[ChatGPT Web][Projects] Google Drive-linked Project Source stays stale until manual Resync

What version of the Codex / ChatGPT app are you using?

ChatGPT web at chatgpt.com in a desktop Chrome browser on macOS. This report concerns a Cloud Project's Project Sources behavior, not local Drive for desktop file materialization.

What subscription do you have?

ChatGPT Pro personal subscription.

What platform is your computer?

macOS, using ChatGPT web in Chrome.

What issue are you seeing?

A native Google Doc added to a ChatGPT Cloud Project through its Google Drive link did not expose a later edit through the Project Source representation until I manually clicked Resync on the source card.

The linked Drive object kept the same identity. Direct access to the Google Doc reflected the current edit, but a Project-source-only canary did not see the new exact value before manual Resync. After manual Resync, the same canary returned the new value.

This makes direct Google Drive currentness and the ChatGPT Project Source representation different states, without a clear freshness receipt available to the task.

What steps can reproduce the issue?

1. Create a native Google Doc containing a unique canary field and value.
2. Add that Google Doc to a ChatGPT Cloud Project as a Project Source using its Google Drive link.
3. Confirm that a Project-source-only Chat can read the initial value.
4. Edit the same native Google Doc in place and change the unique canary value.
5. Start a separate Project Chat and instruct it to use only that named Project Source—no Google Drive connector, web, Library, or memory.
6. Ask for the exact updated canary value.
7. Observe that the new value is absent from the Project Source representation.
8. Open Project Sources and manually select Resync for the same linked source.
9. Repeat the Project-source-only canary in a new Chat.
10. Observe that the new value is now returned.

What is the expected behavior?

One of the following should happen:

• Drive-linked Project Sources refresh automatically within a documented interval;
• ChatGPT detects the newer Drive revision and marks the source stale;
• the source card displays its source revision, last-refreshed time, and refresh state; or
• the UI and documentation clearly state that a linked source is a cached snapshot requiring manual Resync.

Ideally, a task should receive a source-freshness receipt so it can distinguish direct Drive state from the cached Project Source representation.

What is the actual behavior?

The linked Project Source remained stale until manual Resync. The original Google Doc was current when accessed directly, but the Project-source-only representation did not contain the edit.

Additional information

• Exact-account reproduction: verified.
• Same native Google Doc identity before and after editing: verified.
• Pre-Resync source-only canary lacked the new value: verified.
• Post-Resync source-only canary returned the new value: verified.
• Universal impact across other accounts, plans, source formats, or Project types: not proved.
• Internal cache lifetime and whether an undocumented background refresh would eventually occur: not proved.
• No private Project names, Drive IDs, local paths, legal records, credentials, logs, screenshots, or attachments are included.
• Related but not duplicate: #39009 concerns Desktop/Linux materialization of Cloud Project sources, while this report concerns stale source content inside ChatGPT web until manual Resync.

Reproduce the issue through ChatGPT web's Project Sources flow: add a native Google Doc, edit its canary value, run a Project-source-only chat, then use the source card's Resync control. Done means the linked source refreshes automatically or clearly exposes its cached revision, last-refreshed time, and refresh state without requiring manual Resync.