Projects
A project is a named folder with its own title, color, description and instructions. Switch it on for a chat, and the agent works in that folder and follows those instructions.
Projects keep different pieces of work apart. Each project is a folder with a title, a color and its own instructions, for example "always write in British English" or "this repository uses Python 3.12". Switch a project on in a chat, and Nova works inside that folder and follows those instructions for that chat.
Open the Projects window from the Projects button in the top bar, or from the sidebar (Projects, in the System group).
What you see
- New Project, a refresh button, and No Project, which appears only when the chat you have open has a project switched on.
- One card per project:
- a cover photo or color, and a picture;
- the title, the folder name and a description (or "No description");
- a memory badge (Own Project Memory or Default Memory);
- a green Active badge when it is on in the open chat;
- Activate or Deactivate, edit (pencil) and delete (bin).
- With no projects yet: "No Projects Yet" and Create First Project.
Create a project
- Press New Project.
- Enter the Project Name. This is the folder name: lowercase letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. What you type is converted as you go.
- Optionally add a Display Title and a Description, pick a Color & Theme from the 28 presets (or enter a hex color or gradient), and choose a Memory Mode: Own Project Memory or Default Memory.
- Press Create. You see "Project ... created", and the browser asks whether to switch it on in the current chat.
Edit a project
The pencil opens the edit window. It has a cover banner and a profile picture you can change, and Save Changes at the bottom.
| Tab | What you set |
|---|---|
| Basic Info | Title, Directory Name (renames the folder), Description and Color & Theme. |
| Instructions | The project's instructions for the agent, written in Markdown. Nova follows them in every chat where the project is on. |
| Memory | The Own Project Memory switch. |
| Files | The project folder: New Folder, New File, Rename, Delete and Refresh, a tree you can drag items around in, and a preview of text files up to 100 KB. |
Switch a project on for a chat
- Open or select the chat.
- Press Projects in the top bar and click the project. You can also press Activate on its card.
- The top-bar button now shows the project's color dot and title.
To switch it off, use Turn Off in the top-bar menu, No Project in the window, or Deactivate on the card.
Projects are per chat. Your other chats, and every new chat, start with no project. Switching one on needs an open chat; otherwise you see "No active chat - please select or create a chat first".
What changes while a project is on
- Nova receives the project's folder, title, description and instructions, and is told to work inside that folder.
- Code that Nova runs, and the coding agents it starts, begin in the project folder.
- Scheduled tasks created from that chat carry the project's color.
- The project folder appears under the Projects location in Coding Lab → Open Folder, and in Files.
Delete a project
Press the bin on its card and confirm: "This will permanently delete the project folder and all its contents."
Limits
- Project names may use only letters, numbers,
-and_. - The Files tab hides files that start with a dot, shows up to five folder levels, and previews only text files up to 100 KB. After a change there, look at the tree to confirm it worked.