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Working with projects

A project is the home for a job — customer, address, photos, estimate and proposals, checklists — and every estimate lives inside one. The AI estimator is a project-page tab, so a project can start the moment a lead calls. Existing estimates are already projects, listed on the Projects page with their conversation on the Estimator tab. The project page is rolling out to every account. If Home still opens on the chat box, your account hasn’t switched over yet — contact support@x.build if you’d like it sooner.

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1. Pick a starting point on Home

Home opens on two cards; both create a project, differing only in where you land: Create ▾ (top-right of Home) is the other way in: New project opens the same dialog; New contact adds a person to your contact directory without a project.

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2. Create a project

The dialog asks you to Choose a starting point:
  • New project (labeled New estimate from the estimate card) — fill in the details yourself.
  • Import from Connectors — start from a JobNimbus, AccuLynx, or Jobber job, a QuickBooks customer, or a CompanyCam project. The project is prefilled with the record’s name, address, and customer, and linked to the record so its files and photos can come along. One connector per import; link more later from Connect or the rail’s Connectors widget (connectors overview).
On the New project path, everything is optional and editable later:
  1. Project name — matching contacts appear as you type; pick one to make them the customer, or dismiss the list to use the text as a plain name.
  2. Details — description, scope, materials, or notes; on the estimate path, the AI’s first briefing.
  3. The chip row: Contact (search or create; once set, an Add contact chip links additional people without replacing the primary), Address (pick from the suggestions — unpicked text is discarded, so the address is always a matched one), No assignee (the owner — defaults to you), Members, and Add trades.
  4. Attach photos or files — the estimator sees them from its first message.
  5. Click Create project (or Start estimating on the estimate path).

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3. Find your way around the project page

The header: name and address (click either to edit), the properties chip row — owner, members, scope, trades — and, on pipeline plans, the stage. The center tabs: The right rail: Hide panel collapses the rail.

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4. Start the estimate whenever you’re ready

Open the Estimator tab (or click AI Estimator on Overview). A What the estimator can see card at the top of the chat lists the project’s photos, documents, and linked connectors — nothing needs re-attaching. Chat as usual; the proposal builds in the preview. See also Publishing your proposal and Editing estimates and proposals.

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5. Switch between proposal versions

The Estimator preview shows the latest version. For an earlier one, click its milestone card in the chat, or open Proposals (Overview or rail Files) → Version history. The preview pins to that version and the URL changes with it, so the link shares exactly that view. Back to latest version returns. If a version takes too long to load, the preview says so and offers Back to latest version instead.

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6. Keep the job moving

  • Checklists — attach from Overview, run in the field — Running a checklist.
  • Photos — capture in the mobile app; they land in the Album automatically.
  • Connectors — link a CRM job, CompanyCam photos, an EagleView report, or a QuickBooks customer from Connect or the rail’s Connectors widget, without the chat — connectors overview.
  • Stage and tasks — select plans — Pipeline stages, Tasks.

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7. Troubleshooting common issues

  • I created a project but there’s no estimate on it. By design — Start a new project spends no tokens. Open the Estimator tab when ready, or pick Create an estimate or proposal next time.
  • The address I typed didn’t save. Addresses are picked, not typed. If the exact address isn’t suggested, pick the closest match and adjust it later.
  • The estimator is asking for photos I already uploaded. If the What the estimator can see card counts your photos, the AI has them — point it at them by name.
  • I can’t see the Construction or Finance tab. Both are on select plans; Finance is also limited to members with access to it. If your plan includes them, contact XBuild Support.
  • I picked the wrong customer. Open Client details in the right rail and change the primary contact — the contact stays in your directory.
For further assistance, contact XBuild Support at support@x.build.