Create Your First Project

Overview

Creating a project is the first real step in AlphaTales. A project represents a product idea, an app you want to build, or a feature set you want to plan. This guide walks you through the creation wizard, from naming your project to seeing its overview for the first time.

Opening the Project Wizard

There are two ways to start creating a project:

1. From the sidebar -- Click the New Project quick action button. It appears when you are not inside an existing project.
2. From the Projects page -- Look for the create button on the Projects listing page.

Both options take you to the same creation wizard.

Step 1: Enter the Project Name

At the top of the wizard, type a name for your project in the Project Name field.

• Keep it short and descriptive (up to 120 characters).
• Example: "Fitness Tracker MVP" or "Customer Portal Redesign".

This name appears throughout the platform -- in the sidebar, the project list, and anywhere teammates see your project.

Step 2: Write a Description

The Description field is where you explain what your project is about. Describe the problem you are solving, who the users are, and any goals or constraints.

• Minimum: a few sentences so the AI has enough context.
• Maximum: 1,000 characters.
• Example: "A mobile app for gym-goers to log workouts, track progress, and get personalized training plans. The target audience is beginners aged 18-35."

Enhancing Your Description with AI

Once you have typed at least three words, a magic wand icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the description box. Clicking it sends your text to the AI, which rewrites it to be clearer and more comprehensive.

• If you like the enhanced version, keep it and continue.
• If you prefer your original text, click the undo button that replaces the wand icon to revert.

Tip: The AI enhancement works best when you provide a rough draft with enough context. Even a few bullet points about your idea will produce a solid result.

Step 3: Choose Your Audience

Tell AlphaTales who your project is for. This is required and shapes every AI recommendation that follows.

Audience	When to Choose It
Internal	A tool built for your own team or organization.
External	A customer-facing product used by people outside your organization.

Selecting a Customer Type

If you choose External, a Customer type picker appears with four options:

• B2B -- You sell to other businesses.
• B2C -- You sell directly to consumers.
• B2B2C -- You power a platform that reaches end users through partners.
• Dev Tool -- You are building a library, SDK, or developer-facing tool.

Customer type is optional for external projects but recommended. AlphaTales uses it to fine-tune features, architecture, and PRD recommendations for your market.

Tip: The audience and customer type choices have a bigger impact than they look. Internal tools favor pragmatic, minimal architecture, while external B2B products weight multi-tenancy, integrations, and compliance. Choose accurately so the AI gives you the right advice.

Step 4: Choose Application Types

Select one or more application types that describe what you are building:

• Web -- A browser-based application.
• Mobile -- A native or cross-platform mobile app.
• Desktop -- A desktop application.
• API -- A backend service or API.
• Other -- Anything else (CLI tools, plugins, extensions, etc.).

If you select Other, a custom tags section appears where you can add up to five descriptive labels.

Warning: You must select at least one application type before you can create the project. The Create Project button stays disabled until all required fields are filled.

Step 5: Create the Project

Once all required fields are complete, click the Create Project button at the bottom of the page. You will see a brief loading state while your project is being set up.

If you change your mind, click Cancel to return to the Projects page without creating anything.

What Happens After Creation

After the project is created, you are taken into the guided AlphaTales workflow:

1. Project Breakdown -- Answer structured questions and turn the idea into a clearer product plan.
2. Market Research -- Generate market context, risks, opportunities, and research artifacts.
3. Workflow Alignment -- Answer alignment questions that connect the research to the product experience.
4. Application Workflow -- Map application flows, then generate detailed workflow nodes.
5. Feature Groups -- Choose the groups that should shape feature-title generation.
6. Features -- Generate grouped feature titles, select the right titles, and create feature details.
7. Technical Architecture -- Review architecture style, stack recommendations, and the high-level architecture diagram.
8. Dev Pack -- Bundle the planning material into a developer-ready package.

The sidebar updates to show these project-specific sections with status indicators. A checkmark means a step is complete, a dot means it is your current focus, and an empty circle means it has not been started yet.

Tip: You do not have to follow every page in strict order, but the workflow is designed so each step feeds into the next. Completing Project Breakdown and Market Research first gives the AI better context for everything downstream.

Next Steps

You now have a project ready to plan. Start with Project Breakdown, then continue through Market Research and the rest of the guided workflow.