When Solo has no existing projects and has not previously recorded the demo as seeded, it creates a starter project called Welcome to Solo so you have something to explore before adding your own projects. It's a guided sandbox that you can remove when you no longer need it. Removal does not delete files on disk, but it permanently deletes the demo's Solo-managed commands and project-scoped data — including its todos, scratchpads, comments, agent coordination state, and prompt templates — along with any customizations to that state.
When it appears
Solo creates the demo when there is no demo-seeded record and there are no existing projects. If there are already projects and no demo-seeded record — such as during an upgrade — Solo records it as seeded without adding the demo.
Once removed, it doesn't come back on later launches.
What's inside
The demo project has several example commands, and a few of them auto-start when the project loads:
| Command | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|
| Click here first | A welcome tour: what Solo is, sidebar basics, and an overview of key shortcuts, including the command palette |
| Dev server (example) | A simulated dev server streaming request logs, like a real npm run dev |
| Auto-restart | A short-lived process configured with auto-restart, so you can watch Solo bring it back after it exits |
| Notifications | An interactive walkthrough of toast and native notifications |
| Colors | A terminal color test showing full color support |
| Agents and terminals | A quick intro to adding agents and blank terminals |
| Cleanup | Instructions for removing the demo when you're done |
The project also seeds a starter todo and two starter scratchpads — including a "Workflow orchestration" note on coordinating agents through Solo — so you can see how todos and scratchpads work before creating your own.
By default, the command palette opens with Cmd+K on macOS and Ctrl+K on Linux and Windows. You can change this shortcut in Settings -> Hotkeys.
Where it lives
The demo's working directory is a folder inside Solo's app data directory, not anywhere in your code. Its commands run small bundled scripts — shell scripts on macOS and Linux, PowerShell scripts on Windows — and never touch your own projects or files.
You can edit the demo commands like any others. Solo may refresh its bundled demo scripts after app updates, but it keeps any commands you've customized.
Removing it
When you're done exploring:
- Right-click Welcome to Solo in the sidebar.
- Choose Remove project.
- In the confirmation dialog, choose Remove.
Removal cannot be undone, and the demo won't be recreated. See Project context menu for details on removing projects.
When you're ready to work on your own code, the default add-project shortcut is Cmd+O on macOS and Ctrl+O on Linux and Windows. You can change it in Settings -> Hotkeys. You can also see Creating and loading projects.