automation for a repeated workflow.

For practitioners, the important controls are the source allowlist or exclusions, the separate workspace and personal opt-ins, the 48-hour event-retention ceiling, and the persistence of generated local memories. The feature can reduce the setup needed for recurring work, but organizations still need to decide which applications are appropriate sources and how they will handle consent, sensitive data, local-file access, and prompt-injection exposure.