# Is it possible to have a Projects folder outside of ~/.node-red

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [4 August 2020 11:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130 "2020-08-04T11:24:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gromain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gromain/32/55704_2.png) [@gromain](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gromain)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 11:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/1 "2020-08-04T11:24:01Z")

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Hello,

I'm using Node-Red for a plankton microscope, and we just discovered the projects feature!

I was wondering if it was possible to have the project folder is not hidden down in the `.node-red` folder? It would make it easier for our workflow of pushing changes / commiting changes to our main repo as right now, we have to use Export and Import and this is a real pain (since it changes the nodes id, it's impossible to know what changes have been made).

Sincerely,  
Romain

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**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 12:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/2 "2020-08-04T12:15:33Z")

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Hi @gromain

no, the project has to live under `~/.node-red/projects/<name-of-project>`

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**Author:** ![gromain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gromain/32/55704_2.png) [@gromain](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gromain)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 12:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/3 "2020-08-04T12:20:05Z")

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Ok, that's a bummer (but it makes sense in a way).

Would a symbolic link from here to where we want it work?

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**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 12:31 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/4 "2020-08-04T12:31:23Z")

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> [@gromain](#):
>
> Would a symbolic link from here to where we want it work?

Not something I've tried, but I can't immediately think why not.

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**Author:** ![gromain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gromain/32/55704_2.png) [@gromain](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gromain)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 13:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/5 "2020-08-04T13:28:46Z")

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I've just tried, and for now it looks like node-red doesn't follow symbolic links for projects.

Here are my steps:

```auto
~$ ln -s /home/pi/projecttest /home/pi/.node-red/projects/projecttest

```

Then in Node-Red, the folder projecttest doesn't appear when I want to select it.

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**Author:** ![zenofmud](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/zenofmud/32/316_2.png) [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 13:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/6 "2020-08-04T13:38:47Z")

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why not use  
`ln -s /home/pi/.node-red/projects/projecttest /home/pi/projecttest`  
i.e first comes the path to the folder then comes the shortlink name so you leave the project alone but you hav access to the folder using your short link

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**Author:** ![gromain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gromain/32/55704_2.png) [@gromain](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gromain)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 13:45 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/7 "2020-08-04T13:45:33Z")

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Yes, this is what I ended up doing.

It would still be nice to have a way to have projects in other folders than the main `.node-red` one. I'll put in a github issue about that.

Thanks for the help!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 13:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/8 "2020-08-04T13:48:28Z")

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> [@gromain](#):
>
> I'll put in a github issue about that.

We don't use the github issue list for feature requests.

I have added an item to the backlog for the projects feature - [Trello](https://trello.com/c/YToVqUMV)

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**Author:** ![gromain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gromain/32/55704_2.png) [@gromain](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gromain)\
**Post date:** [4 August 2020 13:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/9 "2020-08-04T13:49:39Z")

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Ah OK, perfect then! Thanks a lot!

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [3 October 2020 13:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/is-it-possible-to-have-a-projects-folder-outside-of-node-red/31130/10 "2020-10-03T13:49:49Z")

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