[macOS][Pro 20x $200] Chat → New voice chat is gated by exhausted Codex/Work quota while web Voice works

No source files or tests are named. Start by reproducing Chat → New voice chat on macOS app 26.803.41515 with Codex/Work usage exhausted, then compare it with Chat → Voice on chatgpt.com under the same account. Done means ordinary desktop Chat Voice remains usable without the Codex/Work gate, while delegated tasks can still be restricted.

Summary

On a ChatGPT Pro 20x / $200 per month account, ordinary Voice launched from Chat → New voice chat in the macOS desktop app is gated by the exhausted Codex/Work usage pool.

This is not a report that a delegated Work or Codex task should remain available after agentic usage is exhausted. No Work or Codex task was started or delegated. The problem is that the base GPT-Live conversation itself is blocked in Desktop Chat.

The same account, with the same exhausted Codex/Work pool, can use ordinary Voice normally on chatgpt.com. This same-account A/B result points to a desktop-specific Voice routing or entitlement-enforcement problem rather than an account-wide Voice cap.

Environment

• Desktop app version: 26.803.41515
• Subscription: ChatGPT Pro 20x / $200 per month
• Platform: macOS, Apple Silicon (arm64)
• Date reproduced: August 8, 2026

Actual behavior

Before opening Voice, I select Chat, not Work and not Codex, in the desktop app.

I then open the standalone New voice chat entry point and begin a plain conversational Voice exchange. GPT-Live initially starts and responds, but the Voice window displays:

You're out of Codex and Work usage

Add credits to keep going now, or wait for usage to reset on Aug 11, 11:58 AM

The same Voice window displays an Add Credits button, and the ordinary Voice conversation cannot continue normally.

The captured screenshot shows all of these at the same time:

• window title: New voice chat
• successful initial GPT-Live response: Aquí estoy. Te escucho.
• composer text: Work with ChatGPT
• banner: You're out of Codex and Work usage
• reset time: Aug 11, 11:58 AM
• Add Credits button

Chat-selector / composer inconsistency

Immediately before starting Voice, the top Chat/Work selector is set to Chat. After New voice chat opens, the resulting Voice window nevertheless shows the composer text Work with ChatGPT, even though I did not select Work or Codex.

OpenAI Support suggested this might indicate that the app is entering a task-capable Work/Codex Voice mode. If the app is silently changing the selected experience or routing Chat → New voice chat into Work/Codex Voice, that silent routing is itself the behavior being reported.

The composer placeholder should not override the explicitly selected Chat experience or cause the base ordinary Chat Voice conversation to require Codex/Work credits.

Same-account A/B test requested by OpenAI Support

I completed the web comparison requested by Support while the Codex/Work usage pool remained exhausted:

• ChatGPT web: Chat → Voice works normally and the GPT-Live conversation continues.
• macOS desktop app 26.803.41515: Chat → New voice chat starts, then shows the Codex/Work exhaustion banner and Add Credits gate.

No Work or Codex task was started or delegated in either test.

This shows that the account's GPT-Live entitlement is active and working. The failure is specific to the desktop Chat Voice path.

Steps to reproduce

1. Sign in to a ChatGPT Pro 20x / $200 account.
2. Exhaust the account's Codex/Work usage allowance so the desktop app reports that Codex and Work usage is unavailable until reset.
3. In the desktop app, select Chat, not Work or Codex.
4. Do not start or open a Work task or Codex task.
5. Open the standalone New voice chat entry point.
6. Begin a normal conversational Voice exchange without requesting task delegation.
7. Observe that GPT-Live initially responds.
8. Observe You're out of Codex and Work usage and the Add Credits button inside the Voice window.
9. On the same account and while the same Codex/Work limit remains exhausted, open Voice in Chat on chatgpt.com.
10. Observe that web Voice continues normally.

Expected behavior

The underlying ordinary GPT-Live Voice conversation should remain available under the documented Pro 20x Voice entitlement even when Codex/Work usage is exhausted.

