diff --git a/res/project.toml b/res/project.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c30e72dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/res/project.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# default project
+name = "default"
+base_packs = ["base"]
diff --git a/src/content/ContentControl.cpp b/src/content/ContentControl.cpp
index 37d68294..c0ed582d 100644
--- a/src/content/ContentControl.cpp
+++ b/src/content/ContentControl.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "ContentLoader.hpp"
 #include "PacksManager.hpp"
 #include "objects/rigging.hpp"
+#include "devtools/Project.hpp"
 #include "logic/scripting/scripting.hpp"
 #include "core_defs.hpp"
 
@@ -16,12 +17,15 @@ static void load_configs(Input& input, const io::path& root) {
 }
 
 ContentControl::ContentControl(
-    EnginePaths& paths, Input& input, std::function<void()> postContent
+    const Project& project,
+    EnginePaths& paths,
+    Input& input,
+    std::function<void()> postContent
 )
     : paths(paths),
       input(input),
       postContent(std::move(postContent)),
-      basePacks(io::read_list("res:config/builtins.list")),
+      basePacks(project.basePacks),
       manager(std::make_unique<PacksManager>()) {
     manager->setSources({
         "world:content",
diff --git a/src/content/ContentControl.hpp b/src/content/ContentControl.hpp
index db08fa5a..4c52ec10 100644
--- a/src/content/ContentControl.hpp
+++ b/src/content/ContentControl.hpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ class Content;
 class PacksManager;
 class EnginePaths;
 class Input;
+struct Project;
 
 namespace io {
     class path;
@@ -19,7 +20,10 @@ namespace io {
 class ContentControl {
 public:
     ContentControl(
-        EnginePaths& paths, Input& input, std::function<void()> postContent
+        const Project& project,
+        EnginePaths& paths,
+        Input& input,
+        std::function<void()> postContent
     );
     ~ContentControl();
 
diff --git a/src/devtools/Project.cpp b/src/devtools/Project.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1d382ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/devtools/Project.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#include "Project.hpp"
+
+#include "data/dv_util.hpp"
+
+dv::value Project::serialize() const {
+    return dv::object({
+        {"name", name},
+        {"title", title},
+        {"base_packs", dv::to_value(basePacks)},
+    });
+}
+
+void Project::deserialize(const dv::value& src) {
+    src.at("name").get(name);
+    src.at("title").get(title);
+    dv::get(src, "base_packs", basePacks);
+}
diff --git a/src/devtools/Project.hpp b/src/devtools/Project.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..857b58f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/devtools/Project.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "interfaces/Serializable.hpp"
+
+struct Project : Serializable {
+    std::string name;
+    std::string title;
+    std::vector<std::string> basePacks;
+
+    dv::value serialize() const override;
+    void deserialize(const dv::value& src) override;
+};
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.cpp b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
index fb53978a..63db4490 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "coders/toml.hpp"
 #include "coders/commons.hpp"
 #include "devtools/Editor.hpp"
+#include "devtools/Project.hpp"
 #include "content/ContentControl.hpp"
 #include "core_defs.hpp"
 #include "io/io.hpp"
@@ -74,17 +75,24 @@ Engine& Engine::getInstance() {
 void Engine::initialize(CoreParameters coreParameters) {
     params = std::move(coreParameters);
     settingsHandler = std::make_unique<SettingsHandler>(settings);
-    editor = std::make_unique<devtools::Editor>(*this);
-    cmd = std::make_unique<cmd::CommandsInterpreter>();
-    network = network::Network::create(settings.network);
 
     logger.info() << "engine version: " << ENGINE_VERSION_STRING;
     if (params.headless) {
         logger.info() << "headless mode is enabled";
     }
+    if (params.projectFolder.empty()) {
+        params.projectFolder = params.resFolder;
+    }
     paths.setResourcesFolder(params.resFolder);
     paths.setUserFilesFolder(params.userFolder);
+    paths.setProjectFolder(params.projectFolder);
     paths.prepare();
+    loadProject();
+
+    editor = std::make_unique<devtools::Editor>(*this);
+    cmd = std::make_unique<cmd::CommandsInterpreter>();
+    network = network::Network::create(settings.network);
+
     if (!params.scriptFile.empty()) {
         paths.setScriptFolder(params.scriptFile.parent_path());
     }
@@ -92,9 +100,12 @@ void Engine::initialize(CoreParameters coreParameters) {
 
     controller = std::make_unique<EngineController>(*this);
     if (!params.headless) {
-        std::string title = "VoxelCore v" +
+        std::string title = project->title;
+        if (title.empty()) {
+            title = "VoxelCore v" +
                             std::to_string(ENGINE_VERSION_MAJOR) + "." +
                             std::to_string(ENGINE_VERSION_MINOR);
+        }
         if (ENGINE_DEBUG_BUILD) {
             title += " [debug]";
         }
@@ -135,7 +146,7 @@ void Engine::initialize(CoreParameters coreParameters) {
             langs::locale_by_envlocale(platform::detect_locale())
         );
     }
-    content = std::make_unique<ContentControl>(paths, *input, [this]() {
+    content = std::make_unique<ContentControl>(*project, paths, *input, [this]() {
         editor->loadTools();
         langs::setup(langs::get_current(), paths.resPaths.collectRoots());
         if (!isHeadless()) {
@@ -325,6 +336,13 @@ void Engine::loadAssets() {
     gui->onAssetsLoad(assets.get());
 }
 
