---
title: "Set project-wide chat defaults"
description: "Choose the model, language, style, instructions, and document behavior for chats in a project."
canonical: "https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/settings/"
markdown: "https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/settings.md"
---

# Set project-wide chat defaults

HTML: [https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/settings/](https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/settings/)

> Choose the model, language, style, instructions, and document behavior for chats in a project.

Project chat settings keep related conversations consistent. They affect future messages in a project's chats; they do not rewrite messages that are already in the conversation.

## Open project settings

Expand the project in the chat sidebar and select **Settings**. Find **Project Chat Settings**, then turn it on. In a shared project, this section is named **Shared Project Settings**.

Changes save automatically. The section's **Enabled** or **Disabled** badge tells you whether its defaults are active.

## Choose the defaults

Set only the fields that should be consistent across the project:

- **Model** — chooses the default from the models available to your account.
- **Language** — sets the language Bearly should use in its replies.
- **Response Style** — applies a response preset, or **Default** for the standard style.
- **Temperature** — adjusts how focused or varied responses can be. Use **Factual** (0.5), **Default** (1.0), **Creative** (1.5), or the slider from 0 to 2. Values above 1.5 can produce incoherent output.
- **Instructions** — gives Bearly durable guidance for this project. Include the goal, audience, important constraints, and preferred output—not secrets or information better kept in a source file.
- **Disable Personalization** — ignores your account-level personalization in this project.
- **Always Search Documents** — searches project documents before responding. This is useful when most questions depend on the project's source collection, but it can add unnecessary work to unrelated questions.

For example, project instructions might say:

> Write for an informed general reader. Distinguish facts from assumptions, preserve cited figures exactly, and flag conflicts between the source documents.

## Control individual overrides

The lock beside **Model**, **Language**, **Response Style**, **Temperature**, **Instructions**, and **Always Search Documents** controls whether those settings can be changed later for an individual chat.

- An open-lock icon means a chat can override the project default.
- A closed-lock icon means users cannot change that field in a chat.

Lock only the settings that truly need to remain consistent. A team policy can also disable or lock a field; when that happens, the setting is dimmed and marked **Disabled by policy.**

## Settings in a shared project

Writers and owners can change **Shared Project Settings**. Readers can use the project but cannot change its shared defaults.

Each collaborator also gets **Personal Chat Settings**. When enabled, these preferences apply only to that person and can override unlocked shared defaults. A shared lock or team policy still takes precedence.

The **Skills** section controls Skills available to chats in the project. Writers and owners can change the list when their account policy permits it; other collaborators can still use shared Skills that are already attached.

## Sync a local directory on desktop

In the Bearly desktop app, writers and owners may also see **Local Directory Sync** on this page. Select **Add Directory**, then:

1. Select **Browse** and choose a folder.
2. Decide whether **Auto-remove** should remove project copies when their source files disappear.
3. Set **Max file size** and, if useful, a comma-separated **File types** filter such as `.md, .txt, .pdf`.
4. Select **Create Sync**.

Use **Sync now** to run a source immediately or **Configure sync** to change its filters. Removing a sync does not remove files already copied into the project. This section is unavailable outside the desktop app or when project-file changes are restricted.

## If a setting does not take effect

- Confirm the section says **Enabled**.
- Check whether the field is marked **Disabled by policy.**
- In a shared project, review **Personal Chat Settings** for an unlocked personal override.
- Confirm the chat is actually inside the project—the project-name chip appears below its composer.
- For document-grounded answers, confirm the files have finished processing in **Docs & Data**.

Related: [Add files to a project](https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/documents.md)

## Continue through the documentation

- [Documentation index](https://bearly.ai/docs.md): Browse every Bearly guide.
- [Previous: Protect a project with a password](https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/encryption.md)
- [Next: Share a project with your team](https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/collaboration.md)
- [Related: Add files to a project](https://bearly.ai/docs/projects/documents.md)