Projects

A project is the container for one product or codebase in Athenode. Everything else in Athenode belongs to one project.

A project holds	What it is
One specification tree	The specification tree is the hierarchy of a project's specifications. Any specification can have sub-specifications, to any depth.
Its agent setups	An agent setup is a named bundle of what your AI coding tools work with: skills, agents, rules, MCP servers and setup files.
Its ToDo cards	A ToDo card is a short note of work to do later: a follow-up, tech debt, a bug or an idea.
Its members	A member is a person with access to the project, as its owner, an editor or a viewer.
Their project tokens	A project token is a personal access token that lets the Athenode CLI, and your AI agent through it, act on one project.
Its plan	The plan (Free, Solo, Team or Business) sets the project's limits.

The Projects page of the web app lists every project you belong to under Your projects, whether you created it or were invited to it. Each project card shows the project's name, its plan, when it last changed and its members. Select a card to open the project.

Create a project

Create a project for each product or codebase whose specifications you want to keep together. You become the owner of every project you create, and a project has one owner.

A new project starts on the Free plan, and you can own up to 3 projects on the Free plan. Projects you were invited to and projects on a paid plan do not count.

1. On the Projects page, select Add project. If you have no projects, the page shows New project in its place.
2. Enter a Project name.
3. Select Add project. Athenode creates the project and shows the plans you can choose for it.
4. Choose Monthly or Annual billing, then select Choose on a paid plan and complete the checkout. To stay on the Free plan, select Continue on Free.

The project opens on its Specs page with an empty specification tree and its own copy of the standard Athenode setup, which holds the skills and agents of the Athenode workflow. Compare all limits on the plan step shows every limit of every plan, and Plans and limits lists them with what happens when one is reached.

If you leave the plan step with To projects, the project stays on the Free plan. The owner can subscribe later on the project's Plan & limits page, as Billing and plan changes describes.

When you already own 3 projects on the Free plan, Athenode shows "Plan limit reached" and does not create the project. Delete one of your free projects or move one to a paid plan, then create the project again.

To work on the new project from your AI coding tool, create a project token and install the project's setup in your repository. To work on it with other people, invite them as members.

Rename a project

Rename a project when the product or the codebase changes its name. The name is a display name, so your repository, your project tokens and your installed setup are unaffected. You need the editor or owner role.

1. On the Projects page, open the menu on the project's card and select Rename.
2. In the Rename project dialog, enter the new Project name.
3. Select Save.

The new name appears at once for every member who has the project open.

Delete a project

Delete a project when you have no further use for anything in it. You need the owner role.

1. If the project published setups to the setup library and you want them removed, unpublish them first. Entries published from a deleted project stay in the library.
2. On the Projects page, open the menu on the project's card and select Delete.
3. Read the Delete project? dialog. For a project with a paid subscription, the dialog warns that deleting the project cancels the subscription immediately, without a refund.
4. Select Delete.

The project disappears from the Projects page of every member. A member who has the project open sees "Project removed". Every project token of the project stops working, so the Athenode CLI and the AI agents connected to it lose access.

A deleted project stops counting towards your 3 free projects.

Where projects are managed

Projects are created, renamed and deleted in the web app. The Athenode CLI and the Athenode MCP server work inside the one project that the stored project token belongs to, and the CLI reference lists what they can do there. Roles and permissions lists what each role can do in a project.