Projects and Creating Projects

The Projects feature in ChatFrame is designed to help you organize your work, especially when dealing with multiple sets of local files for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).

What are Projects?

A project acts as a container for:

  • Indexed Files: A specific collection of your local files (PDFs, code, documents) that you want the AI to be able to reference.
  • Vector Store: The local, dedicated vector index created from those files.
  • Chat History: The conversation history associated with that specific project.
  • Settings: Potentially, project-specific settings for LLM models or MCP server configurations.

Creating a New Project

Creating a project is the first step to leveraging ChatFrame's Local RAG capabilities for a specific task or codebase.

  1. Navigate to Projects: In the ChatFrame sidebar or settings, find the Projects section.
  2. Start New Project: Click the "Create New Project" or "+" button.
  3. Name the Project: Give your project a descriptive name (e.g., "Q3 Financials," "Backend API Refactor").
  4. Add Files: Select the local files and folders you wish to include in the project.
  5. Indexing: ChatFrame will automatically begin the local indexing process, converting your file content into a private vector store.

Benefits of Using Projects

  • Organization: Keep different work streams separate (e.g., personal research vs. work code).
  • Context Control: Ensure the AI only has access to the relevant set of files for a given conversation, improving the accuracy of RAG.
  • Performance: Smaller, more focused projects can lead to faster vector search and retrieval times.