Projects

Projects group related files and conversations into a single workspace. Each project keeps its own documents, chat history, and memory, so the AI answers with the right context for the work in front of you.

A lawyer might keep one project per matter. A consultant might keep one per client. A researcher might keep one per paper. Whatever the structure, files in one project don't bleed into another.

Why use projects

Without projects, every conversation starts from scratch and attached files only live in that one chat. Projects change that:

  • Files persist - Documents you add stay available across every conversation in the project
  • Memory builds up - The project indexes its files locally, so the AI can pull from all of them at once
  • Context stays clean - Work on a contract in one project and a tax packet in another without either mixing

Create a project

  1. Click New project in the sidebar
  2. Give the project a name
  3. Add files by dragging them into the project or clicking the add button

The project appears in your sidebar. Every conversation you start inside it has access to the project's files.

Add files to a project

Projects accept the same file types as regular chats: PDF, Markdown, CSV, XLSX, PNG, and TXT.

Drag files into the project view, or add them from the chat input while working inside the project. LocalChat indexes each file on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded.

Larger files take longer to index the first time. After that, questions against them are fast because the index is already built.

Restrict answers to project files

Each project has a toggle to answer only from the project's files. When it's on, the model sticks to what's in your documents instead of falling back on its general training.

Use this when accuracy matters more than breadth:

  • Checking what a contract actually says, not what contracts usually say
  • Pulling numbers from financial statements without invented figures
  • Reviewing session notes where only the real record counts

When the toggle is off, the model combines your files with its general knowledge. That's better for brainstorming or when your documents don't cover the whole question.

Ask across multiple files

Once a project holds several documents, you can ask questions that span all of them:

  • "Which of these engagement letters mention a termination clause?"
  • "Summarize how the Q1 and Q2 reports differ"
  • "Find every mention of the Henderson account across these files"

The AI searches the project's index and answers with references to the source documents.

Manage projects

  • Rename - Right-click the project in the sidebar
  • Remove files - Open the project's file list and delete what you no longer need
  • Delete a project - Removes the project, its conversations, and its index from your Mac. The original files on disk are untouched.

Privacy

Project files and their indexes are stored locally on your Mac. Indexing, search, and answers all run on-device. Deleting a project deletes its data from your machine.