Mastering AI for Side Projects: Creating Custom Contexts for Your Workflow

If you've used ChatGPT or Claude for your side projects, you know the frustration: every new conversation starts from scratch. You spend the first few messages explaining your project, its tech stack, current challenges, and goals. By the time the AI understands your context, you've wasted valuable tokens and time.

What if your AI assistant already knew your project inside and out? That's what custom contexts are for.

The Problem: Context Amnesia

Traditional AI chats suffer from context amnesia. Each conversation is isolated:

• You explain your project structure repeatedly
• You re-describe your tech stack and dependencies
• You clarify your goals and constraints over and over
• You lose conversation history when switching topics

For side project builders, this is especially painful. You're not building generic apps—you have unique requirements, specific architectures, and particular challenges.

The Solution: Custom Contexts

Custom contexts are pre-configured AI prompts that include:

• Your project description: What you're building and why
• Technical details: Stack, architecture, key decisions
• Your preferences: Coding style, frameworks, patterns you prefer
• Current challenges: What you're working on right now
• Goals: What you want to achieve

Think of it as giving your AI assistant a briefing document before every conversation.

How Custom Contexts Work in SideProjectBuddy

1. Built-in Contexts (That You Can Customize)

SideProjectBuddy comes with pre-built contexts for common tasks:

• Default Chat: General project assistance
• Blog Posts: SEO-optimized content generation
• Social Media: Tweet and post creation
• Code Review: Technical feedback and suggestions

But here's the key: you can customize these built-in contexts. Add your own instructions, modify the prompts, or extend them with project-specific details.

2. Create Your Own Contexts

Beyond built-ins, you can create completely custom contexts:

Example: "Feature Planning" Context

You are helping me plan new features for [Project Name].

Project Overview:
- A task management tool for remote teams
- Built with Next.js, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL
- Focus on simplicity and speed

Current State:
- Core task CRUD is complete
- User authentication is done
- Working on collaboration features

Your Role:
- Suggest feature ideas aligned with our simplicity focus
- Consider technical feasibility with our stack
- Help prioritize based on user value

Now every conversation using this context starts with this understanding.

3. Automatic Project Context Injection

When you create a custom context, SideProjectBuddy automatically includes:

• Your project's description (user-written or AI-generated)
• Project name and key details
• Relevant technical information

You don't have to manually copy-paste project details—they're injected automatically.

Real-World Use Cases

Use Case 1: Feature Development

Context: "Feature Development Assistant"

What it knows:

• Your project's architecture
• Your coding standards
• Current feature you're building
• Related features already implemented

Result: AI suggestions that actually fit your codebase, not generic advice.

Use Case 2: Content Creation

Context: "Blog Post Writer"

What it knows:

• Your project's features and benefits
• Your target audience
• Your brand voice
• SEO requirements

Result: Blog posts that authentically represent your project without you explaining it first.

Use Case 3: Problem Solving

Context: "Debugging Assistant"

What it knows:

• Your tech stack and versions
• Common issues you've faced
• Your debugging approach
• Project-specific constraints

Result: Targeted solutions, not generic troubleshooting steps.

Best Practices for Custom Contexts

1. Be Specific, Not Verbose

Good context:

Project: E-commerce platform for digital products
Stack: Next.js 15, Stripe, Supabase
Current focus: Payment flow optimization

Bad context:

I'm building an app. It's a website. Users can buy things. I use React maybe? Or Next.js? I'm not sure. I need help with payments.

2. Update Contexts Regularly

As your project evolves, update your contexts:

• Add new features you've shipped
• Update technical decisions
• Reflect lessons learned
• Include current priorities

3. Create Contexts for Different Phases

• Planning Phase: Focus on ideation and validation
• Development Phase: Technical implementation help
• Launch Phase: Marketing and growth strategies
• Maintenance Phase: Optimization and improvements

4. Use Contexts for Consistency

If you're working with a team, shared contexts ensure everyone gets consistent AI assistance aligned with your project's standards.

Advanced: Context Composition

You can layer contexts:

1. Base Context: Project description and tech stack
2. Task Context: Specific task you're working on
3. Style Context: Your preferred communication style

SideProjectBuddy combines these automatically, giving you focused assistance without manual context management.

The Impact on Productivity

Developers using custom contexts report:

• 50% fewer clarifying questions from AI
• Faster problem-solving with project-aware suggestions
• More consistent outputs aligned with project standards
• Better code suggestions that fit existing architecture

Getting Started

1. Review Built-in Contexts: See what's already available
2. Customize One: Modify a built-in context to match your needs
3. Create Your First Custom Context: Start with your most common use case
4. Iterate: Refine contexts based on what works

The Future of AI-Assisted Development

Custom contexts represent a shift from generic AI tools to project-aware assistants. As AI becomes more integrated into development workflows, contexts will become as important as your codebase documentation.

They're not just prompts—they're your project's AI DNA.

Ready to stop explaining your project over and over? Try SideProjectBuddy and create your first custom context today.