# Projects

A Project is a workspace that groups related cloud resources (Compute Instances, networks, volumes, snapshots, load balancers, and more) under a single, shared boundary. Instead of resources living loosely under one account, a Project lets a team collaborate on a shared set of resources with its own membership and its own resource quotas.

Projects are a foundational concept: almost every resource you create (an instance, a network, a block storage volume) is assigned to a Project. If you’ve ever been asked to “Choose the Project” while creating a resource, that selector points here. Every account starts with a default Project. Create additional Projects to separate environments (e.g. `dev` vs `prd`), teams, or clients.

## Why use Projects

- Collaboration: add teammates so everyone views and manages the same resources without sharing one login.
- Separation: keep workloads isolated. A `dev` Project and a `prd` Project hold completely separate instances, networks, and volumes.
- Cost and quota control: set per-Project resource limits (account limits) so one team or environment does not consume more than its allocation.
- Organization: view resource lists, usage, and billing per Project to see what each team or environment is running.

## Create a New Project

- From the left-hand menu, click Projects.
- Click Create a New Project.
- Enter the project details:
  - Project Name: a short, recognizable name (e.g. `team-platform-prd`).
  - Project Description: what the Project is for.
  - Project Purpose: the intended use or owning team.
- Click Create Project. The Project is created and becomes available in the Project selector when you create resources.

![Create a New Project dialog with name, description, and purpose fields](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/_astro/projects-create-a-new-project.0YOGx4T2_ZhAKX2.webp)

## Project Resources

Once a Project is created, its overview shows the resources associated with it. From here you can see and manage everything the Project contains:

| Resource | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Compute Instance | Virtual servers for running applications or hosting websites. |
| VM Snapshot | Point-in-time capture of an instance’s state and data. |
| Backup | Managed backups that protect data and support business continuity. |
| Block Storage | Additional storage volumes attached to instances. |
| Network | Public and private (VPC) networking that connects and isolates resources. |
| Load Balancer | Distributes traffic across multiple instances for high availability. |

When you create any of these resources, you select the Project they belong to. See [Create a Compute Instance](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/create-instance/) for an example of the Project selector in action.

## Add Users to a Project

Invite teammates so they can collaborate on the Project’s resources.

- Open the Project and click Add Users to the Project.
- Use the search bar to find the user you want to add.
- Click Add to include them in the Project.

The added user can now view and manage resources within this Project.

![Add Users to the Project view with the search bar and Add action](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/_astro/projects-add-users-to-a-project.BiQYb4S-_ZMY5RA.webp)

## Set Account Limits and Quotas

Account limits cap how much of each resource a Project can consume, per Location. Use them to prevent runaway usage and to allocate capacity fairly across teams or environments.

- Open the Project and go to the Project Account Limit section. Here you can see the current limit and usage for each resource.
- Select the Location you want to set limits for.
- Click Edit Account Limit to open the Assign a Quota to the Project page.
- Choose the Location and the specific Resource whose quota you want to change.
- Enter the desired Quota Limit.

Setting a quota limit to `-1` grants unlimited quota for that resource.

- Click Submit to apply the new limit.

![Project Account Limit section showing per-resource quota and usage by Location](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/_astro/projects-set-account-limits-and-quotas.FB_dJsjy_fivTP.webp)

## Next steps

- [Create a Compute Instance](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/compute/create-instance/): deploy your first VM into a Project.
- [Quickstart](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/getting-started/quickstart/): go from zero to a running, reachable VM.
- [Networking](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/networking/public-network/create/): give your Project’s resources connectivity.