What is a Project?
A project is a folder for related conversations. Each project has its own system prompt, optional preferred model, and chassis-specific terminology. Use them when a set of conversations all share context — a research arc, a case file, an ongoing campaign, anything where you'd want every chat to start from a shared baseline.
What a project gives you
- A system prompt that auto-injects into every chat in the project. You write it once; every conversation in the project starts with it.
- An optional pinned model (e.g. always use
anthropic/claude-sonnet-5in this project, regardless of what your global model picker says). - A scoped conversation list. Open the project and you see only its conversations.
- A scoped artifact list. Artifacts saved while in the project belong to it.
- Chassis-specific terminology. "Project" is what they're called in Ridgeline. Other chassis call them by their own names — see the next section.
What it's called in each chassis
| Chassis | Term |
|---|---|
| Ridgeline | Cases |
| Courtroom | Matters |
| Apsis | Missions |
| Quant | Mandates |
| Paper | Folios |
| Matrix | Ops |
| Atelier | Collections |
| Atlas | Courses |
| Studio | Repos |
| Garden | Gardens |
The underlying feature is identical — the term changes to match the chassis aesthetic. If you switch chassis, your projects stay; just the label updates.
When to use a project vs a fresh conversation
| Scenario | Use |
|---|---|
| One-off question | Fresh conversation, no project |
| Multi-day research arc | Project (so all chats share context) |
| Recurring task with the same setup | Project + a starter template |
| Different work modes (work / personal) | Two projects, switch between them |
| Confidential vs public-facing work | Two projects with different system prompts |
A conversation without a project still works perfectly. Projects are a layer on top — useful when you want grouping; ignorable otherwise.
Starter templates
When you create a new project, you can pick a starter template that pre-fills the system prompt with battle-tested wording. Each chassis has 2-3 templates aligned with that chassis's typical use case:
- Ridgeline: Differential Diagnosis, Discharge Summary
- Courtroom: Discovery Review, Brief Outline
- Atlas: Lecture Notes, Study Plan
- Quant: Earnings Analysis, Market Reaction
- Studio: Track Production, Mix Notes
- ... and 14 more across the other chassis (21 total)
You can edit the template after creating the project, or pick Blank for a totally empty system prompt.
Where to next
- Creating a Project — step-by-step
- System Prompts — what to put in them, anti-patterns
- Project-Scoped Chat — how chats inside a project differ from outside
- Moving Conversations — drag-drop or per-row