Everything in Chorus lives inside a **project**: ideas, proposals, documents, and tasks
all belong to one. This guide takes you from an empty dashboard to an open project
workspace, ready for your first idea. It is the first stop in
[the AI-DLC workflow](/guides/ai-dlc-workflow/).

## Open the Projects page

From the left sidebar, select **Projects**. The page lists your
work grouped into collapsible **project group** cards, with anything ungrouped under an
**Ungrouped** section. A view toggle in the top-right switches between **List** and
**Grid**.

On a brand-new installation the page shows a **Welcome to Chorus** onboarding panel that
walks you through the same two steps below: first a project group, then a project.

## Create a project group

A project group holds related projects together — for example one group per product or
team.

1. Select **New Project Group** in the top-right (or **Create Project Group** in the
   onboarding panel).
2. Enter a **Group name** (for example, `Mobile Apps`).
3. Choose a **Visibility**: **Public** (the default; everyone in the workspace can find the
   group) or **Private** (only its members, and people with access to one of its projects).
   See [Control who can see a project](/guides/project-access/).
4. Optionally add a **Description**.
5. Select **Create Group**.

The new group appears as a card with a **View Dashboard** link and its own **New Project**
button.

## Create a project

1. On the group card, select **New Project**. The dialog shows **Creating in:
   _group name_** so you know where it lands.
2. Enter a **Project title** (for example, `Project Alpha`).
3. Add a **Description** of what the project is about.
4. Choose a **Visibility**: **Public** or **Private**. A new project starts with its group's
   visibility; inside a private group it must be private and inherits the group's roles.
   You become the Admin of the project you create.
5. Optionally set a working directory now in the **Agent working directories** section (see
   below); you can also leave it and set it later.
6. Select **Create Project**.

![New Project dialog creating a project in a public group, with Public selected under Visibility and a hint that new projects inherit the group](/images/workspace/create-project-visibility.webp)

Chorus creates the project and adds it to the group. Selecting **Create Project** again, or
pressing Enter, while the request is running does not create a second project.

:::caution[If the result is not confirmed]
If Chorus cannot confirm the result, for example because the request takes longer than
20 seconds or the connection drops, the dialog says so and keeps your draft. The project may
still have been created. Close the dialog and check or refresh the project list before trying
again: creating again requires **I've checked the list and still want to create again**,
because it could produce a duplicate. If a request you dismissed turns out to have succeeded,
the dialog tells you the next time you open it, and creating another project requires
**I want to create another project**.
:::

## Set a fixed working directory

A working directory is the folder on a host machine that a connected agent reads and writes
when it works on this project. It is **set per agent**, not as a single project-wide path.

In the project's **Agent working directories** settings you can, for each agent:

- **Configure working directory** — pick a host and a directory.
- **Replace working directory** — point the agent at a different directory.
- **Clear fixed working directory** — remove the fixed path.

Once a directory is fixed, the project **Overview** header shows a lock chip with the path
for that agent. A directory only becomes selectable when its host is online; you register
those hosts and directories when you connect an agent runtime.

### What fixing a directory does

Fixing a directory **ties the project** to one specific online agent and one working
directory. This changes how Chorus behaves in three ways:

- **The picker is skipped.** Once a project has a fixed directory, any agent work you later
  start from it (creating an idea conversationally, running elaboration, dispatching a task)
  goes straight to that agent and directory. Chorus no longer asks you to pick a directory each
  time; the fixed choice is used silently.
- **The choice becomes a durable target.** The path you fix is recorded as a specific agent,
  host, and directory together, not just a folder path. That is the same kind of target
  described in the [online-agents overview](/guides/online-agents-overview/), and it is what
  a session is tied to.
- **Work already under way is protected.** If you later **replace** or **clear** the fixed
  directory, only *future* work follows the new setting. An idea or session that was already
  tied to the previous directory keeps running there — changing the project preference
  never drags in-flight work to a different folder.

So the fixed directory is both a default (new work lands there without asking) and a
guarantee (work that already started stays where it started).

![Project settings Agent working directories section, showing a per-agent host selector and a working-directory picker with the configured daemon directory selected](/images/agent-operations/project-fix-directory.webp)

:::note[What the agent does]
No agent acts yet at this stage, but the working directory you fix here is exactly where a
connected agent will later read and write files as it executes tasks. Registering that host
and directory is part of connecting a runtime — see the
[agent platforms reference](/reference/agents/) to choose an agent, then
[Prepare agent access](/guides/administrator-setup/) and
[Operate the Chorus daemon](/guides/daemon-operations/) to bring one online.
:::

![Chorus Projects page with the Demo Workspace group card and its New Project button](/images/workflow/create-project.webp)

## Open the workspace

Select the project card to open its workspace at its **Overview**. The sidebar now shows
the project's navigation:

| Section | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| Overview | The idea tracker — where you capture and follow ideas — plus the project's working-directory chips and settings. |
| Documents | Approved documents and completion reports. |
| Proposals | Proposals awaiting your review, plus approved ones. |
| Tasks | The Kanban board and dependency graph for the project's tasks. |
| Graph | A mind-map of the project's ideas, proposals, tasks, and documents. |
| Activity | The stream of everything that has happened in the project. |

![Skylark Notes project Overview with the left navigation sidebar and the idea tracker](/images/workflow/project-overview.webp)

## Next

With the workspace open, continue to [Capture an idea](/guides/capture-an-idea/) to start
the pipeline.