gpt-5-5
Capability: 128K context · tool use · vision · streaming · structured output · reasoning_effort
Pricing: per-token, flagship tier (live rate)
GPT-5.5 is the current OpenAI flagship — the default for any new
project on the platform. It’s the model that put native reasoning
into the standard chat completions shape: same request body, same
response shape, with reasoning_effort as an optional dial. For most
production work the default "medium" setting is right; lift to
"high" only on hard problems where Sonnet or 5.4-pro have left
quality on the table.
Request
Body parameters
Response
reasoning_tokens billed at input-token rate.
Code examples
Reasoning effort
Web search
Pass"web_search": {} to give the model a built-in web search tool.
The tool is billed per use (see pricing
for current rate). Useful for fact-grounded tasks where the model would
otherwise hallucinate or cite stale information.
Streaming + caching
"stream": true for SSE. With reasoning enabled, expect a longer TTFB.
Automatic prompt caching on stable prefixes — the highest-leverage cost
optimisation on this tier.
Errors
When to use
- Default starting point for any new project on OpenAI.
- Code generation in an existing codebase, schema / API design.
- Multi-step plans, structured output where mid-tier models drift.
- For mid-tier cost / latency, see GPT-5.4.