Using ChatGPT Agent to find a coffee carafe with a particular diameter
TL;DR: This isn’t a research-heavy post, but rather how I used a ChatGPT agent to find carafes for an Orea Z1.
Recently, OpenAI released "ChatGPT Agent"1, a merge of "Deep Research" and "Operator", and (luckily) made it available to Plus customers. Essentially, ChatGPT Agent can take a task, browse a few websites with its own browsers, maybe run some code, and eventually produce results. A popular use case is holiday planning.
I had a different task in mind. This is the Orea Z1:
Without getting too deep into coffee-nerd territory, Z1 is a coffee brewer that can sit on top of a cup or a carafe. You add coffee grounds and water, and enjoy your cup.
At least in theory. In practice, the Z1 requires a vessel with at least a 7.7 cm diameter. Otherwise, it cannot fit or, even worse, creates a vacuum seal so no water flows. It doesn't fit on most standard cups or carafes.
Finding a carafe for this is a headache. Orea has a few, but they are out of stock. Other carafes are either too small, or websites don’t list diameter information, so you have to find one you like, then visit another site to check the diameter.
This is the perfect task for an agent! I didn’t want to help too much, so I waited to see if the agent could find the dimensions on its own. Here’s what I gave as a prompt:
I would like you to find me a suitable carafe (or, alternatively, a stand) for the Orea Z1 and find me a place to buy it. The carafe should fit the Orea Z1, as Z1 has particular diameter and dimensions (you may have to look those up). It is super important that the Z1 fits appropriately to the carafe (with a small amount of space to spare so that we don't have a near vacuum seal when making coffee!). Do note that the Orea website only allows for preorders, but who knows when those will open up again. I would like to get something sooner rather than later.
With that, the agent started working...
It was kind of fun to see the agent search the web and deal with long pages.
After eight minutes, the agent produced a nice table with suggestions:
| Option | Key details |
|---|---|
| Hario Colors Tea & Coffee Server 600 ml | • Mouth diameter Φ80 mm (8 cm)—larger than the Z1’s 7.7 cm minimum, so there is a small gap to prevent a vacuum lock. • Practical capacity 600 ml (roughly two mugs). • Dimensions 15 cm × 11.8 cm × 12.5 cm; includes heat-proof glass body and plastic lid/filter. • Dishwasher and microwave safe. |
| Kinto “Slow Coffee Style” Coffee Server 600 ml | • 600 ml version has height 11 cm and diameter 8 cm—fits the Z1 comfortably. • Heat-resistant glass; dishwasher and microwave safe. |
| Mio London Coffee Server 750 ml | • Break-resistant polyester resin carafe made in Japan. • Size 14.3 × 11.3 × 11.6 cm with 8 cm diameter (the mouth is wide enough for the Z1). • Capacity 750 ml (about 5 cups). • Microwave/dishwasher safe and heat-resistant to 110 °C. |
| Yamayagi Glass Coffee Server 300 ml | • Top diameter 8 cm and height 9.5 cm (small but compatible with Z1). • Made from borosilicate glass; good for single-serving brews. |
Final words
I got some value from offloading this task to an agent since it didn't need any supervision. Just like in the OpenAI demo, I let it do its thing and came back later to check the results.
I'm looking forward to doing actual experiments and research with it!
Update
It all worked out! This is the Hario Colors Tea & Coffee Server.
