diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 471f3df..498019f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## [Unreleased]
 - Improve prompts for better open model support.
 - Better handle 429 errors on openrouter.
+- Get project info programmatically to save tokens.
 
 ## [0.12.1] - 2025-01-08
 - Fix bug where directories are added as related files.
diff --git a/ra_aid/__main__.py b/ra_aid/__main__.py
index 1e341e5..caf3baa 100644
--- a/ra_aid/__main__.py
+++ b/ra_aid/__main__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from rich.panel import Panel
 from rich.console import Console
 from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver
 from ra_aid.env import validate_environment
+from ra_aid.project_info import get_project_info, format_project_info, display_project_status
 from ra_aid.tools.memory import _global_memory
 from ra_aid.tools.human import ask_human
 from ra_aid import print_stage_header, print_error
@@ -206,6 +207,14 @@ def main():
 
             print_stage_header("Chat Mode")
 
+            # Get project info
+            try:
+                project_info = get_project_info(".", file_limit=2000)
+                formatted_project_info = format_project_info(project_info)
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to get project info: {e}")
+                formatted_project_info = ""
+
             # Get initial request from user
             initial_request = ask_human.invoke({"question": "What would you like help with?"})
 
@@ -243,7 +252,8 @@ def main():
                     initial_request=initial_request,
                     web_research_section=WEB_RESEARCH_PROMPT_SECTION_CHAT if web_research_enabled else "",
                     working_directory=working_directory,
-                    current_date=current_date
+                    current_date=current_date,
+                    project_info=formatted_project_info
                 ), config)
             return
 
diff --git a/ra_aid/agent_utils.py b/ra_aid/agent_utils.py
index 7dac808..0c1fb45 100644
--- a/ra_aid/agent_utils.py
+++ b/ra_aid/agent_utils.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import threading
 import time
 from typing import Optional
 
+from ra_aid.project_info import get_project_info, format_project_info, display_project_status
+
 from langgraph.prebuilt import create_react_agent
 from ra_aid.agents.ciayn_agent import CiaynAgent
 from ra_aid.project_info import get_project_info, format_project_info, display_project_status
@@ -42,6 +44,8 @@ from ra_aid.prompts import (
     WEB_RESEARCH_PROMPT_SECTION_PLANNING,
     HUMAN_PROMPT_SECTION_PLANNING,
     WEB_RESEARCH_PROMPT,
+    EXPERT_PROMPT_SECTION_CHAT,
+    CHAT_PROMPT,
 )
 from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver
 
@@ -185,7 +189,6 @@ def run_research_agent(
     try:
         project_info = get_project_info(".", file_limit=2000)
         formatted_project_info = format_project_info(project_info)
-        display_project_status(project_info)  # Add status display
     except Exception as e:
         logger.warning(f"Failed to get project info: {e}")
         formatted_project_info = ""
@@ -217,6 +220,9 @@ def run_research_agent(
         if console_message:
             console.print(Panel(Markdown(console_message), title="🔬 Looking into it..."))
 
+        if project_info:
+            display_project_status(project_info)
+
         # Run agent with retry logic if available
         if agent is not None:
             logger.debug("Research agent completed successfully")
diff --git a/ra_aid/project_info.py b/ra_aid/project_info.py
index e3baf2a..9b35d28 100644
--- a/ra_aid/project_info.py
+++ b/ra_aid/project_info.py
@@ -105,16 +105,14 @@ def display_project_status(info: ProjectInfo) -> None:
         info: ProjectInfo object containing project state
     """    
     # Create project status text
-    status = "New/Empty Project" if info.is_new else "Existing Project"
+    status = "**New/empty project**" if info.is_new else "**Existing project**"
     
     # Format file count (with truncation notice if needed)
     file_count = f"{len(info.files)} of {info.total_files}" if len(info.files) < info.total_files else str(info.total_files)
     
     # Build status text with markdown
     status_text = f"""
-# Project Status
-- **Status:** {status}
-- **Total Files:** {file_count}
+{status} with **{file_count} file(s)**
 """
     # Add truncation notice if list was truncated 
     if len(info.files) < info.total_files:
diff --git a/ra_aid/prompts.py b/ra_aid/prompts.py
index b3fbe20..4e9508a 100644
--- a/ra_aid/prompts.py
+++ b/ra_aid/prompts.py
@@ -627,6 +627,9 @@ NEVER ANNOUNCE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, JUST DO IT!
 # New agentic chat prompt for interactive mode
 CHAT_PROMPT = """Working Directory: {working_directory}
 Current Date: {current_date}
+Project Info:
+{project_info}
+
 Agentic Chat Mode Instructions:
 
 Overview:
diff --git a/ra_aid/tool_configs.py b/ra_aid/tool_configs.py
index b0082ca..bc6eb90 100644
--- a/ra_aid/tool_configs.py
+++ b/ra_aid/tool_configs.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 from ra_aid.tools import (
     ask_expert, ask_human, run_shell_command, run_programming_task,
-    emit_research_notes, emit_plan, emit_related_files, emit_task,
+    emit_research_notes, emit_plan, emit_related_files,
     emit_expert_context, emit_key_facts, delete_key_facts,
-    emit_key_snippets, delete_key_snippets, deregister_related_files, delete_tasks, read_file_tool,
+    emit_key_snippets, delete_key_snippets, deregister_related_files, read_file_tool,
     fuzzy_find_project_files, ripgrep_search, list_directory_tree,
-    swap_task_order, monorepo_detected, existing_project_detected, ui_detected,
+    monorepo_detected, ui_detected,
     task_completed, plan_implementation_completed, web_search_tavily
 )
 from ra_aid.tools.memory import one_shot_completed
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ RESEARCH_TOOLS = [
     emit_research_notes,
     one_shot_completed,
     monorepo_detected,
-    existing_project_detected,
     ui_detected
 ]