I asked ChatGPT to create an email client

I asked ChatGPT:

Can you create an email client that works with Linux Mint Cinnamon?
I would like a self-hosted desktop email client that runs through my web browser.

ChatGPT says:

At first, ChatGPT was very responsive and the bare bones of the application was built up fairly quickly. There followed numerous tweaks to improve the application and it was starting to look like an interesting experiment.

It had a fairly basic offering - I could set up multiple IMAP/SMTP accounts, and view emails. 

At this stage, ChatGPT started to slow things down - the process of fine-tuning the setup was being continually delayed by ChatGPT being extremely stingy in what help it gives before this happens:

Which was another delay of a few hours!

For example, in my previous test of the client, I sent a test email to one of my other email accounts. The email was sent and successfully received at the destination email account. But there was no copy of that sent email filed in the Sent folder - either in the client or the webmail for that email account.

I reported this back to ChatGPT, and it said:

When you're ready, I'll walk you through it one command at a time.

Now this is a problem - every time I'm responding to one command at a time, I'm using my free allowance, before ChatGPT halts the process.

It asks me to:

1. Download the new file.
2. Backup the current data.
3. Stop the currently running application.
4. Move the current installation out of the way.
5. Extract the new file to the same location.
6. Rename the file.

At each stage of the above, I had to confirm I'd done it before proceeding - six questions asked and answered - and again I've run out of the free allowance!

Instead, ChatGPT could have listed what needed to be done, and THEN asked me to confirm, but I suspect that at this stage the process is becoming drawn out, to the extent that I would then 'upgrade' to be able to accomplish the tasks quicker.

This was purely an experiment to see what AI could accomplish, and overall, the result is a functioning - but flawed - local email client.

Will I persevere with it? Only time - and I guess quite a lot of time - will tell!