Everything you need to know to create a custom GPT: Unpacking OpenAI’s new GPT feature
A guide to GPT development for beginners
In the wake of OpenAI’s DevDay, many people were left excited about the announcement of GPTs but left with little information regarding how to create them. This article is a continuation of my 2023 DevDay article where I covered all the announcements from OpenAI’s keynote. This article is an easy to follow step-by-step guide for creating personalized GPTs WITHOUT needing to write any code. (A more advanced guide will be coming in the future.) The second GPT created in this article will be integrated with the Keymate API, showcasing the level of complexity a non-programer can create by connecting to useful APIs. Whether you’re an experienced developer or someone who’s never written a line of code, this guide will be a starting point for creating GPTs that unlock the power of personalized AI.
In this article, we will explain:
- What a GPT is
- How to use and enable GPTs
- The process of creating a Keymate.AI GPT
- The benefits of using GPTs
What is a GPT?
Before continuing any further, it’s important to explain what a GPT is. In short, GPTs are customizable versions of ChatGPT that allow users to tailor the experience to fit their specific needs. DALL-E (OpenAI’s image generator), Browsing with Bing, Code Interpreter, custom instructions, file upload and plugins are all features that can be enabled in GPTs by users. Unlike plugins, GPTs can be easily created without any programming or uploaded files. The process can be as simple as having a conversation with ChatGPT and having it create your custom tool. A more complex path will have the user enter more detailed information manually, but that isn’t always necessary. While not currently available, OpenAI has announced that a GPT store will be coming within the next month, enabling users who create GPTs to earn revenue based on usage. The sample GPTs provided by OpenAI do a great job showcasing the variety that these tools have in terms of what they can do. Want to learn more about custom GPTs? Head to the OpenAI blog for more details.
“We believe the most incredible GPTs will come from builders in the community. Whether you’re an educator, coach, or just someone who loves to build helpful tools, you don’t need to know coding to make one and share your expertise.” — OpenAI
How to use and enable GPTs:
One of the main advantages of using GPTs is that they are simple to create and access. In order to view the GPTs, open a new session and head to the “Explore” tab on the upper left side. From there, you’ll see three sections, “My GPTs”, “Recently Used” and “Made by OpenAI”. Under “My GPTs”, click “Create a GPT” and get started.
After clicking “Create a GPT”, you see this page.
This is where you can create and customize a personalized GPT. For beginners and people with no programming experience, you can simply have a conversation with ChatGPT and explain what you want this GPT to accomplish. It will ask you a series of questions that will help your idea materialize.
ChatGPT will ask you probing questions in an attempt to zero in on the specific task your GPT will fulfill. It’s important to note that you can always change the configuration of your GPT at any time and the changes will impact all future conversations. You can also use the Preview sections on the right to experiment with your GPT as you’re creating it.
Creating a Custom GPT with Keymate.AI
Now that we’ve seen an example of a simple GPT created through conversation, let’s look at one that is created using the Configure tab. This GPT will connect to Keymate’s API. This will enable web browsing with Google and a shared memory between chats for your GPT. Let’s get started.
After clicking “Create a GPT”, select “Configure” and then click on “Create new action”.
Then select “Import from URL” and paste in the following: https://server.searchweb.keymate.ai/.well-known/openapi.json
This will give you access to all of the Keymate.AI plugin functionality. That includes a shared personal knowledge base between plugins, browsing through Google’s Official API, and parallel searching with 10 separate searches. Once you have access to these functions, you have the ability to choose which will work best for you and your custom GPT.
Finally, under Authentication, select “API Key” and then “Bearer”. Input yout Keymate.AI API key found here and you can start using your new GPT. Note that if you share your custom GPT with others, they will be using your API key. This means they will be using your quota and have access to your personal knowledge base.
Still not sure how to connect to Keymate? Here’s a quick step-by-step video guide!
The benefits of using GPTs
It would be incredibly challenging to cover all the benefits to GPTs in such a short article. Nevertheless, I’ll explain a few of the apparent benefits of these new tools.
- Use case driven GPTs: Allows the user to provide “custom instructions” to a GPT to help with a specific task. This can be seen with the History Tutor GPT that I created above. This would also work for numerous other roles. You could create a marketing GPT that outlines potential strategies based on the user’s input. Then, create an editor GPT that can give feedback on the post that you create.
- The community: The GPT community and store will allow users to find and share the most helpful and meaningful GPTs. For those creating and sharing their work, they have the ability to earn money based on user engagement.
- Privacy and Safety: OpenAI has developed the GPT ecosystem with user security as a top priority. They introduced a review process for published GPTs to ensure that they follow OpenAI’s guidelines. This is meant to “prevent users from sharing harmful GPTs, including those that involve fraudulent activity, hateful content, or adult themes”. Builder profiles have also been introduced to help users better understand who created a GPT and build trust with community members.
If you still have questions about connecting Keymate to your GPT, check out our web page for more details.
