Use Your Own AI to Generate a Project

ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are excellent project planners — if you give them the right instructions. This guide shows you how to use any AI assistant to generate a complete, import-ready LoopGantt project plan in under 2 minutes.

Why use your own AI?

LoopGantt's built-in AI generator is fast and simple. But if you want:

• More control over the prompt and output style
• A specific AI model (GPT-5, Claude Opus, Gemini Advanced)
• A plan tailored to your industry, methodology, or internal terminology
• The ability to iterate and refine the plan through conversation

…then generating a JSON file with your own AI and importing it is the way to go.

Step 1 — Copy the prompt template

Copy the prompt below, replace the project description inside the quotes, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. The prompt includes the full JSON schema and all the rules the AI must follow.

You are an expert project manager. Generate a LoopGantt project plan for:

"[DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECT HERE]"

Use EXACTLY this JSON format — do not add extra fields or change the structure:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "generator": "LoopGantt",
  "project": {
    "name": "YOUR PROJECT NAME",
    "startDate": "YYYY-MM-DD",
    "scheduleType": "working_days"
  },
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "phase-1",
      "name": "Phase Name",
      "isPhase": true,
      "isMilestone": false,
      "durationDays": 0,
      "parentTaskId": null,
      "status": "not_started",
      "priority": "high",
      "color": "blue",
      "order": 0
    },
    {
      "id": "task-1",
      "name": "Task Name",
      "isPhase": false,
      "isMilestone": false,
      "durationDays": 5,
      "parentTaskId": "phase-1",
      "status": "not_started",
      "priority": "medium",
      "color": null,
      "progress": 0,
      "desiredDate": null,
      "notes": "",
      "checklist": [
        { "id": "cl-1", "text": "Sub-task item", "completed": false }
      ],
      "order": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "milestone-1",
      "name": "Milestone Name",
      "isPhase": false,
      "isMilestone": true,
      "durationDays": 0,
      "parentTaskId": "phase-1",
      "status": "not_started",
      "priority": "critical",
      "color": null,
      "order": 2
    }
  ],
  "dependencies": [
    {
      "id": "dep-1",
      "predecessorId": "task-1",
      "successorId": "milestone-1",
      "type": "FS",
      "lagDays": 0
    }
  ]
}

RULES (follow strictly):
1. Phases (isPhase: true) CANNOT have dependencies. Never add them to the dependencies array.
2. Milestones (isMilestone: true) must have durationDays: 0.
3. Phases (isPhase: true) may NOT appear in dependencies. Regular tasks and milestones may both be used as predecessorId or successorId.
4. parentTaskId must reference a phase id, or be null for top-level items.
5. All ids must be unique strings.
6. dependency type must be one of: FS, SS, FF, SF
7. lagDays can be positive (delay) or negative (overlap/lead time).
8. status: not_started | in_progress | completed | on_hold
9. priority: low | medium | high | critical
10. color values: null | cyan | blue | green | orange | red | purple | teal | pink | gray | indigo | amber | lime | fuchsia | neon

OUTPUT: Return only valid JSON. No markdown fences, no explanation text.

Step 2 — Describe your project

Replace [DESCRIBE YOUR PROJECT HERE] with a clear description. Include:

• What the project produces (app, website, report, event, product launch…)
• The main stages you expect (e.g., "3 development sprints")
• Any key constraints ("must launch before Q4", "team of 3")
• Any special requirements ("include UAT and app store review time")

Ready-to-use prompt examples

Software project

"Build a B2B SaaS web application: user auth, team management, subscription billing
(Stripe), and a core dashboard. 4-person team. Target 14-week timeline.
Include phases: Discovery, Design, Development (3 sprints), QA, and Launch."

Marketing campaign

"Launch a content marketing campaign for a project management tool targeting
small businesses. Includes blog content (6 posts), LinkedIn ads, email sequence,
and a webinar. 8-week timeline with a 2-person marketing team."

Event planning

"Plan a 200-person corporate conference. Includes venue selection, catering,
speaker lineup, AV setup, registration, and post-event follow-up.
12-week lead time starting today."

Step 3 — Copy the JSON output

The AI returns a JSON object. Select all of it, copy it, and save it as a .json file (e.g., my-project.json).

If the AI wrapped the JSON in markdown fences (```json ... ```), remove the fences before saving — keep only the raw JSON starting with { and ending with }.

Step 4 — Import into LoopGantt

1. Go to your LoopGantt dashboard.
2. Click Import → Import from JSON.
3. Select your saved .json file.
4. Preview the import and click Import.

Your AI-generated project plan is now in LoopGantt, fully scheduled and ready to edit.

Understanding the JSON rules

When reviewing or editing the AI's output, watch for these common issues:

Dependency type reference

FS (Finish-to-Start):   ████ A
                              ████ B  ← B starts after A finishes

SS (Start-to-Start):    ████ A
                         ████ B      ← B starts when A starts

FF (Finish-to-Finish):  ████████ A
                           ████████ B ← B finishes when A finishes

SF (Start-to-Finish):            ████ A
                        ████████ B   ← B finishes when A starts

Download the example JSON

Download our annotated example project to use as a reference when crafting your prompts or reviewing AI output:

↓ Download example-project.json