Project lifecycle
A project usually moves through several phases even when Starfire does not expose those phases as formal status values.
1. Create
Define ownership, name, durable instructions, and the initial collaborators or organization context.
2. Build context
Add the resources the project needs:
- relevant conversations
- files
- Knowledge sources
- repositories
- research outputs
- agents or workflows
Avoid importing unrelated material simply because it might be useful someday.
3. Active work
Use the project as the context boundary for related Chat, Research, FORGE, and automation work.
Review project instructions whenever requirements change materially.
4. Maintenance
Long-running projects need maintenance:
- refresh repository Knowledge
- replace stale documents
- remove duplicated sources
- review member access
- review automation
- remove obsolete instructions
- inspect storage and artifact retention
5. Completion
When the main objective is complete, capture important final decisions and outputs in durable resources rather than leaving them only in one chat.
6. Archive
If archiving is available, archive projects that are no longer active but still valuable for reference. Archived work should remain distinct from active projects so navigation and retrieval stay focused.
7. Delete
Delete only when the project and dependent resources are no longer needed.
Before deletion, check:
- downloadable artifacts
- Knowledge sources
- organization ownership requirements
- automation
- developer integrations
- legal or business retention requirements that apply to your organization
Deleting a project can affect access to dependent project resources. Do not treat deletion as a way to clean up a sidebar until you have reviewed what the project owns.