ConnectWise Manage Projects

Overview

Projects in ConnectWise PSA track larger bodies of work that span multiple tickets, phases, and resources. Projects support templates, phases, budgeting, resource allocation, and various billing methods. This skill covers project CRUD operations, phases, templates, resources, and project tickets.

Anti-triggers

• Service desk work — break/fix tickets on a service board live at /service/tickets and are a different entity from project tickets; use connectwise-psa-tickets.
• Hours booked against a project — time charges to a ProjectTicket, never to the project or phase directly; use connectwise-psa-time-entries.

API Endpoint

Base: /project/projects

Key Concepts

Project Status Values

Standard project statuses in ConnectWise PSA:

Status ID	Name	Description
1	Open	Active project
2	Closed	Completed project
3	On Hold	Temporarily paused
4	Cancelled	Cancelled project
5	Waiting	Awaiting approval/resources

Query /project/projects/statuses for configurable statuses.

Project Types

Type ID	Name	Description
1	Project	Standard project
2	Template	Project template

See references/fields.md for the complete project, phase, project ticket, and team member field reference.

Billing Methods

Method	Description
ActualRates	Bill at standard work role rates
FixedFee	Fixed project price
NotToExceed	Actual rates with cap
OverrideRate	Custom hourly rate

Common Workflows

Create a project

POST /project/projects
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "Office 365 Migration - ACME Corp",
  "company": {"id": 12345},
  "status": {"id": 1},
  "manager": {"id": 100},
  "estimatedStart": "2024-03-01",
  "estimatedEnd": "2024-05-01",
  "estimatedHours": 200,
  "billingMethod": "ActualRates",
  "description": "Migrate from on-premises Exchange to Office 365"
}

Fixed-fee and not-to-exceed projects use the same endpoint with a different billingMethod and billingAmount/budgetAmount. See references/api.md for those variants, plus get, update, and close-project examples.

Create a project from a template

GET /project/projects?conditions=type/id=2

POST /project/projects
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "Client Onboarding - ACME Corp",
  "company": {"id": 12345},
  "templateFlag": false,
  "projectTemplateId": 100
}

When using projectTemplateId, ConnectWise copies all phases from the template, project tickets associated with those phases, budget and billing settings, and team assignments (if configured).

Break a project into phases

Phases give a project its own timelines and budgets per chunk of work. Endpoint: /project/projects/{projectId}/phases.

POST /project/projects/{projectId}/phases
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "description": "Phase 1: Discovery",
  "scheduledStart": "2024-03-01",
  "scheduledEnd": "2024-03-15",
  "scheduledHours": 40,
  "wbsCode": "1.1"
}

Create a project ticket

Project tickets are service tickets linked to a project and phase via the project and phase fields. See references/api.md for the create request and the GET /project/projects/{projectId}/tickets endpoint.

Assign team members

Endpoint: /project/projects/{projectId}/teamMembers. See references/api.md for the full request shape (member, projectRole, workRole, startDate/endDate, hoursScheduled).

API Patterns

Active projects for company:

conditions=company/id=12345 and status/id=1

Projects by manager:

conditions=manager/id=100 and status/id=1

Overdue projects:

conditions=estimatedEnd<[2024-02-01] and status/id=1

Projects over budget:

conditions=budgetAnalysis="OverBudget"

Template projects:

conditions=type/id=2

Gotchas

• Templates are just projects with type/id=2. There's no separate templates endpoint — query /project/projects?conditions=type/id=2.
• projectTemplateId only applies at creation. It copies phases, tickets, budget/billing settings, and team assignments once; it does not keep the new project in sync with later template edits.
• budgetAnalysis is server-calculated, not settable — use budgetHours/budgetAmount to set the cap and read budgetAnalysis to see whether the project is over/under/on budget.
• Project tickets are regular service tickets (POST /service/tickets) with project/phase fields set — there's no separate project-ticket-creation endpoint.

Best Practices

1. Use templates - Create templates for repeatable projects
2. Define phases - Break large projects into phases
3. Set realistic budgets - Include contingency time
4. Assign project manager - Every project needs an owner
5. Link to agreement - For managed services project work
6. Track completion % - Update regularly for visibility
7. Use WBS codes - Helps with reporting and organization
8. Close completed projects - Don't leave finished projects open

See references/errors.md for the complete error reference.

Related Skills

• ConnectWise Tickets - Project tickets
• ConnectWise Time Entries - Project time tracking
• ConnectWise Companies - Company management
• ConnectWise API Patterns - Query syntax and auth