# Project Design Before you begin to build a project in TDO, you should clearly understand what your desired outcome is (what function your output file will be used for – e.g., automated testing), what your input and output files will be, what your selection criteria will be, and other basic design items. You should create a project design document that contains all of these items to help guide you through the project setup process. As with any development effort, attempting to set up a project without a clear design document will not always end in failure but it will take much longer to complete and require a significant amount of rework. The file below is an example of a design spec for a project. Once you have reviewed this guide and understand the TDO components and relationships, you can use this as a guide to what you will need to know to build a spec for your projects. {% file src="/files/mlaGW8PmSe2idyLzpph3" %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.apica.io/platform-docs/test-data-orchestrator-tdo/user-documentation/tdo-project-builder-user-guide/project-design.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.