Project Context

Project Context is a project-level background document that the AI silently references when generating responses and running agents. It acts as a persistent system briefing — you write it once, and every AI interaction in the project automatically benefits from it.

Use Project Context to describe things the AI would otherwise not know: the domain your team operates in, how your systems are named, the workflows you follow, the terminology specific to your organization, and any constraints or policies that should always apply.

Consistent AI Behavior

Define once, applied everywhere. Every agent in the project automatically uses the same background context.

Domain-Aware Responses

Give the AI your terminology, workflows, and constraints so it speaks your language and avoids generic or incorrect answers.

AI-Powered Editing

Use Edit with AI to describe changes in plain language and review a side-by-side diff before saving — no manual rewriting required.

Per-Agent Override

Agents can individually opt out of the Project Context when their task requires a neutral, context-free perspective.

To open Project Context, in Settings, select Project Context.

You need the models.project_context.view permission to see this page. Editing requires models.project_context.edit. Users with Viewer or Monitor roles typically have view-only access. Contact your project administrator if the page is missing from your Settings menu.

The main area shows the Project Background content if it exists, or an empty state with options to create it. From there you can turn on or turn off the context, edit it manually, or use AI-powered tools to generate and refine it.

Define Project Context

When no Project Context exists, the page opens in an empty state with two actions:

Create — opens the Create editor view so you can write the Project Background manually.
Build with AI — opens the same Create editor view and immediately launches the AI generation dialog.

Both options lead to the Project Background editor, which is a full Markdown editor with real-time character counting, Edit and Preview modes.

Turning off Project Context does not delete the saved content. The content is preserved and can be turned back on at any time. A banner is shown below the toggle when the context is turned off but content exists: “Project Context is turned off. The project background is not applied to AI responses or workflows.”

Create

Use Create when you want to write the Project Background manually from scratch.

On the empty state page, select Create.
Enter the Project Background directly in Edit mode.
Switch to Preview mode to review the rendered Markdown if needed.
Use the toolbar actions as needed:
- Copy to clipboard to copy the current draft.
- Build with AI if you want AI to generate an initial draft while the editor is still empty.
Select Save to create the Project Context, or Cancel to return to the empty state without saving.

Recommended Content The following table describes the recommended categories of content to include in the Project Background.

Category	What to include	Example
Domain & purpose	What the project or team does	”This project supports the QA automation team at Acme Corp. Our primary function is test planning, defect tracking, and release validation.”
Terminology & naming	Internal names, acronyms, system names	”Our CI system is called ‘RocketCI’. Environments: DEV, STAGING, PROD. ‘Ticket’ always refers to a Jira issue.”
Key workflows	How work gets done	”All code changes go through a PR review with at least two approvals. Hotfixes bypass staging and go directly to PROD after QA sign-off.”
Constraints & policies	Rules the AI should always respect	”Never suggest storing credentials in code. Always recommend secrets vault usage. All API responses must be paginated.”
Tech stack	Languages, frameworks, platforms in use	”Backend: Python 3.11 + FastAPI. Frontend: React 18 + TypeScript. Database: PostgreSQL 15. Deployed on AWS EKS.”
Team context	Roles, responsibilities, conventions	”The on-call engineer handles P1/P2 incidents. Bug severity: P1 (outage) → P4 (cosmetic). Sprint duration: two weeks.”

The editor enforces a maximum of 2,500 characters. A counter below the editor shows how many characters remain. When the limit is reached, the Save button is turned off and a warning message appears.

Build with AI

The Build with AI button generates a first draft of the Project Background from a plain-language description of your project. It is available when the editor content is empty (no existing context) and requires edit permission. You can also launch it from the empty state by selecting the Build with AI button, which opens the editor and starts the dialog automatically. To generate Project Context using AI:

Select Build with AI from the empty state page or from the editor toolbar while the content is empty.
In the prompt field, describe your project: architecture, design decisions, workflows, terminology, constraints, coding standards, deployment process, or other important information.
Select Generate.
Review and edit the generated Project Background if needed.
Select Apply to insert it into the editor, or Back to prompt to refine your description.
Select Save in the page header to create the Project Context.

Selecting Apply does not automatically save the Project Context. The content is placed into the editor as an unsaved draft. You must select Save to persist the changes.

Edit with AI

The Edit with AI button refines your existing Project Background using AI. It appears in two locations when content is present and you have edit permission:

In the saved view header, next to the Edit button.
In the editor toolbar, replacing Build with AI once content is entered.

