Projects
Group sessions that share transcription settings and invite collaborators.
A project is a folder for your sessions that also remembers a set of default transcription settings, so every new session inside it starts configured the same way. Projects can be kept entirely to yourself or shared with collaborators, each with their own level of access, making them the natural place to work on a body of recordings as a team.
Projects at a glance
- Shared defaults: Language hints, translation, audio quality, timeout, and context are set once and inherited by every new session.
- Collaborators: Invite people by email and give each one a viewer, editor, or admin role.
- Sub-projects: Group related projects one level deep, for example a client with a project per engagement.
- Stay consistent: Spot sessions that drift from your defaults and reset them in one bulk action.
- Shared with me: Find every project others have given you access to in one place.
Projects and workspaces are different tools. A workspace is a personal sidebar folder just for tidying your own view, it is never shared. A project carries shared transcription settings and can be shared with collaborators. You can group projects inside a workspace, but only projects bring people and settings together.
Create a project
From the project list you can rename a project inline (with a confirmation step), reorder projects in the sidebar, and delete a project. Each project shows its session count and collaborator count so you can see its scope at a glance.
Deleting a project does not delete its sessions. The recordings stay safe in your account, they simply become standalone (unassigned) and lose their project grouping. Deleting a project that has sub-projects removes those sub-projects too, and their sessions become standalone in the same way.
Sub-projects
A project can contain sub-projects, so a client, department, or programme can hold a project per engagement instead of one long flat list. Nesting goes exactly one level deep: a sub-project cannot have sub-projects of its own.
A sub-project is a full project. It has its own name, description, sessions, context, and collaborators, it just sits inside another one.
What a sub-project inherits
| Inherited | How it behaves |
|---|---|
| Access | Everyone who can see the parent can see its sub-projects, at the same role. A sub-project can add its own collaborators, and a higher role there wins. |
| Context | A sub-project with no context of its own uses the parent's. Give it its own context to override. |
| Workspace | Always the parent's. It moves with the parent. |
Sessions can sit directly on a parent or in any of its sub-projects. Opening a parent lists its own sessions and, with Include sub-projects switched on, those of its sub-projects as well. The session count you see next to a project in the table is the whole tree: the project's own sessions plus its sub-projects'.
Sub-projects count towards your plan's project limit like any other project, because each one is a full project with its own members and context.
Only the project owner can create sub-projects or move a project into another one. Collaborators, even admins, work inside the structure rather than rearranging it.
Default settings every session inherits
Open a project and set its defaults once. Every session created inside the project starts with these values already applied, so you never have to reconfigure the same options session after session.
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Source language hints | The languages the project expects, to improve transcription accuracy. |
| Default target language | The language for one-way translation. |
| Default language pair | The two languages used for two-way translation. |
| Audio quality mode | Enhanced (echo cancellation, noise suppression, auto-gain) or Raw (a good mic in a quiet room). |
| Session timeout | How long sessions may run, from 1 to 480 minutes (15 minutes by default). |
| Context | Free-text session context up to 2,000 characters, or a saved context template. |
Context text and a context template are mutually exclusive, pick one. Attaching domain vocabulary (names, jargon, product terms) at the project level means every interview, lecture, or meeting in that project benefits from the same accuracy boost without re-typing it.
Common ways to use project defaults
- Recurring meeting series: A weekly standup that always transcribes in the same language with the same translation.
- Field research: Keep every session on Enhanced mode so interviews recorded on location come out clean.
- Specialized vocabulary: Attach a context template with study terms so each session recognizes domain words.
Keep sessions consistent with reset-to-defaults
If someone changes a session's settings away from the project's defaults, Kalima flags it as a diverged session and shows you a count. You can review exactly what differs, mode, target language, language pair, audio quality, or session timeout, and bulk-reset selected or all sessions back to the project defaults in one action.
A reset overwrites a session's custom settings with the project defaults, so review the differences first. Editing project settings and resetting diverged sessions both require at least the editor role.
Invite collaborators
Share a project so a team can work on the same set of sessions, each with the right level of access. Invite people by email and choose a role; they receive an email link to accept.
Project roles
The person who created the project is its owner (this role is implicit and cannot be reassigned through the collaborator list). Everyone else gets one of three roles:
| Role | View sessions | Create sessions & edit settings | Manage collaborators | Delete project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewer | Yes | No | No | No |
| Editor | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Admin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Owner | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A few rules keep access safe:
- Only project admins and the owner can invite or manage collaborators.
- Only the owner can add, change, or remove other admins.
- You cannot change your own role.
- You cannot invite yourself or the project owner, and a duplicate pending invite for the same email is blocked.
Invitations expire after 7 days. The invite must be accepted from the same email address it was sent to, if it expired or was already used, just send a fresh one.
Shared-with-me projects
Projects other people have shared with you appear in a dedicated Shared with me section, showing the owner's name, your role, and the session count. Open one to work within the access you were granted. Any collaborator can also leave a project they no longer need access to.
On most plans you can add as many collaborators as you like. Some plans can be configured with a collaborator cap, if you reach it, new invites are declined with a prompt to upgrade. See plans and pricing for what your plan includes.
How many projects can I have?
Project limits depend on your plan.
| Plan | Projects |
|---|---|
| Free | Up to 10 |
| Plus | Up to 300 |
| Pro | Unlimited |
| Team | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | Unlimited |
Sub-projects count towards the same limit. If you hit it, delete a project you no longer need to free up room, or upgrade to a higher tier.
Frequently asked questions
A workspace is a personal sidebar folder just for grouping your own projects, it is private to you and never shared. A project is a folder of sessions that also carries shared transcription settings and can be shared with collaborators. Use workspaces to tidy your own view and projects to collaborate on sets of sessions.
Viewer has read-only access to the project's sessions. Editor can view, create sessions, and edit the project's settings. Admin can do everything an editor can plus manage other collaborators. The owner (the creator) has full control, including deleting the project, and is the only role that can add, change, or remove other admins.
A session is marked diverged when its settings no longer match the project's defaults, for example a different language, audio quality, or timeout. Open the diverged sessions dialog to see exactly what differs and bulk-reset those sessions back to the project defaults.
Common reasons: an invitation for that email is already pending, you tried to invite yourself or the project owner, the email address is invalid, or a configured collaborator cap has been reached. The error message will tell you which.
Yes, one level deep. A project can hold sub-projects, but a sub-project cannot hold further ones. Everyone who can see the parent can see its sub-projects at the same role, and a sub-project with no context of its own uses the parent's.
Nothing is lost. Deleting a project leaves all of its sessions in your account, they simply become standalone and unassigned, losing only their project grouping. If the project had sub-projects, those are deleted as well, and their sessions become standalone in exactly the same way.
The count next to a project covers its whole tree, its own sessions plus every sub-project's, while the table inside it starts with what is filed there directly. Switch on Include sub-projects to see all of them together.
The invite link is tied to the exact email it was sent to and expires after 7 days. Make sure they sign in with that same email address. If the invitation expired or was already accepted, declined, or revoked, send a fresh one.