diff --git a/src/providers/chatgpt.py b/src/providers/chatgpt.py
index 1379647..d45270d 100644
--- a/src/providers/chatgpt.py
+++ b/src/providers/chatgpt.py
@@ -38,30 +38,42 @@ class ChatGPTProvider(BaseProvider):
                 ),
             )
         self._session_token = token
+
+        # Set the session cookie in the cookie jar (proper cookie handling, not a raw header)
+        self._session.cookies.set(
+            "__Secure-next-auth.session-token",
+            token,
+            domain="chatgpt.com",
+            path="/",
+        )
+
+        # Additional browser-like headers required by chatgpt.com
         self._session.headers.update(
             {
                 "Referer": "https://chatgpt.com/",
                 "Origin": "https://chatgpt.com",
+                "sec-fetch-dest": "empty",
+                "sec-fetch-mode": "cors",
+                "sec-fetch-site": "same-origin",
             }
         )
-        # Exchange the session cookie for an access token immediately
-        self._access_token: str = self._fetch_access_token(token)
+
+        # Exchange the session cookie for an access token
+        self._access_token: str = self._fetch_access_token()
         self._session.headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {self._access_token}"
         logger.debug("[chatgpt] Session initialised — access token obtained (token: [REDACTED])")
 
-    def _fetch_access_token(self, session_token: str) -> str:
+    def _fetch_access_token(self) -> str:
         """Exchange the session cookie for a Bearer access token.
 
-        Calls GET /api/auth/session with the session cookie, which returns
-        {"accessToken": "...", "user": {...}}.
+        Calls GET /api/auth/session — the cookie jar already contains the
+        session token, so no manual Cookie header is needed.
+
+        Returns {"accessToken": "...", "user": {...}}.
         """
         logger.debug("[chatgpt] Fetching access token from %s", AUTH_SESSION_URL)
         try:
-            resp = self._session.get(
-                AUTH_SESSION_URL,
-                headers={"Cookie": f"__Secure-next-auth.session-token={session_token}"},
-                timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
-            )
+            resp = self._session.get(AUTH_SESSION_URL, timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT)
             resp.raise_for_status()
             data = resp.json()
         except Exception as e:
@@ -70,7 +82,7 @@ class ChatGPTProvider(BaseProvider):
                 "fetch_access_token",
                 RuntimeError(
                     f"Could not exchange session token for access token: {e}. "
-                    "Check that your CHATGPT_SESSION_TOKEN is current."
+                    "Check that your CHATGPT_SESSION_TOKEN is current and not expired."
                 ),
             ) from e