Projects
A project is a folder on your computer that OpenChamber keeps track of — usually one codebase. Switching projects switches the folder the agent works in, along with that project’s sessions and settings.
Add a project
You can add a project from a few places:
- the Add project entry in the command palette
- the + button at the top of the session sidebar
- the folder browser when you pick a directory
Point it at a folder and OpenChamber remembers it. The name comes from the folder; you can change it later.
Switch projects
Pick a project from the sidebar to make it active. Everything — sessions, git, notes — follows the project you have open.
Make a project recognizable
Open Settings → Projects to give a project a custom name, color, or icon. OpenChamber tries to find an icon automatically — see Project icons.
In VS Code, OpenChamber always uses the folder you have open as the only project, so there’s nothing to add or switch. The Projects settings page is hidden there.
Project environment
When a project’s tools come from direnv, devenv or a Nix shell, Git hooks, the terminal and project actions don’t find them on their own. Open Settings → Projects, pick the project, and under Environment:
- add variables only this project needs
- or set an environment command that prints them, for example
direnv export jsonordevenv print-dev-env --json
The command runs in the project folder, and in a worktree’s own folder for that worktree. It runs again when you commit, open a terminal or run an action, once the last run is a few minutes old, and Run again runs it right away. Just having the project open doesn’t run it. Under the field you see how many variables the last run added, or why it failed. A failed run adds nothing, and Git and the terminal keep working without it.
These variables go to Git, the terminal and project actions, on top of the ones in Settings → General → Environment variables (see Environment variables). OpenCode serves every project from one process, so it doesn’t get project variables: put what the agent needs in the general list.
The command is yours only. It isn’t read from the repository, so a cloned repository can’t make OpenChamber run anything.
Related
- Chats — sessions without a project, for quick questions
- Project Notes, Todos & Plans — keep working notes per project
- Project Actions — save commands you run often
- Context — see how much of the model’s memory a session is using