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Settings & Backups

In short

Settings is the one place where you adapt TensorPM to how you work: appearance, language, how much the AI does on its own, currency, work breakdown structure, and the backup of your database. The dialog has exactly three tabs: General, AI, and Info. A backup captures the TensorPM database, which means every project, action item, person, budget, and setting. It does not capture the files in your project folder. This article walks through every group and every switch, and closes with a data-protection routine that holds up in daily work.

When you need this

  • You want the interface in English or German, or you prefer the light theme.
  • You want to know which AI features run on their own, and switch some of them off.
  • You want to know where your project files sit on disk, or move them to another drive.
  • You are about to do a large import, restructure a project, or change devices, and want a backup first.
  • You broke something and want an earlier state back.
  • Support asks for your version, your log files, or a support bundle.

Opening Settings

At the bottom left of the sidebar there are three icons next to each other: the account button, the bug-report button, and a gear. Click the gear. Its tooltip reads Open settings. A panel titled Settings opens with the tab bar General, AI, Info.

You do not need to go through the account button first. Account, subscription, and credits live in the account popover, not in Settings. See Account & AI modes.

All settings apply to TensorPM on this device. They are not synced to the cloud. Only the few entries that explicitly belong to the open project (see Project Settings and Currency) travel with the project.

The General tab

The General tab is a stack of collapsible groups. Click a heading to open or close it. Two groups appear only while a project is open.

The General tab in Settings, showing the collapsible groups from Your name through Database Backup.
The General tab in Settings, showing the collapsible groups from Your name through Database Backup.

Your name

Your display name. The project agent uses it when you allow that (see the Address Me by My Name switch), and it shows up on entries you create. Use the name your team knows you by.

Appearance

Control Default What it does
Show Row Borders on Draws thin separators between rows in lists and tables. Off looks calmer but makes long tables harder to scan.
Show Animations on Fades panels and menus in. Turning this off helps on an older machine.
Theme Use system setting Choose between Use system setting, Light, and Dark.
Compact Sidebar off Renders the left navigation as a narrow icon rail. Labels still appear on hover. Useful on small screens.
Simplified Priority Scale off Shows priorities from 1 to 10 instead of 1 to 100. Display only: internally the AI keeps using the finer scale.

AI

This group controls what the AI does without being asked. Every switch you turn on can consume AI credits when TensorPM is your provider.

Control Default What it does
Address Me by My Name on The project agent addresses you by your display name.
Automatic AI Prioritization on Scores new or edited action items in the background and sets their AI priority. Turn it off if you want to assign priorities yourself.
Daily Project Status Review off Once a day, reviews status, progress, and risks of the active project as soon as an AI provider is reachable.
Proactive Project Check-ins off The project agent reviews active projects on a schedule and raises a system notification when something deserves your attention. Pro or Business only.
Auto Relevance Check for Intakes off Runs a small, inexpensive AI check on incoming connector emails and moves obvious noise to Ignored Signals with a reason. Restorable at any time.
Tag AI-Created Items with [AI] off New action items and categories created by the AI get [AI] in their title. Affects new entries only.

The first time you enable Proactive Project Check-ins, the note Before you enable check-ins appears. It tells you that each scheduled check-in costs one AI request per active project and that project context is sent to your selected AI provider. The schedule only starts after you confirm with Enable check-ins.

Once the switch is on, more fields appear below it:

  • Frequency: Twice daily, Daily, Every 2 days, Weekly. The default is Daily.
  • Check-in time, default 07:30. With Twice daily a Second check-in time is added.
  • Weekday, only with Weekly. Default Monday.
  • Manual check-in with the Run now button. It runs once and leaves the schedule alone.
  • A note that system notifications must be allowed for TensorPM, with an Open settings button on macOS and Windows.

System

Setting Default What it does
Restore Session on Startup on Reopens every project tab that was open when you last quit.
Language System System, English, or Deutsch. System follows your operating system.
Update Channel Stable Stable installs finished releases only. Beta installs pre-release builds with early features that may still have rough edges. On a machine that carries real projects, stay on Stable.
Advanced Project Settings collapsed A button that reveals the project folder. It then switches to Hide.
Guided Tour none The Start tutorial button replays the introduction tour. You can repeat it any time.

Work Breakdown Structure

Here you switch the work breakdown structure (WBS) on and off, pick a template such as Construction / trades or Start empty, and set the Code scheme. With WBS active, the Work Packages area appears in the left navigation. Disabling keeps all fields, so you can switch back safely. The full flow, including confirming with Apply and activate, is described in Work packages & WBS.

