---
title: Projects
description: Create projects, choose their keys, limit their statuses, labels, and buckets, keep resources with them, add saved filters, and archive finished work.
---

A project is a home for related tasks, such as a product, a piece of writing, or an area of your life. Every task can belong to one project, and each project numbers its tasks under its own key.

## Creating A Project

Click **+** beside **Projects** in the Tasks sidebar, or **New project** on the empty Tasks tab. In the dialog:

- **Project name**, such as *Product*, *Writing*, or *Personal*. Click the icon beside it to pick an icon and colour.
- **Key**, 2 to 5 letters or digits starting with a letter. Octarine suggests one from the name until you type your own. Tasks are numbered under it: `KEY-1`, `KEY-2`, and so on.
- **Statuses**, **Labels**, and **Buckets**, which default to using every one. See [Limiting choices](#limiting-statuses-labels-and-buckets).

Click **Create project**.

To change any of this later, choose **Edit project** from the project's **…** menu or its right-click menu. Changing the key renumbers the project's tasks under the new key, and their old IDs still find them.

## The Project Page

The project header shows its icon (click it to change the icon and colour), its name, a **…** menu, and a **New task** button (`C`). Badges show when a project is **Archived** or **Completed**.

Below the header are the project's tabs:

- **Overview**: progress, description, resources, and the default template.
- **Issues**: every task in the project.
- One tab per [saved filter](#saved-filters) you've added, then **+** to add another.

Each tab keeps its own search and [display settings](/tasks/working-with-tasks#display-options).

## Overview

- **Progress** shows how many tasks are done and a count for each status.
- **Description** is a full editor that saves as you type. Use it for the project's goals, links, and notes.
- **Resources** holds the notes, files, and links the project relies on. See [Resources](#resources).
- **Template** sets the project's [default template](#default-template). It appears once the workspace has templates.

## Resources

Projects and tasks can both keep resources: notes, files, and links you want at hand while working on them.

- Click **+** (**Add resource**) and pick a note, or paste a URL.
- Click the paperclip (**Attach from Finder** on macOS) to pick files, or drop files from Finder or Explorer onto the resources area. Octarine imports them into the workspace.

Resources are grouped into **Notes**, **Media**, **Files**, and **Links**:

- Notes show their folder. Click one to open it in a preview sheet, or `Cmd/Ctrl`-click to open it in a tab.
- Images and videos open full screen.
- Other files open in their default app.
- Links open in your browser. A link without a title shows the whole address.

On a task, resources appear in the **Resources** section of the task's properties, where you can also drop files.

## Limiting Statuses, Labels, And Buckets

By default, a project's tasks can use every status, label, and bucket in the workspace. In **Edit project**, pick a smaller set to keep the project focused. For example, a writing project might use only **Todo**, **In progress**, and **Done**.

- A project must keep at least one open status and one completed status.
- When you remove a status, tasks using it move to the nearest status the project keeps. The dialog tells you how many will move.
- When you remove a bucket, tasks in it leave their bucket.

## Default Template

Choose a template under **Template** on the project's Overview. New tasks created in the project start from it, including the title prefix, description, labels, priority, and subtasks the template defines. You can still pick a different template in the new-task dialog. See [Templates](/tasks/task-settings#templates).

## Saved Filters

A saved filter is a named [search](/tasks/search-and-filters) shown as a tab on a project. To add one, click **+** after the project's tabs. You can:

- **Choose one of the defaults**: shared filters such as **All open**, **Due this week**, **Overdue**, and **Recently completed**. Filters already on the project are marked **Already on this project**.
- **Create new filter**: give it a **Filter name**, an icon, and the query under **Shows tasks matching**. Under **Belongs to**, choose the project to keep the filter on this project only, or **Any project that adds it** to make it shared.

New workspaces start with these shared filters:

| Filter | Query |
| --- | --- |
| **All open** | `is:open` |
| **Due this week** | `is:open due:<7d -due:overdue` |
| **Overdue** | `is:overdue` |
| **Recently completed** | `completed:<7d` |

### Editing a filter

A filter tab's search bar starts with the filter's own query. Change it, and **Reset** and **Save** appear: **Save** writes the new query back to the filter. On the Issues tab, choose **Save search as filter** from the project's **…** menu to turn the current search into a new filter.

Right-click a filter tab for **Edit filter** and **Delete filter**. Deleting a shared filter from a project only removes it from that project; other projects keep it.

## Completing, Pinning, And Archiving

From the project's **…** menu or its right-click menu in the sidebar:

- **Pin project** adds it to the sidebar's [Pinned](/note-management/pinned) section.
- **Mark project completed** shows it as **Completed**. **Reopen project** makes it active again.
- **Archive project** takes it out of the sidebar. Its tasks and history are kept, and Octarine tells you how many tasks are still open before you confirm.

Archived projects are listed under **Archived** in the Tasks sidebar, where you can **Restore** them. Archived projects are read-only.

## Tasks Without A Project

Tasks don't need a project. They use the workspace key, such as `TASK-3`, and appear under **No project** in the Tasks sidebar.

#### Quick Answers

### Can I change a project's key after creating it?

Yes. Open **Edit project** and change the key. Its tasks are renumbered under the new key, and their old IDs still find them.

### Can different projects use different statuses?

Yes. In **Edit project**, choose which statuses, labels, and buckets the project uses. Each project must keep at least one open and one completed status.

### How do I attach files to a project?

Drop files from Finder or Explorer onto the Resources card on the project's Overview, or click the paperclip to pick them. Notes and links can be added with **+**.

### Does archiving a project delete its tasks?

No. Its tasks and history are kept, and you can restore the project from **Archived** in the Tasks sidebar.