Quick Start

Table of contents

  1. Installation
    1. Global Installation (Recommended)
    2. What Gets Installed
  2. Initialize Your Project
  3. Start Building
    1. Phase Validation (v0.6.0+)
  4. Core Commands
    1. Claude Code Slash Commands
  5. Working with AI
  6. Key Concepts
    1. Claude Code Subagents
    2. Test-First Development
    3. Documentation
  7. Issues & Feedback
  8. Next Steps
    1. Your First FORGE Cycle
    2. Learn More
  9. Join the Community

Get up and running with FORGE in under 5 minutes.

Installation 

# Install FORGE globally with auto-configured Claude Code subagents
npm install -g forge-framework

# Verify installation
forge --version  # Should output: 0.6.0

What Gets Installed

The global installation automatically:

  • Installs the forge CLI command globally
  • Configures 6 specialized Claude Code subagents
  • Sets up the FORGE framework for immediate use
  • No additional configuration required

This installs FORGE globally and automatically configures 6 specialized Claude Code subagents:

  • forge-architect - System architecture design and planning
  • forge-developer - Code implementation and feature development
  • forge-tester - Testing strategies and quality assurance
  • forge-devops - Infrastructure and deployment automation
  • forge-reviewer - Code review and quality assessment
  • forge-analyzer - Codebase analysis and insights

Initialize Your Project 

cd your-project
forge init

This creates a minimal forge.yaml configuration. Ask your AI assistant (Claude, etc.) to analyze your project and update the configuration.

Start Building 

forge new "user authentication"

This starts a new development cycle. FORGE enforces progression through 5 validated phases:

  1. Focus - Understand requirements and design (mandatory test scenarios)
  2. Orchestrate - Plan tasks and dependencies
  3. Refine - Implement with TDD
  4. Generate - Prepare for deployment
  5. Evaluate - Learn and improve

Phase Validation (v0.6.0+)

FORGE enforces proper progression through validated phases:

forge status              # Visual progress bars showing phase completion
forge phase               # Show current phase details
forge phase next          # Move to next phase (validates requirements)
forge complete            # Complete cycle (only when all phases done)
forge complete --force    # Force completion (use sparingly)

Important: You cannot skip phases or complete prematurely. Each phase has mandatory requirements (e.g., test scenarios in Focus phase).

Core Commands

  • forge init - Initialize FORGE in your project
  • forge new <feature> - Start a new development cycle
  • forge status - Check current progress
  • forge complete - Archive completed cycle
  • forge document - Manage documentation
  • forge learn - View and update learnings

Claude Code Slash Commands

When using Claude Code, you can also use explicit slash commands:

  • /forge init - Initialize FORGE
  • /forge new authentication - Start new cycle
  • /forge status - Check progress
  • /forge complete - Complete cycle
  • /forge help - Get help

Both work equally well - use whichever feels natural!

Working with AI

FORGE is designed for AI-driven development. After each command, engage with your AI assistant:

You: forge new "shopping cart"
You: Let's design a shopping cart feature

Claude: I'll use the forge-architect subagent to design this system...

[forge-architect activated]
As your architecture specialist, I'll design the shopping cart system:
1. First, let me analyze your current codebase...
2. I'll create test scenarios before designing...
3. Now designing the cart architecture...

Key Concepts

Claude Code Subagents

FORGE automatically configures Claude Code subagents that operate in isolated contexts:

  • forge-architect - System design and planning (Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Task, TodoWrite)
  • forge-developer - Code implementation (Read, Write, Edit, MultiEdit, Bash, Glob, Grep, Task, TodoWrite)
  • forge-tester - Quality assurance (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, Task, TodoWrite)
  • forge-devops - Infrastructure and deployment (Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, Task, TodoWrite)
  • forge-reviewer - Code and design review (Read, Grep, Glob, Edit, Task, TodoWrite)
  • forge-analyzer - Codebase analysis and insights (Read, Glob, Grep, Task, TodoWrite)

Each subagent has specialized expertise and operates in its own context to prevent confusion.

Test-First Development

All agents enforce TDD. You must define test scenarios before writing code.

Documentation

  • PRDs go in specs/
  • All other docs go in docs/
  • Use forge document for AI-powered documentation management

Issues & Feedback

Please report issues at: https://github.com/scottfeltham/forge-framework/issues

Next Steps

Your First FORGE Cycle

See our comprehensive Your First FORGE Cycle walkthrough for a complete end-to-end example.

Learn More

Join the Community

  • GitHub: https://github.com/scottfeltham/forge-framework
  • Discussions: https://github.com/scottfeltham/forge-framework/discussions

Welcome to the future of AI-driven development! 🚀