# Projects

Spyder allows users to associate a given directory with a project. This has two main advantages:

1. Projects remember the list of open files in Editor. This permits to easily work on several coding efforts at the same time.
2. The project’s path is added to the list of paths Python looks modules for, so that modules developed as part of a project can be easily imported in any console.

To create a project, it is necessary to select the New Project entry from the Projects menu:

When a project is activated, the Project explorer pane is shown, which presents a tree view structure of the current project

Through this pane it is possible to make several operations on the files that belong to project

Note

Projects are completely optional and not imposed on users, i.e. users can work without creating any project.

## Version Control Integration

Spyder has limited integration with Git and Mercurial. Commit and browse commands are available by right-clicking on relevant files that reside within an already initialized repository. This menu assume that certain commands are available on the system path.

- For Mercurial repositories, TortoiseHG must be installed, and either `thg` or `hgtk` must be on the system path.
- For git repositories, the commands `git` and `gitk` must be on the system path. For Windows systems, the Git for Windows package provides a convenient installer and the option to place common git commands on the system path without creating conflicts with Windows system tools. The second option in the dialog below is generally a safe approach.