Create, move & back up projects

One Finder item, several source files#

A current McBasic™ project is a .mcbproj package. Finder shows it as one item; Show Package Contents reveals its manifest and authored files. Open the package in McBasic™, not a loose BASIC file. The manifest tells the toolchain which source, layouts, resources and dependencies belong to the application.

MyApp.mcbproj/
  project.mcproj
  Forms/
    frmMain.bas
    frmMain.form.json
  Modules/
    Helpers.bas
  AI/Activities/     (only when project chat storage is enabled)

Create in a deliberate location#

New projects default to Documents/McBasic™ Projects, with an unused suggested name. Change the project location in Settings → Projects when you want a different workspace. If a destination already exists, the replacement flow offers Cancel, Move to Trash and Show in Finder. Inspect the existing item before agreeing to replace it.

Legacy folder projects with a .mcproj manifest still open. The CLI conversion below creates a package without overwriting the original. Use a new output destination.

mcbasic convert MyLegacyProject --output MyApp.mcbproj

Back up the whole project#

1. Save in McBasic™. Close the project before moving it.
2. Copy the complete .mcbproj to your backup location.
3. Open the copy and confirm that Forms and modules are present.
4. Inspect the startup Form in Design view.
5. Run Check and the smallest useful application workflow.

Copying only a .bas file loses the Form layout and project membership. Generated build output is not a substitute for source. Build caches live under the user’s Library/Caches/McBasic/Builds folder and are recreated by the tools.

Decide whether conversations should travel#

AI Provider Settings → This project → Save chats in this project determines whether conversations live inside AI/Activities or stay in the Mac’s Application Support storage. The choice takes effect when you save. New projects inherit the Settings → AI default; legacy folder projects keep their chats on the Mac.

Keep source history reviewable#

Commit authored source, layouts, the manifest, migrations, resources and accepted package locks. Decide explicitly whether private chat history belongs in your repository. Keep generated caches, secret values and real customer databases out. Before a structural edit, inspect git status and make a known-good checkpoint.

After moving a project to another Mac, Check again with its package dependencies resolved. A project can open while a local package or externally referenced file is still missing.