Communication Tools

Four switches: Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal. All off by default. They do not open a connection and send nothing. They only add entries to the context menu in the People view so you can message a person directly. Teams and Slack need a stored email address, WhatsApp and Signal need a phone number. See Resources & people.

Project Settings

This group appears only while a project is open and applies to that project alone. It holds one switch: Show Available Effort/Budget, off by default. Turned on, the action item view also shows how much effort and budget are still free.

Currency

This group also needs an open project.

  • Display Currency: the currency amounts are shown in.
  • Show Currency Symbols: off shows codes such as EUR, on shows symbols. The code is the default.
  • Update Exchange Rates Automatically: off by default. Turned on, TensorPM fetches daily reference rates from a free service. Only currency codes leave your machine, and rates are cached locally for 24 hours. These are reference rates, not trading rates.
  • Advanced Currency Settings reveals Storage Currency (default EUR) and the Refresh Exchange Rates button.

Important: Changing the Storage Currency converts all existing data. The app warns you with Warning: Changing this converts all existing data. Create a backup first.

Database Backup

The last group in the General tab. It holds the Create Backup and Restore Backup buttons, a line telling you how many backups are available, an Open Folder button, and a list of the five most recent backups with date, app version, and operating system. The details follow below.

The project folder

Where your projects live

TensorPM keeps two things strictly apart:

  1. The database. It holds all structured data: projects, action items, work packages, people, budgets, decisions, trail, and your settings. It lives in the application data folder and is what a backup captures.
  2. The project folder. An ordinary folder on your disk holding the files that belong to a project: drawings, minutes, quotes, photos, generated documents. You can open it in Finder or Explorer, and you see it in the Files view.

There is a default project folder for new projects, and optionally a dedicated folder per project.

Viewing and changing the folder

  1. Open Settings -> General -> System.
  2. Click Advanced Project Settings.
  3. A field shows the current path. With a project open it is labelled Project Folder (<project name>), otherwise Project Folder (Default).
  4. Clicking the path field opens that folder in Finder or Explorer.
  5. The Change Project Folder button (without an open project: Change Default Project Folder) opens your operating system's folder picker.
  6. If a project has its own folder, Use Default Folder appears as well. It removes the exception and the project falls back to the default folder.

After changing the default folder the app reports: Default project folder updated. Please restart TensorPM for the change to fully take effect.

What to watch out for

  • Changing the folder moves no files. TensorPM simply points at the new location from now on. Existing files stay where they were. If you want them to come along, copy them yourself in Finder or Explorer first.
  • Network drives and cloud folders work, but are delicate. A folder in OneDrive, Dropbox, or on a server share is fine as long as it is reachable when the app starts. If it is not, you see empty file lists. Also check whether your employer allows it.
  • One folder per project keeps things clean. Do not point several projects at the same folder.
  • The project folder is not part of the database backup. That is the single most important point here, and the reason for the section further down.

How TensorPM reads, summarises, and tracks files is described in Files, signals & trail.

The AI tab

The AI tab decides which AI provider does the work and which extra tools are available. Which groups you see depends on your plan.

The AI tab in Settings with AI Provider Settings and the remaining groups.
The AI tab in Settings with AI Provider Settings and the remaining groups.

AI Provider Settings

Under Preferred AI Provider you choose who answers AI requests, and under Preferred Model which model that provider uses. With Anthropic an extra Thinking switch appears, allowing more thorough reasoning.

If TensorPM is the active provider and you are signed in, your credit balance shows here as well. If no provider is set up at all, the note AI features not available: lists the routes open to you. What those routes are and what they cost is covered in Account & AI modes.

Subscriptions & Agents

This is where you sign in with an existing Claude or ChatGPT subscription and enable external agents that TensorPM may hand coding and repository work to. Credentials stay with the local application that owns them. See Agent integrations.

Browser Use

Enables local, AI-driven browser automation. The group checks the prerequisites and offers to install what is missing. The Headless switch decides whether the browser runs invisibly in the background. Turn Headless off when you want to watch what the agent does.

Local AI Server

Connects TensorPM to a local or OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as Ollama, LM Studio, or vLLM. You enter the address, test the connection, and pick a model. Everything then stays on your machine.

These two groups appear on the Business plan only. Under AI Keys you store your own keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Mistral. The Encryption switch decides whether those keys are also encrypted locally. Keys go straight to the provider and never to TensorPM servers. Under Web Search you add a Brave Search API Key, which is used automatically once it is valid.