Unlike Build with AI (which generates from scratch), Edit with AI takes your current content, applies the changes you describe, and presents a side-by-side diff for review. Confirming the diff saves immediately — no separate Save step is required. To edit Project Context using AI:

Select the Edit with AI button.
In the text field, describe the changes you want to make — for example, “Add a section describing our release validation workflow and exit criteria” or “Update the terminology section to explain how we use defect severity levels in QA.”
Select Generate Draft (or press Enter).
Review and edit the suggested content if needed.
Select Apply & Save to save the updated content immediately, or Refine Prompt to go back and describe different changes.

Apply & Save in the Edit with AI dialog saves the content directly — no additional Save step is required. You are returned to the saved view with the updated Project Background.

Import Content

Select the Import button in the editor toolbar to upload a Markdown file from your local machine. Only .md files are supported. The file content replaces the current editor content.

Files exceeding 2,500 characters are rejected with an error. Trim the file or paste a condensed version directly into the editor if needed.

Example Project Context

## Project: ACME Platform — Backend Team

**Domain:** E-commerce order management and fulfillment platform.

**Tech Stack:**
- Backend: Python 3.11, FastAPI, Celery
- Database: PostgreSQL 15 (primary), Redis (cache/queue)
- Infrastructure: AWS EKS, Terraform

**Key Terminology:**
- "Order" = a confirmed customer purchase (not a cart)
- "Fulfillment" = warehouse picking, packing, and shipping
- "SLA breach" = any order not fulfilled within 48h of placement

**Workflows:**
- All services follow the hexagonal architecture pattern
- New endpoints must include OpenAPI docstrings and integration tests
- Database migrations use Alembic; never modify existing migration files

**Constraints:**
- Never suggest raw SQL queries; always use the ORM (SQLAlchemy)
- All secrets must be stored in AWS Secrets Manager, not environment variables
- API responses follow the `{data, meta, errors}` envelope format

Keep the Project Context focused on stable facts — things that rarely change. Avoid adding dynamic information (for example, current sprint goals or who is on-call this week), since outdated context can mislead the AI.

Per-Agent Override: Ignore Project Context

By default, every agent in the project receives the Project Context. If a specific agent should operate without it — for example, a general-purpose assistant whose responses should not be shaped by your domain terminology, or a utility agent that works across multiple projects — you can turn off the context for that agent individually using the Ignore Project Context option. The Ignore Project Context option is available both when creating a new agent and when editing an existing one. In both cases it is located in the ADVANCED section of the agent configuration form. To turn on the override:

Open the agent configuration — either select Create New Agent from the + menu in the chat toolbar, or open an existing agent for editing.
Expand the ADVANCED section.
Select Ignore Project Context.

“When turned on, this agent will not use the project background context in its responses.”

The Ignore Project Context checkbox only appears in the agent ADVANCED section when the feature is turned on by the platform. It has no effect if Project Context is already turned off at the project level.

Troubleshooting

'Project Context' tab is not visible in Settings

Confirm you have the models.project_context.view permission. Ask your project administrator to check your role.

Save button stays turned off after editing

Check the character counter below the editor. If the content exceeds 2,500 characters, the Save button is turned off until you reduce the length.
If the character count is within the limit, verify that you have made a change — the Save button is only turned on when unsaved changes exist.

Imported file was rejected

Only .md (Markdown) files are accepted by the Import button.
The file content must not exceed 2,500 characters. If the file is larger, trim it before importing or paste a condensed version directly into the editor.

Project Context is saved but AI responses have not changed

Confirm the turn-on toggle is on. If it is turned off, the context is not applied even though content is saved.
Verify the agent being used does not have Ignore Project Context selected in its ADVANCED settings.
Start a new conversation — existing conversations may not retroactively pick up context changes mid-session.

Ignore Project Context checkbox is missing in agent Advanced settings

The checkbox is only shown when the feature is turned on at the platform level. Contact your platform administrator if it is expected to appear but is missing.
Also verify you are editing a draft version of the agent — published versions are read-only.

Edit with AI button is not visible

The Edit with AI button only appears when content already exists. If the editor or saved view is empty, Build with AI is shown instead.
Confirm you have the models.project_context.edit permission. The button is hidden for view-only users.
If the Project Context is turned off (toggle off), the Edit with AI and Edit buttons in the saved view are turned off. Turn on Project Context first.

Edit with AI generates unexpected or irrelevant changes

Be specific in your description — include the section name and the exact change you want (for example, “Add a section describing our defect triage workflow and severity definitions”).
If the suggestion is partially correct, edit the right panel of the diff view directly before selecting Apply & Save.
Select Refine Prompt to go back and rewrite your description with more context.

Settings Overview — All available Settings sections and navigation
AI Configuration — Configure LLM models and AI configurations for the project
Create & Edit Agents from Canvas — Agent configuration including the Ignore Project Context option

Welcome to ELITEA

Key Concepts

Reference

Platform Overview

Consistent AI Behavior

Domain-Aware Responses

AI-Powered Editing

Per-Agent Override