+void Engine::loadProject() {
+    io::path projectFile = "project:project.toml";
+    project = std::make_unique<Project>();
+    project->deserialize(io::read_object(projectFile));
+    logger.info() << "loaded project " << util::quote(project->name);
+}
+
 void Engine::setScreen(std::shared_ptr<Screen> screen) {
     // reset audio channels (stop all sources)
     audio::reset_channel(audio::get_channel_index("regular"));
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.hpp b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
index 5e854ae3..8f8683da 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.hpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ class Screen;
 class ContentControl;
 class EngineController;
 class Input;
+struct Project;
 
 namespace gui {
     class GUI;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ struct CoreParameters {
     std::filesystem::path resFolder = "res";
     std::filesystem::path userFolder = ".";
     std::filesystem::path scriptFile;
+    std::filesystem::path projectFolder;
 };
 
 using OnWorldOpen = std::function<void(std::unique_ptr<Level>, int64_t)>;
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ class Engine : public util::ObjectsKeeper {
     EngineSettings settings;
     EnginePaths paths;
 
+    std::unique_ptr<Project> project;
     std::unique_ptr<SettingsHandler> settingsHandler;
     std::unique_ptr<Assets> assets;
     std::shared_ptr<Screen> screen;
@@ -78,6 +81,7 @@ class Engine : public util::ObjectsKeeper {
     void saveSettings();
     void updateHotkeys();
     void loadAssets();
+    void loadProject();
 public:
     Engine();
     ~Engine();
diff --git a/src/io/engine_paths.cpp b/src/io/engine_paths.cpp
index bc98e8a9..cb2d11e9 100644
--- a/src/io/engine_paths.cpp
+++ b/src/io/engine_paths.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ void EnginePaths::prepare() {
     }
     logger.info() << "resources folder: " << fs::canonical(resourcesFolder).u8string();
     logger.info() << "user files folder: " << fs::canonical(userFilesFolder).u8string();
+    logger.info() << "project folder: " << fs::canonical(projectFolder).u8string();
     
     if (!io::is_directory(CONTENT_FOLDER)) {
         io::create_directories(CONTENT_FOLDER);
@@ -142,6 +143,11 @@ void EnginePaths::setScriptFolder(std::filesystem::path folder) {
     this->scriptFolder = std::move(folder);
 }
 
+void EnginePaths::setProjectFolder(std::filesystem::path folder) {
+    io::set_device("project", std::make_shared<io::StdfsDevice>(folder));
+    this->projectFolder = std::move(folder);
+}
+
 void EnginePaths::setCurrentWorldFolder(io::path folder) {
     this->currentWorldFolder = std::move(folder);
     io::create_subdevice("world", "user", currentWorldFolder);
diff --git a/src/io/engine_paths.hpp b/src/io/engine_paths.hpp
index 1b6739b8..8b9b7f8e 100644
--- a/src/io/engine_paths.hpp
+++ b/src/io/engine_paths.hpp
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ public:
 
     void setScriptFolder(std::filesystem::path folder);
 
+    void setProjectFolder(std::filesystem::path folder);
+
     io::path getWorldFolderByName(const std::string& name);
     io::path getWorldsFolder() const;
 
@@ -80,6 +82,7 @@ public:
 private:
     std::filesystem::path userFilesFolder {"."};
     std::filesystem::path resourcesFolder {"res"};
+    std::filesystem::path projectFolder = resourcesFolder;
     io::path currentWorldFolder;
     std::optional<std::filesystem::path> scriptFolder;
     std::vector<PathsRoot> entryPoints;
diff --git a/src/util/command_line.cpp b/src/util/command_line.cpp
index ee0ace92..b6ef091b 100644
--- a/src/util/command_line.cpp
+++ b/src/util/command_line.cpp
@@ -12,18 +12,19 @@ static bool perform_keyword(
     util::ArgsReader& reader, const std::string& keyword, CoreParameters& params
 ) {
     if (keyword == "--res") {
-        auto token = reader.next();
-        params.resFolder = token;
+        params.resFolder = reader.next();
     } else if (keyword == "--dir") {
-        auto token = reader.next();
-        params.userFolder = token;
+        params.userFolder = reader.next();
+    } else if (keyword == "--project") {
+        params.projectFolder = reader.next();
     } else if (keyword == "--help" || keyword == "-h") {
         std::cout << "VoxelCore v" << ENGINE_VERSION_STRING << "\n\n";
         std::cout << "command-line arguments:\n";
-        std::cout << " --help - show help\n";
-        std::cout << " --version - print engine version\n";
+        std::cout << " --help - display this help\n";
+        std::cout << " --version - display engine version\n";
         std::cout << " --res <path> - set resources directory\n";
         std::cout << " --dir <path> - set userfiles directory\n";
+        std::cout << " --project <path> - set project directory\n";
         std::cout << " --headless - run in headless mode\n";
         std::cout << " --test <path> - test script file\n";
         std::cout << " --script <path> - main script file\n";