Rate Limits

Also Business only, and only with your own keys. Here you cap requests per minute and tokens per minute per provider, either by hand or through the Detect button, which reads the values from the provider's own responses.

The Info tab

The Info tab is the reference desk: version, legal, and support. It has three sections.

About

Shows the logo and the line Version <number>. Next to it sits the update state. You may see Checking for updates..., You have the latest version, Update to <version> available, Downloading... <percent>%, and Restart once an update has finished downloading. The Check for Updates button forces a check and ignores earlier reminders. On network trouble you get No connection with a Retry button.

Which channel is checked follows the Update Channel setting in the General tab.

Three links that open in your browser: Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Legal Notice.

More

  • Open Logs Folder: opens the folder holding the application log files. They record what the app did last. This is the first place to look when support asks for detail.
  • Export Support Bundle: opens the Export Support Bundle dialog, which produces a ZIP file with diagnostic information. Credentials and keys are not included. The Include AI conversation logs checkbox is deliberately separate, because those logs contain your project content. Tick it only when the issue is AI related. After the export the app reveals the file in Finder or Explorer.
  • Report Bug: opens the bug report form straight from the app.
  • Uninstall App: opens the uninstall dialog with the Remove all project files and Remove database options and the safety prompt where you type CONFIRM. The full procedure per operating system is described in Uninstall.

Important: Check where you save a support bundle before you send it, and send it only to the intended recipient.

Danger Zone

With a project open, a red-tinted Danger Zone section appears at the bottom of the dialog with a Delete Project button. It removes the open project. Create a backup first if you are not entirely sure.

Creating a backup

What a backup contains

A backup is a single file with the extension .gitdbackup. It contains a compressed, complete copy of the TensorPM database plus a little header information: database version, creation time, app version, operating system, and a checksum.

That covers:

  • every project with its context, goals, scope, risks, and milestones
  • every action item, work package, dependency, and date
  • people, budgets, materials, and expenses
  • decisions and the entire trail
  • your app settings

The app puts it plainly: Backup includes all projects, tasks, and settings. Restore will replace all current data.

What a backup does not contain

  • The files in your project folder. Drawings, minutes, photos, and generated documents are ordinary files on disk. The database backup does not touch them.
  • Logins and keys in your operating system's secure storage. After restoring on another device you sign in again.
  • The cloud state of other devices. A backup is a snapshot of this one machine at one moment.

Step by step

  1. Open Settings -> General -> Database Backup.
  2. Click Create Backup. The button reads Creating… while it works.
  3. Your operating system's save dialog opens. It suggests the TensorPM Backups folder inside your documents and a file name made of backup_ plus a timestamp, for example backup_2026-08-09T10-15-00-000Z.gitdbackup.
  4. You can change folder and name. A name that states the occasion helps later, for example 2026-08-09-before-wbs-rebuild.gitdbackup. Keep the .gitdbackup extension.
  5. Confirm. A short success message appears.
  6. How you know it worked: the list under the buttons now shows the new backup with date, app version, and operating system. Open Folder takes you to the folder.

The list in Settings only reads the default TensorPM Backups folder, and shows at most the five newest entries there. Backups you save elsewhere work exactly the same, they just do not appear in that list.

Good moments for a backup:

  • before a large import or a restructuring of the project
  • before moving a project into a different workspace
  • before changing the Storage Currency
  • before deleting a project or a workspace
  • before switching devices
  • before a major update while a critical project is running

Restoring a backup

Create a fresh backup first

A restore replaces all current data with the state from the file. Everything you did since that backup is gone afterwards. So the rule has no exceptions: create a fresh backup of the current state first, then restore. That way you can undo your decision.

Step by step

  1. Stop active work. Wait until cloud sync reports Live and no uploads are pending. See Cloud Sync.
  2. Create a backup of the current state as described above.
  3. Open Settings -> General -> Database Backup and click Restore Backup.
  4. Pick the .gitdbackup file in the file dialog. Check its date and time.
  5. If the backup was created with a newer database version, the app warns you and asks whether to continue. When in doubt, cancel and update TensorPM first.
  6. Confirm. TensorPM automatically creates a safety copy of the current state, verifies the file's checksum, and writes it back.
  7. Restart TensorPM when asked to.
  8. Open your most important projects and check the latest changes. The restore is only really finished once that looks right.

If you share a cloud workspace with others, agree the restore with the team beforehand. Do not push an old state back while other devices keep writing changes, or two states will fight each other.

