Running Next.js in ChatGPT: A Deep Dive into Native Application Integration

When OpenAI announced the Apps SDK with Model Context Protocol (MCP) support, it opened the door to embedding web applications directly into ChatGPT. But there's a significant difference between serving static HTML in an iframe and running a full Next.js application with client-side navigation, React Server Components, and dynamic routing.

This is the story of how we bridged that gap. We created a Next.js app that runs natively inside ChatGPT's triple-iframe architecture, complete with navigation and all the modern features you'd expect from a Next.js application.