Projects

Projects

Projects are the foundation of Lighthouse. A project represents a distinct writing endeavor with its own configuration, goals, and tracking.

What is a Project?

A Lighthouse project is:

• A collection of folders in your vault that belong together
• A configuration specifying which folders are content vs source
• A goal (optional) to track your progress
• A context that persists across Obsidian sessions

Projects are not physical folders—they’re metadata stored by Lighthouse. Your actual files and folders remain untouched.

Why Use Projects?

Isolation

Each project is independent. You can:

• Track separate word counts for different manuscripts
• Switch focus without mixing up progress
• Archive completed projects without losing history

Flexibility

Projects adapt to your workflow:

• No required folder structure
• Folders can be anywhere in your vault
• Move and reorganize files freely
• Mix multiple projects in one vault

Focus

The active project provides context:

• Word counts reflect only project files
• Stats panel shows project progress
• Dashboard filters to relevant data
• (Future) File explorer can filter to project files

Project Anatomy

Every project has:

Property	Description	Required
Name	Human-readable identifier	Yes
Root Path	Base folder in your vault	Yes
Content Folders	Folders that count toward goals	No (but recommended)
Source Folders	Research/reference folders	No
Word Count Goal	Target word count	No

Root Path

The root path is your project’s home folder. All other folders in the project are relative to this path.

Example:

Root Path: Projects/My Novel/
Content Folders: chapters/, drafts/
Source Folders: research/, notes/

Content vs Source Folders

See Content vs Source Folders for detailed explanation.

Creating Projects

From Command Palette

1. Open Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl+P)
2. Run Lighthouse: Create Project
3. Fill in the modal:
   • Name: Your project’s name
   • Root Path: Choose or create a folder
   • Content/Source Folders: Designate now or later
   • Word Count Goal: Optional target

From Dashboard

1. Open Lighthouse: Open Dashboard
2. Click + New button
3. Fill in the project modal

From Settings

1. Go to Settings → Lighthouse
2. Click Create New Project
3. Configure your project

Managing Projects

Switching Projects

The active project is the project you’re currently working on. To switch:

1. Open the Dashboard
2. Select a different project from the dropdown

Or use the command: Lighthouse: Switch Project

Your active project persists across sessions—Lighthouse remembers where you left off.

Editing Projects

To change project settings:

1. Go to Settings → Lighthouse, or
2. Open the Dashboard and click Edit

You can modify:

• Project name
• Root path (careful—can break folder references!)
• Content/source folder designations
• Word count goal

Deleting Projects

To delete a project:

1. Open Settings or Dashboard
2. Click Delete next to the project
3. Confirm the deletion

Important: Deleting a project only removes Lighthouse’s configuration. Your actual files and folders are not deleted.

Multiple Projects

You can run multiple projects simultaneously in the same vault:

Use Cases

Separate Manuscripts

- Project 1: "Novel - First Draft"
- Project 2: "Short Stories Collection"
- Project 3: "Blog Posts 2024"

Phases of Work

- Project 1: "Thesis - Research Phase"
- Project 2: "Thesis - Writing Phase"
- Project 3: "Thesis - Revision Phase"

Different Types

- Project 1: "Fiction Writing"
- Project 2: "Technical Documentation"
- Project 3: "Personal Journal"

Best Practices

1. One active project at a time: Focus on what you’re currently writing
2. Clear naming: Use descriptive names that indicate content
3. Separate root paths: Avoid overlapping project folders when possible
4. Archive when done: Delete completed project configs to reduce clutter

Project Data Storage

Project configurations are stored in Obsidian’s plugin data:

YourVault/.obsidian/plugins/lighthouse/data.json

This file contains:

• All project configurations
• Active project ID
• Plugin settings

Backup Recommendation: Include .obsidian/plugins/ in your vault backups to preserve project configurations.

FAQ

Q: Can files belong to multiple projects? A: Technically yes, if you set up overlapping root paths. However, this isn’t recommended as it can lead to confusing word counts.

Q: What happens if I move a folder? A: You’ll need to update the folder path in project settings. Lighthouse uses paths relative to the root, so moving the entire root folder is safe, but moving individual folders requires updates.

Q: Can I export/import project configs? A: Not yet, but this is planned for a future release.

Q: Do projects sync across devices? A: If you sync .obsidian/plugins/lighthouse/data.json (via Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Git, etc.), your project configs will sync.

Next Steps

• Learn about Content vs Source Folders
• Understand Word Counting
• Explore the Project Dashboard