All people, companies and projects shown are synthetic Rillsoft sample data – from the shipped industry packages or, where stated, from a test project.
The prompt
Rate the overall status of the projects in Rillsoft Project with traffic lights for schedule, progress, resources and costs. First ask me for project or portfolio, the period for resources and whether the default thresholds apply; the reference date is the status date. For the costs, open the project files of the portfolio one after another as the last step, save nothing and reopen the portfolio at the end. The overall light is the worst rated light, missing data means “not rated”. For every light that is not green, name the figure behind it, undo every plan change and save nothing.Changes the project (one undo step)
Show the detailed prompt
Rate the overall status of the projects in Rillsoft Project with one traffic light per project for schedule (S), progress (P), resources (R) and costs (C).
First ask me for:
- Scope: project or portfolio (name the open one and let me confirm),
- Period for resources: start and end (if I give none, suggest the next three months from the status date),
- Thresholds: name the defaults and ask whether they apply – S amber above 0, red above 5 working days; P amber above 5, red above 15 percentage points behind; R amber above 0, red above 10 % proportional shortfall; C amber above 5, red above 10 % cost overrun.
The reference date is the status date; name it.
Tell me first: two steps write to the plan briefly and are undone at once; for the costs you open the project files last and then the portfolio again. If the portfolio has unsaved changes, ask whether you may discard them.
Data and figures:
- S: reschedule from the status date. If it is rolled back, the message names every fixed date that would have to move; assign it to its project by the WBS code and count the working days between the old and the new date using the project calendar. If there is no conflict, undo the rescheduling at once.
- P: read actual progress, let the planned progress at the status date be calculated, read it, undo and check that the actual values are back; gap weighted by effort in percentage points.
- R: staff capacity comparison on a daily scale with a time filter, once per role, once per role and project; spread each role's shortfall on each day over the projects by their share of demand, per project as a percentage of its demand.
- C: cost variance against the baseline per project (current plan, no actual costs). A portfolio has no baseline: as the last step, open the project files one after another (paths from the portfolio), read the cost variance per project without a time filter, save nothing and reopen the portfolio. Without a baseline “not rated”.
- Delayed tasks from the conflict list as causes, only with a delay above 0.
- Check before the report: actual progress unchanged after undoing, sum of the project shares equal to the shortfall of all roles, demand of the projects equal to the demand of the roles, sum of the task variances equal to the cost variance per project, status date and unit unchanged after reopening. If not, name the difference instead of the lights.
- Do not recalculate dates, progress or capacity yourself.
Report:
1. Header with scope, reference date, period and source.
2. Three to five key findings with figures.
3. Table project × S, P, R, C, overall with symbol and colour, projects needing the most attention first; legend.
4. Causes per project that is not green, with the figures that set the colour.
5. Thresholds and data basis.
The overall light is the worst rated light; “not rated” does not count.
Reset the view afterwards and save nothing.In your words
- Monthly review: Where do our projects stand at the status date? Give me a traffic light for schedule, progress, resources and costs for each project, with reasons.
- Own thresholds: Rate the portfolio with project traffic lights, but make schedule red only from ten working days and resources only from 15 percent.
- Next quarter: Give me a status overview with traffic lights for all projects; resources for the next quarter, please.
What you need
- An open project or portfolio with maintained actual progress and a set status date; committed dates as fixed milestones.
- Job roles on the tasks and a resource pool with people in these roles – otherwise there is no resource light.
- For the cost light a baseline per project; in a portfolio the AI reads the costs from the project files, without a baseline the light stays “not rated”.
- Read-only mode is not enough: the AI has the planned progress calculated and checks rescheduling from the status date. Both write to the plan briefly and are undone at once; for the costs it opens the project files one after another last and then the portfolio again, saving nothing.
What you get
A report with key findings, a traffic light table and the causes. In the test portfolio Machinery and plant engineering (five projects; status date 16 Nov 2026, a backlog in two projects and extra effort against the baseline in three projects set for the test) four projects are red and one is amber. Assembly line MX-200 is red on schedule: the fixed milestone “Material and parts available” would have to move from 8 Feb to 16 Feb 2027, 5.5 working days. On progress MX-200 is 5.3 percentage points behind, amber; all other projects are green.
On individual days the roles are short of 2,248 hours in total. Proportionally, Press R-12 retrofit carries the most with 18.4 % of its demand; two projects are red only because of resources, their dates hold. On costs two projects are above the baseline: R-12 by 14,400 (12.4 %, red) and MX-200 by 24,392 (5.5 %, amber), the portfolio by 44,552 (2.2 %). For that the AI opens the project files one after another, because a portfolio has no baseline, and reopens the portfolio at the end. Before reporting, it checks that the project shares add up exactly to the shortfall of the roles – 2,248 hours here –, that the tasks per project add up exactly to the cost variance and that actual progress is unchanged after undoing.
Why it is useful
Management wants to see in a minute which projects need attention and why. A traffic light alone is not enough; only the figure behind it shows whether a delivery date is at risk or a role is merely short on individual days. Rillsoft Project has the figures for all four dimensions; the rules for the colours are fixed and stated in the report, so every light can be traced.How the answer is produced
The AI asks for scope, period and thresholds and reads the status date and calendars. For progress it has the planned progress calculated and undoes that at once. For the schedule it checks rescheduling from the status date: Rillsoft Project rolls it back and names every fixed date that would have to move. For resources it reads the capacity comparison on a daily scale per role and per role and project and spreads the shortfall by share of demand – so every bottleneck day counts. Then it checks the sums, colours by the thresholds and resets the view. Costs come last: a portfolio has no baseline, so it opens the project files one after another, reads the cost variance against the baseline per project and reopens the portfolio – checking that status date and unit are unchanged afterwards.rillsoft_view_state_get rillsoft_project_tree_get rillsoft_calendar_list rillsoft_task_progress_recalculate rillsoft_history_undo rillsoft_project_status_date_reschedule rillsoft_project_conflict_list rillsoft_view_state_apply rillsoft_timescale_apply rillsoft_analysis_report_get rillsoft_variance_report_get rillsoft_portfolio_file_open rillsoft_project_file_open
Limits
The traffic light rates the plan at the status date, not a forecast. A committed date is a fixed milestone; there is no separate field for delivery dates. The resource light counts roles, not people, and a red resource light does not mean a date will be missed – that is why the cause stands next to it. The cost light compares the current plan with the baseline, not booked actual costs; in a portfolio the AI reads it per project file, without a baseline it stays “not rated” – the details per task come from Which projects exceed their planned costs?. After the file switch the status date and effort unit of the portfolio file apply; the AI checks both and reports any difference. The thresholds are a starting point, not an industry standard. All 22 management questions are in the catalogue; the product page of Rillsoft Project describes conflict lists and capacity views. Related prompts:Try it
Get started- Industry package
Machinery and plant engineering.rpp- Product version
- Rillsoft Project 10 (Build 10.0.625)
- Last verified
- 2026-10-17
- Verification
- Figures and statements verified on the named sample package against the named product build – MCP session, view and report; German and English package with identical figures.