# Plan a project with a Gantt chart

> Sketch a quick schedule for a small project with the Gantt Chart component: generate it with AI, drag bars to change dates and export it when the plan is settled.

Source: https://mockflow.com/docs/plan-a-project-with-a-gantt-chart

A Gantt chart lays a plan out over time: each task is a bar that starts and ends on a date, so you can see what runs in parallel and what comes next. On a MockFlow board, the **Gantt Chart** component is a quick way to sketch a schedule for a small project, such as a class project, an event, a campaign or a product launch, right beside the ideas, diagrams and wireframes the plan comes from.

Use it to try out a timeline while you plan, then share it with everyone on the board. When the plan is settled, you can export it to the project tool your team already uses.

![A School garden project Gantt chart in Week view with Research, Design and Build groups, task bars and the Today marker](https://assets.mockflow.com/docs/media/7a6b8cdce1d643359a0b0d24970a3519.webp)

## Generate a Gantt chart with AI

1. Click **Add anything** (the plus button) in the toolbar at the bottom of the board and choose **Gantt Chart**.
2. With the Gantt chart selected, click the AI button on the left of its toolbar and choose **Generate new**.
3. Describe the project and its time frame, for example "Eight week plan to build a school garden, from student survey to planting day", and click **Generate**.

The AI menu also has **Modify with AI**, to add tasks or shift the plan with a prompt, and **Convert to**, to turn the schedule into another kind of item, such as a kanban board or a timeline.

## Add groups and tasks

Click **Interact with Component** (the hand button) to work inside the Gantt chart. Tasks sit in groups, such as project phases or teams.

![A Gantt chart with numbered markers on a group's Add task button, a task bar and the end of a task bar](https://assets.mockflow.com/docs/media/167f21b1706d4388a46d3f5fe1d65226.webp)

1. **Add task:** the plus button on a group row adds a task to that group. Type its name and press Enter.
2. **Move a task:** drag a bar along the timeline to change its dates.
3. **Change the length:** drag either end of a bar to make the task start earlier or finish later.

**Add Group** in the toolbar adds a new group. Drag a task to reorder it or move it to another group, and use a group's menu to **Rename** or **Delete Group** it.

## Assign people and set priority

The left side of the chart lists each task with its **Assignee**, **Start** and **End** date. Click the pencil next to a task to open **Task Details**, where you set the **Priority**, the **Assignees**, the **Start Date** and **End Date**, and add comments for the people working on it.

## Change the view and colors

- **Day**, **Week** and **Month** at the top of the chart change how much time the timeline shows. A red **Today** line marks the current date.
- **Search tasks** finds a task in a long plan.
- **Group color** in the toolbar sets the color of a group's bars, and the theme switch changes the chart between **Light** and **Dark**.

## Export a Gantt chart

Choose **Export Gantt** in the toolbar to download the plan as **CSV**, to open it in a spreadsheet or import it into another project tool, or as **JSON**.

> **Plan** The Gantt Chart component is available on every plan. Generating with AI uses AI credits. See [MockFlow pricing](https://mockflow.com/pricing/).

## Next steps

- [Manage tasks on a kanban board](/docs/manage-tasks-on-a-kanban-board)
- [Export data, documents and diagrams from items](/docs/export-data-documents-and-diagrams)