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A new project needs a name and a project key. Everything else has a sensible default you can change later.

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Before you start

You need the Manage projects capability (project.manage), and the Projects & tasks app must be switched on.

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How to create a project

1

Open Projects

Click Projects in the sidebar.
2

Click New project

The New project form opens with a freshly generated icon.
3

Enter the project name

Up to 200 characters. As you type, the Project key fills itself in.
4

Check the project key

2 to 5 letters, A to Z. It prefixes every task number in the project, so CL gives you CL-1, CL-2 and so on.
5

Pick the client

Or leave it on No client for internal work.
6

Choose a billing method

Hourly, Fixed fee, Retainer, Milestone or Non-billable. Defaults to Hourly.
7

Choose a project manager

Or leave No manager – you become the manager automatically.
8

Add members

Search and select the people who will work on it. You can change this any time.
9

Set dates and tags (optional)

Start date defaults to today. Due date is blank. Tags are comma separated.
10

Click Create project

You see “Project created.” and land on the new project.

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The fields

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Project icon

A random pattern is generated the moment the form opens, and that pattern is what gets saved.
SVG is not accepted. Only passive image formats are allowed.

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Project name

Required. 1 to 200 characters. A blank or whitespace-only name is rejected.

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Project key

Required. 2 to 5 uppercase letters, A to Z. The field forces uppercase and strips anything that is not a letter, so it can never hold an invalid key. It is derived from the name until you edit it, after which your value sticks: Keys must be unique across the workspace. Two projects cannot share one.

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Client (optional)

Pick a client, or No client. Only active clients appear – an archived client is not offered.

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Billing method

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Project manager

A single member. If you leave it on No manager, you become the manager.
This matters for visibility. A project with no manager is invisible to every scoped role – including whoever just created it. Defaulting the manager to the creator stops a new project vanishing the moment it is saved.

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Members

A multi-select over workspace members, with search and a “select all” row. Members are the people staffed on this project. They can log time against it, and a scoped role sees the project because they are on this list.

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Start date and due date

Two independent date pickers. Start date defaults to today; due date is blank. Either can be set without the other – a project can carry a deadline with no start date.

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Tags

Comma separated free text, for example web, retainer. These are project tags, separate from task tags.

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What happens when you save

  1. The project is created and you are sent to it.
  2. Three sections are seeded automatically – Todo, In Progress and Completed – so the List and Board tabs have their columns from the first render.
  3. The icon is saved. If the icon upload fails, the project still exists and shows a letter fallback.
  4. If no manager was chosen, you are set as the manager.

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Example

Priya Raman sets up the Bluebird Coffee website work. She clicks Create project. The board opens with Todo / In Progress / Completed, and the first task Sarah adds becomes WR-1. Priya then opens Settings → Finance and sets a $40,000 money budget.

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What to do next

1

Rename the sections to match your workflow

See /projects/project-sections.
2

Set a budget

See /projects/project-budget.
3

Check the rates for each member

See /projects/project-rates.
4

Add tasks

See /tasks/create-a-task.

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Permissions

Owner, Admin and Project Manager hold project.manage by default. Members and Contractors do not – the server refuses the create even if the button is reachable.

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Plan gating

Creating projects is free. The budget you may want to set afterwards is a Pro feature. See /concepts/plans-and-features.

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Common questions

Yes, in Settings → General. Changing it only affects new task numbers. Tasks that already have a number keep the prefix they were stamped with.
Not from this form. It creates a project with the three default sections, which you then rename or replace.
No. Add them later in Settings → Group. Note that a scoped role cannot see a project until they manage it or are on it.
Draft. Change it in Settings → General whenever you are ready.
Yes. Names are not unique. Keys are – a duplicate key is rejected.
No. Budgets live in Settings → Finance, so there is exactly one place a budget is written.

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Troubleshooting

Project settings

Change anything you set here.

Project sections

Shape the workflow.

Project members

Staff the project.

Project budget

Set the ceiling.

Task numbers

What the project key does.

Projects overview

Back to the list.