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Projects & Organization

Projects let you group related conversations, apply custom instructions, and control how context is used within a specific topic or initiative.

note

Projects were previously called Folders. As of v1.5.0 the vocabulary across the app — sidebar headings, context menus, confirmation dialogs and context preferences — uses Projects. The underlying behavior is the same.

The sidebar groups your work into two stacked sections:

  • Projects — collapsible header with the list of projects
  • Chats — your conversations grouped by time

Each section header has a chevron on the right to collapse/expand. Project rows are compact and show a conversation count. Chat rows show an icon plus a one-line preview of the last message (instead of a date).

Search & quick actions​

The top of the sidebar has a dedicated search block with two action rows underneath:

  • Search — click the search row (or press Ctrl/Cmd+K) to open the centered search modal. Use arrow keys to navigate results and Enter to open. The modal filters conversations and projects together.
  • New Chat — creates a new conversation (Ctrl/Cmd+N still works)
  • New Project — creates a new project

The compact "New" button that used to sit next to the logo no longer exists — these actions live in the sidebar block.

Default organization​

All conversations start in Chats and are listed chronologically:

  • Today
  • Yesterday
  • Last 7 days
  • Older

Creating a project​

Use the New Project row at the top of the sidebar, type a name, and press Enter.

Adding conversations to a project​

Drag and drop

  • Drag a conversation from the chats list and drop it onto a project name.

Context menu

  • Right-click a conversation
  • Select Move to project
  • Choose the destination

New conversation inside a project

  • Right-click a project name and choose New chat in this project.

    (The inline + shortcut next to each project row was removed in v1.5.0 — use the right-click menu instead.)

Project context menu​

Right-click a project to access:

OptionDescription
EditRename the project
Edit instructionsSet custom AI instructions for this project
New chat in this projectStart a new conversation inside this project
DeleteRemove the project (conversations move back to Chats)

Project instructions​

Each project can have custom instructions that are injected into the system prompt for every conversation inside it.

Example use cases

  • A "Work" project: "Always respond in formal English. My role is senior product manager at a SaaS company."
  • A "Code" project: "Always include type annotations. Prefer TypeScript. Use functional programming patterns."
  • A "Research" project: "Cite sources. Prefer academic and primary sources. Be objective and avoid opinion."

To set instructions:

  1. Right-click the project
  2. Select Edit instructions
  3. Type or paste the instruction text
  4. Save

Semantic context (per project)​

You can enable semantic context for individual projects. When enabled, Kognar uses vector embeddings to find semantically relevant messages from past conversations in that project and includes them as context when you send new messages.

This improves response quality for ongoing work by giving the AI "memory" of what was previously discussed.

To enable:

  1. Right-click the project
  2. Select Edit instructions
  3. Toggle Use semantic context on
note

Enabling semantic context increases response time slightly as Kognar retrieves and ranks relevant past messages.

Searching conversations​

Press Ctrl/Cmd+K (or click the search row at the top of the sidebar) to open the search modal. Type to filter conversations and projects, navigate with arrow keys, and press Enter to open the selection.

Renaming conversations​

Right-click any conversation and select Edit. Press Enter to save or Escape to cancel.

Deleting conversations​

Right-click a conversation and select Delete. A confirmation dialog appears before the conversation is permanently removed.

Deleting a project​

Right-click a project and select Delete. For safety, the confirmation dialog asks you to type the project name before deletion. Conversations inside are not deleted — they move back to Chats.