Settings - Project Management

Project Management enables automatic loading of modified projects or newer project versions. When a newer or updated project file is found, Composer can automatically use the newer version without manual intervention.

Getting Started

Project Management monitors your project files and can automatically load newer versions when they become available. To use versioned project files, you must name them using a specific convention.

Step 1: Name Your Project File

Save your project using the versioning naming convention:

{ProjectName}-version-{NNNNNN}.prj

Where {NNNNNN} is a 6-digit zero-padded version number.

Example: Save your project as MyShow-version-000001.prj

Step 2: Enable Project Management

1. Open Settings > Project Management
2. Check Enable Project Management
3. Configure the additional options based on your workflow
4. Click OK

Step 3: Create New Versions

When you want to deploy an update, save a new project file with an incremented version number in the same directory:

• MyShow-version-000001.prj (original)
• MyShow-version-000002.prj (first update)
• MyShow-version-000003.prj (second update)

Composer detects the new file and loads it automatically based on your settings.

Important: Project Management does not create or rename project files. You must create versioned files manually or using an external tool or deployment pipeline.

Storage Location

Versioned project files must be stored in the same directory as your original project file. Composer scans this folder for files matching the versioning pattern.

Example:

C:\Projects\MyShow-version-000001.prj
C:\Projects\MyShow-version-000002.prj
C:\Projects\MyShow-version-000003.prj

Good to know:

• You can save projects anywhere — just keep all versions of the same project together in the same folder
• The Projects directory setting (in General settings) provides a default location but is not required
• Composer will not detect versioned files if they are stored in a different folder than the currently loaded project

Version Numbering Examples

Always use 6-digit zero-padded numbers to ensure correct sorting.

Settings

Enable Project Management

Turns project management features on or off.

• Default: On

When enabled, Composer monitors your project file for changes and can automatically detect and load modified projects or newer project versions based on the settings below. When disabled, all other Project Management settings become inactive and no file monitoring occurs.

Automatically start with the latest versioned

Controls whether Composer automatically loads the latest versioned project file when opening a project.

• Default: On

When enabled, Composer scans the project directory for versioned project files at startup and loads the highest version number instead of the originally specified file.

Reload project when a new version is detected

Controls whether Composer monitors the project file and reloads automatically when changes are detected.

• Default: On

When enabled, Composer watches the project file for modifications every 3 seconds. If changes are detected, Composer can automatically reload the updated version.

Enable API to reload newer versions

Controls whether external applications can trigger project reloads through the Composer API.

• Default: On

When enabled, the API exposes the /api/project/loadlatestversion endpoint, allowing external systems to trigger project reloads.

Allow loading of older project versions

Controls whether Composer permits loading project versions older than the currently loaded version.

• Default: On

When enabled, any project version can be loaded regardless of its version number. When disabled, only project versions with a higher version number than the currently loaded version are accepted.

How Project Management Works

File Monitoring

When Project Management is enabled, Composer continuously monitors your project file:

• Check interval: Every 3 seconds
• Detection methods: File timestamp comparison and version number comparison

The monitor detects three types of changes:

1. File modified — The project file's timestamp has changed since it was loaded
2. File missing — The project file has been deleted from disk
3. New version available — A versioned project file with a higher version number exists

Version Detection

When monitoring a versioned project file, Composer:

1. Extracts the base project name (everything before -version-)
2. Scans the directory for files matching {BaseName}-version-*.prj
3. Compares version numbers to find files with higher versions
4. Triggers a reload event if a newer version is found

Automatic Reloading

When a change is detected and the appropriate settings are enabled:

1. Composer identifies that the file has been modified or a new version exists
2. The updated project file is loaded automatically
3. The current project state is replaced with the new version

Important: Any unsaved changes in the current session may be lost when an automatic reload occurs.

Using the API

External applications can trigger Composer to load the latest project version using the HTTP API.

Request

http://[IP:PORT]/api/project/loadlatestversion

The port number is configured in Settings > Web API.

Requirements

For the API call to succeed, the following settings must be enabled:

• Enable Project Management must be checked
• Enable API to reload newer versions must be checked

Responses

Desktop version notifications

When project management is enabled, a notification icon in Composer will be shown if the project has been updated on disk.
The icon will appear to the left of the project name section:

Use Cases

Automated Deployment Pipeline

For workflows where an external system generates versioned project files:

1. Enable all Project Management settings
2. Name your project files using the versioning convention (e.g., LiveShow-version-000001.prj)
3. When your deployment system creates a new version (e.g., LiveShow-version-000002.prj), Composer automatically detects and loads it — or call the API to trigger the reload immediately

Development with External Editor

For iterative development where you edit project files externally:

1. Enable Project Management
2. Enable Reload project when a new version is detected
3. Composer automatically reloads when you save changes in your external editor

Live Production Environment

For live broadcast scenarios where stability is critical:

• Disable Project Management entirely, or
• Disable Reload project when a new version is detected to prevent unexpected reloads
• Load projects manually to maintain full control

Tips

• Disable for live production: In live broadcast scenarios where stability is critical, consider disabling Project Management to maintain full manual control over project loading.

• Use consistent versioning: Always use 6-digit zero-padded version numbers to ensure correct sorting (e.g., 000001, 000002, not 1, 2).

• Save before enabling: Before enabling automatic reloading on an existing project, save your current work to avoid losing unsaved changes.

• Monitor the logs: Composer logs all Project Management activity, including detected changes and reload events. Check the logs if automatic loading behaves unexpectedly.