> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-2a5c5e50-docs-ferndesk-pro.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Projects

> A project keeps its own instructions, its chats, and its files together. Every chat in it starts from those instructions.

A **project** is a folder with standing instructions. Create one for a piece of work you keep coming back to, give it instructions once, and every chat inside it starts from them. Projects belong to a signed-in account.

<Frame caption="Projects, before you have created one.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-2a5c5e50-docs-ferndesk-pro/MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan/images/product/chat-projects.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan&q=85&s=b1002bb99dac39a546ee793b22c697d7" alt="Projects — No projects yet. Create one for a piece of work you keep coming back to." width="1280" height="800" data-path="images/product/chat-projects.png" />
</Frame>

## What a project holds

| In the project                                           | Not a project                                                                 |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Instructions** — read before every chat in the project | [Memory](/chat/memory) — account-wide, follows you into every chat            |
| **Chats** you start inside it, or move into it           | [Canvases](/chat/canvases) — a document beside one conversation               |
| **Files** you add to it, from [Library](/chat/library)   | [Design canvases](/design/canvases) — boards edited in the Design desktop app |
| A place in **Pinned** if you pin it                      | A shared workspace — projects are yours alone, see [Sharing](/chat/sharing)   |

## Create a project

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in">
    Guests cannot create a project; the chat would have nowhere to live once the tab closes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open Projects and choose New project">
    Give it a **Name**. Instructions are optional and can be changed at any time.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write instructions worth reading before every chat">
    Who the audience is, house style, units, what to avoid. For example: *We sell to mid-market SaaS teams. Prices are in euros. Prefer British spelling.*
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start chatting inside it">
    Open the project and start a new chat there, or move an existing thread in with **Move to project** from the thread header.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Frame caption="New project: a name, and optional instructions that are read before every chat in the project.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-2a5c5e50-docs-ferndesk-pro/MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan/images/product/chat-new-project.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan&q=85&s=a8045d4f0e8e7f42af1b9d868be7fe3b" alt="New project dialog with Name and optional Instructions fields" width="1280" height="800" data-path="images/product/chat-new-project.png" />
</Frame>

## Move a chat into a project

Open the thread and choose **Move to project** in the header. The popover lists your projects — and **Remove from project** if the thread already belongs to one. A thread belongs to at most one project.

<Frame caption="Move to project from the thread header.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-2a5c5e50-docs-ferndesk-pro/MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan/images/product/chat-move-to-project.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=MqnMpE_oEu2JSRan&q=85&s=e866a0f7f46657ba9e56897509b56532" alt="The Move to project popover listing projects and a Remove from project action" width="1280" height="800" data-path="images/product/chat-move-to-project.png" />
</Frame>

## Files in a project

Add documents to a project so every chat in it can use them. Files come from your Library — attach from the composer or upload from the project — and a chat receives them as attachments, never as a URL you typed. Generated pictures land in Library too. See [Library](/chat/library).

## Tips

* Keep instructions short and factual. They are read on every turn, so they cost context on every turn.
* One project per ongoing piece of work beats one project per topic. The point is continuity.
* Pin the two or three projects you use daily; the rest stay one click away under **Projects**.
* Plans started from a project's chats stay linked to those chats. See [Plans](/chat/plans).

<Note>
  Cortex Chat is per account. Another account cannot see your projects, and there is no teammate invite on a thread. Plus and Pro plans list **Projects and saved work** among their features — check [Plans](/getting-started/plans) for what your plan includes.
</Note>

## Related

* [Library](/chat/library) — the file store projects draw from.
* [Memory](/chat/memory) — account-wide preferences, as opposed to project instructions.
* [Plans](/chat/plans) — task lists that start from a chat.
* [Sharing and teams](/chat/sharing) — what is per account, and where team features live.