SunsettingAI Dev Tools

OpenAI Agent Builder (visual workflow canvas)

by OpenAI

Announced

2026-06-03

Complete

2026-11-30

Refund window closes

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Refund status

No refund applicable

On June 3, 2026, OpenAI notified developers that Agent Builder, its visual canvas for multi-step agent workflows, is being deprecated. Per OpenAI's deprecations page, Agent Builder is scheduled to shut down on November 30, 2026. ChatKit, the embeddable chat UI, remains available. Existing users can keep using Agent Builder, including ChatKit embeds that point at a hosted workflow ID, during the transition window. OpenAI's migration guide offers two paths: export the workflow as Agents SDK code and run it yourself, or paste that export into a ChatGPT workspace agent. The guide says the export does not convert your workflow graph and does not guarantee every behavior transfers unchanged.

Refund flow

1
Not applicable. Agent Builder runs are billed as model and tool usage on your API account, with no separate subscription or prepaid balance to refund.
2
Before November 30, 2026: open each workflow in Agent Builder, select Code in the top navigation, select Agents SDK, pick TypeScript or Python, and copy the complete export. These are the steps in OpenAI's Migrate from Agent Builder guide, read October 20, 2026.
3
Save each export in your own repo, along with a note of the workflow ID and which published version your ChatKit embed or API calls point at.
4
If your site embeds ChatKit with a hosted workflow ID, plan to switch that embed to an advanced ChatKit integration backed by your own server-side agent before the shutdown date.

Migration path

Recommended successor

OpenAI Agents SDK (TypeScript or Python), with ChatKit advanced integration for chat UIs

Why this is the closest fit

It is the path OpenAI documents. Agent Builder already had an Agents SDK export in its Code dialog, and the migration guide uses that export as the starting point. ChatKit is not being shut down, and OpenAI's ChatKit guide points migrating users to its advanced integration, which runs ChatKit against your own server-side agent.

What differs from the original

Per OpenAI's guide, you get code, not a canvas. You install and configure the matching Agents SDK, run the export in your own runtime, and validate configuration, tools, authentication, permissions and deployment yourself. The guide lists limits: workflows with strong determinism at their core may not migrate faithfully to a workspace agent, and connected apps, authentication, publishing and permissions need separate review in ChatGPT. The workspace agent route needs a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace with access to workspace agents and permission to create them.

Alternatives by use case

Your workflow runs inside your own product

Export to Agents SDK code in the language your backend already uses, then run your usual inputs through both versions before switching traffic

You embed ChatKit on a site using a hosted workflow ID

Keep ChatKit and move to the advanced integration with your own server, which OpenAI recommends for migration planning

Your team used Agent Builder for internal tasks, not a product

If you have a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace, paste the export into a workspace agent and test it in Preview before you select Create

Your workflow depends on fixed branching and exact step order

Prefer the Agents SDK route. OpenAI says strongly deterministic workflows may not migrate faithfully to a workspace agent

What this tool meant

Agent Builder let people wire up a multi-step agent by dragging nodes instead of writing code, then publish it as a versioned workflow ID that ChatKit could embed. Its shutdown is part of a June 3, 2026 batch in which OpenAI also scheduled the Evals platform and reusable prompt objects for shutdown on the same November 30 date. The common thread: logic that lived only inside a vendor dashboard has to move into your own code. For anyone running a chain like idea, script, shot list, video prompt, the lesson is the same as with any hosted tool. Keep an exported copy of the steps and prompts you depend on, so a shutdown notice costs a migration, not a rebuild from memory.