If the Voice conversation attempts to launch or coordinate an operation that actually requires Work or Codex usage, that specific delegated task may be blocked, require credits, or wait for reset. Exhausting the agentic pool should not block the base Voice-in-Chat conversation.

A reasonable fallback would be:

Voice can continue, but Work/Codex tasks cannot be started until agentic usage resets or credits are added.

If the desktop app intentionally converts every Chat → New voice chat session into Work/Codex Voice, the UI and documentation should state that limitation clearly and provide a way to start ordinary Desktop Chat Voice without using the agentic pool.

Official documentation supporting the expected behavior

1. Using Codex with your ChatGPT plan

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11369540-using-codex-with-your-chatgpt-plan

Under Usage limits by plan, OpenAI states:

Ordinary Chat Voice uses separate caps and does not consume Codex usage.

The same paragraph distinguishes task work in Voice in Work/Codex from ordinary Chat Voice.

2. ChatGPT Learn pricing

https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing#chatgpt-voice-in-desktop

The pricing page separately states that:

• ChatGPT Voice on desktop uses a separate, plan-dependent allowance.
• Pro 20x ($200/month): Unlimited voice access.
• Tasks started through Voice use the existing Codex usage budget.
• GPT-Live manages the live conversation, while GPT-5.6 Terra starts and coordinates tasks.

That describes separate accounting for the live conversation and any task work initiated through it.

3. ChatGPT Voice

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001274-chatgpt-voice

The Voice article distinguishes two experiences:

• Voice in Chat: ordinary real-time conversation, available in Desktop Chat and on web, iOS, and Android.
• Voice in Work and Codex: task and agent coordination, available as a standalone experience only in the desktop app.

It also documents ChatGPT Pro ($200/month): Unlimited access to GPT-Live-1.

Because standalone Voice in Work and Codex is not available on web, the working web A/B test is necessarily ordinary Voice in Chat. The same ordinary Voice entitlement works on web but is routed to the Codex/Work gate in desktop Chat.

4. ChatGPT Work and Codex

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001275-chatgpt-work-and-codex

The documented procedure for Voice with Work or Codex is to open the desktop app and choose Work or Codex. Voice uses the tools and permissions of the selected experience. The same article says ordinary Chat remains available by selecting Chat from the top toggle.

I selected Chat.

5. ChatGPT release notes

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes

The August 7, 2026 update states that GPT-Live in ChatGPT Voice supports file uploads and Projects. Therefore, file/project capability or a task-capable desktop interface does not by itself establish that a user selected Work or Codex; ordinary Chat Voice can also operate with files and Project context.

User impact and requested resolution

The desktop app is my normal workflow. Web Voice is useful as a diagnostic comparison, but it is not an adequate replacement for the desktop experience included with the subscription.

Please:

1. Confirm whether this is a known desktop Voice routing or entitlement defect.
2. Provide an account-side or desktop workaround that restores ordinary Voice in Chat without requiring Codex/Work credits.
3. Identify the desktop app version containing a fix, when available.
4. Preserve and correlate the existing feedback diagnostics listed below.

Diagnostic and support references

• OpenAI feedback/report ID: 019fe2f4-d18d-72b2-8a61-034ec5f8bad9
• OpenAI Support has escalated the report to a specialist.
• A screenshot is available through the feedback report showing the exact UI state described above.

Related issue searched before filing

Closest issue found: #35242 — Voice Chat being limited on Pro 20x.

That report describes Voice failing after several hours and references a five-hour limit. This issue is a narrower, directly visible cross-entitlement reproduction:

• Codex/Work usage is already exhausted;
• a newly opened Chat → New voice chat immediately receives the Codex/Work credit gate;
• the same account's ordinary web Voice works normally at the same time.

If maintainers determine that #35242 shares the same root cause, the reports can be consolidated.

This is not a request to increase Codex usage. It is a request to restore the separately documented ordinary Chat Voice entitlement in the desktop app.