What the app protects in the background

  • Before writing, TensorPM creates a safety copy of the current state in the temporary folder.
  • While writing, the checksum is verified. If it does not match, the app stops and tells you the file may be corrupted.
  • If the restore fails midway, TensorPM automatically rolls back to the safety copy.

That is an emergency brake, not a substitute for your own backup. The safety copy lives in the temporary folder and is deleted after a successful restore.

What a backup does not replace

A database backup protects against one kind of failure: you broke something inside TensorPM and want to go back. It does not protect against a dead machine, theft, ransomware, or the loss of your project files. And a backup sitting on the same disk as the original is just as gone as everything else when that disk dies.

A data-protection routine for daily work

What works in practice, in this order:

  1. Use your organisation's file storage. Put the project folder where your IT already backs things up: a network share, a document management system, or a company-approved cloud folder. That covers the actual project documents without any effort on your part.
  2. Include the TensorPM database. Make sure the TensorPM Backups folder inside your documents is part of your machine's backup. Time Machine, Windows File History, or whatever your IT runs is enough.
  3. Keep one backup in a second location. At least one copy must not sit on the same device. An external disk you unplug after the copy, or a server folder, will do.
  4. A manual backup before every risky action. Restructuring, importing, deleting, currency changes, device changes.
  5. A dated backup once a week for an active local-only project. In a cloud workspace you also have a synced copy, but sync is not a backup: a deleted entry is deleted on every device.
  6. A restore test once a quarter. Take a recent backup and at least check that the app can select and read it. A backup that has never been tested is a hope, not a plan.
  7. Before switching devices, back up, verify, and only then sign out of your accounts.

The old rule of three still holds: three copies, on two different media, one of them off site.

What happens behind the scenes

Technically a backup is a compressed copy of the database file plus a little metadata. TensorPM briefly closes the database, reads the file, calculates a checksum, packs everything together, and reopens the database. Depending on how much data you have this takes a few seconds, during which the app is busy.

A restore runs the same path backwards: unpack, compare the checksum, write the file back, reopen the database, and verify that the restored database is valid. Only when that check passes does the app report success.

Your settings live in the same database. That is why a restore brings your settings back too.

Common questions

Are my settings the same on all devices? No. Settings are per device and are not synced. On a new machine you set them again, or you restore a backup.

Are my project files included in a backup? No. A backup holds the database only. Files in the project folder need their own file backup.

How large does a backup file get? It grows with the amount of project data. Because it is compressed it usually stays in the single or low double-digit megabyte range. Large attachments do not inflate it, because files do not live in the database.

Can I restore a backup made on a Mac onto a Windows machine? Yes. The file records the operating system it was made on, but the content is platform independent. Check your project folder paths afterwards, since they look different on each system.

Does TensorPM delete old backups on its own? Not automatically during normal use. Tidy the TensorPM Backups folder yourself now and then, and keep a few dated states.

Does cloud sync replace a backup? No. Sync keeps devices at the same state, including a broken one. A backup preserves an older state you can return to.

What happens to my AI credits if I restore an old backup? Nothing. Credits and subscription live with your account on the server, not in the local database.

Do I need to be signed in to create a backup? No. Backup and restore work entirely locally, on the Trial plan and without internet.

When something goes wrong

Create Backup seems to do nothing. The save dialog may be hiding behind the main window. Check your windows. The button reads Creating… while it works.

A message says another operation is already in progress. A backup or restore is still running. Wait for it to finish and try again. Never start two at once.

The restore reports a corrupted file. The checksum does not match the content, which means the file was damaged while being copied or transferred. Use another file from your set.

The app warns about a newer database version. The backup came from a newer TensorPM version than the one installed. Cancel, update TensorPM via Settings -> Info -> Check for Updates, and try again.

The list shows no backup although I created one. The list only reads the TensorPM Backups folder inside your documents. If you saved elsewhere, use the file dialog in Restore Backup and pick the file by hand.

Files disappeared after I changed the project folder. They did not disappear. Changing the folder moves nothing. Set the folder back or copy the files to the new location. For a single project, Use Default Folder helps.

The AI groups are missing from the AI tab. AI Keys, Web Search, and Rate Limits exist on the Business plan only. The other routes are described in Account & AI modes.

Cloud projects are missing after a restore, or sync stalls. The restore replaced the local state. Check your login and the sync status, and let synchronisation run through. The steps are in Cloud Sync and Troubleshooting.

Next steps

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Encryption & security
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Uninstall & reset
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