Quick Start

Your First AI-Powered Task in 5 Minutes

This guide will walk you through creating your first task with Forge, comparing outputs from multiple LLMs, and shipping code you understand.

Step 1: Initialize Forge

Make sure you’re in a Git repository, then initialize Forge:

# Make sure you're in a Git repo
git init  # if not already a Git repo

# Initialize Forge
forge init

This creates a .forge/ directory with your configuration.

Step 2: Configure Your LLMs

Edit .forge/config.json to add your API keys:

{
  "llms": {
    "claude": {
      "apiKey": "sk-ant-...",
      "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"
    },
    "gemini": {
      "apiKey": "AIza...",
      "model": "gemini-2.0-flash-exp"
    }
  },
  "worktrees": {
    "enabled": true,
    "basePath": "./.forge/worktrees"
  }
}

Start with just one LLM if you’re trying it out. You can add more later to compare results!

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Open the Forge UI or use the CLI:

# Start Forge UI
forge start

# Or create task via CLI
forge task create \
  --title "Add user authentication" \
  --description "Implement JWT-based authentication with login and signup endpoints" \
  --llm claude

The Forge UI will open at http://localhost:3000.

Step 4: Let AI Work in Isolation

Forge creates a Git worktree for your task, keeping your main branch clean:

# Forge automatically creates a worktree
# Your task runs in: .forge/worktrees/task-1-add-auth

# Your main branch is untouched!
# You can keep working on other things

Step 5: Review and Compare

If you’re using multiple LLMs, Forge shows you side-by-side results:

# Compare Claude vs Gemini on the same task
forge task compare 1

# See the differences
forge diff task-1-claude task-1-gemini

Choose the approach you understand best, or combine elements from both!

Step 6: Merge When Ready

Once you’re happy with the result:

# Review changes
forge task review 1

# Merge into main
forge task merge 1

# Cleanup worktree
forge task close 1

Real-World Example

Here’s a complete workflow for adding a new feature:

Create Task

forge task create \
  --title "Add dark mode toggle" \
  --description "Create a toggle component that switches between light and dark themes" \
  --llm claude \
  --labels "feature,ui"

AI Generates Code

Forge creates a worktree and Claude generates:

Theme toggle component
CSS variables for themes
LocalStorage persistence
Tests

Try Another Approach

# Try with Gemini for comparison
forge task fork 1 --llm gemini

Now you have two implementations to compare!

Review Both

# See them side-by-side
forge task compare 1

# Claude's approach: CSS-in-JS with styled-components
# Gemini's approach: Tailwind CSS with data attributes

Choose and Merge

# You prefer Gemini's Tailwind approach
forge task merge 1-gemini

# Clean up
forge task close 1-claude

Common Task Types

Feature Development

forge task create \
  --title "Add export to PDF" \
  --type feature \
  --llm claude

Bug Fixes

forge task create \
  --title "Fix memory leak in WebSocket" \
  --type bugfix \
  --llm gemini

Refactoring

forge task create \
  --title "Refactor API client to use axios" \
  --type refactor \
  --llm claude

Documentation

forge task create \
  --title "Add API documentation" \
  --type docs \
  --llm gemini

Pro Tips

Use Multiple LLMs for Complex Tasks

For important features, run the same task with 2-3 different LLMs and compare approaches:

forge task create --title "Critical feature" --llm claude
forge task fork 1 --llm gemini
forge task fork 1 --llm gpt-4

Choose the best implementation or cherry-pick from each!

Keep Tasks Small and Focused

Instead of:

forge task create --title "Rebuild entire auth system"

Do:

forge task create --title "Add JWT token generation"
forge task create --title "Add token validation middleware"
forge task create --title "Add refresh token logic"

Smaller tasks = better AI results!

Use Labels for Organization

forge task create \
  --title "Add search" \
  --labels "feature,ui,priority:high"

# Filter by label
forge task list --labels "priority:high"

Next Steps

Kanban Board

Explore the visual Kanban interface:

forge start

Open http://localhost:3000

Advanced Workflows

Learn about:

Task dependencies
Automated testing integration
CI/CD integration
Team collaboration

LLM Configuration

Add more LLMs:

OpenAI GPT-4
Anthropic Claude
Google Gemini
Local models

Git Worktree Mastery

Deep dive into:

Parallel development
Feature branches
Safe experimentation

Troubleshooting

Task creation fails

Make sure you’re in a Git repository:

git status  # Should not error
git init    # If needed

LLM not responding

Check your API keys:

forge config validate

Worktree conflicts

Clean up old worktrees:

forge worktree cleanup

Congratulations! 🎉 You’ve created your first AI-powered task with Forge. You’re now ready to bring structure to your vibe coding!

Join the Community

Get help, share your workflows, and learn from other Forge users

Getting Started

Learn

Configuration

Reference

Troubleshooting

Your First AI-Powered Task in 5 Minutes

Step 1: Initialize Forge

Step 2: Configure Your LLMs

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Step 4: Let AI Work in Isolation

Step 5: Review and Compare

Step 6: Merge When Ready

Real-World Example

Common Task Types

Feature Development

Bug Fixes

Refactoring

Documentation

Pro Tips

Next Steps

Kanban Board

Advanced Workflows

LLM Configuration

Git Worktree Mastery

Troubleshooting

Join the Community

​Your First AI-Powered Task in 5 Minutes

​Step 1: Initialize Forge

​Step 2: Configure Your LLMs

​Step 3: Create Your First Task

​Step 4: Let AI Work in Isolation

​Step 5: Review and Compare

​Step 6: Merge When Ready

​Real-World Example

​Common Task Types

Feature Development

Bug Fixes

Refactoring

Documentation

​Pro Tips

​Next Steps

Kanban Board

Advanced Workflows

LLM Configuration

Git Worktree Mastery

​Troubleshooting

Join the Community

Your First AI-Powered Task in 5 Minutes

Step 1: Initialize Forge

Step 2: Configure Your LLMs

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Step 4: Let AI Work in Isolation

Step 5: Review and Compare

Step 6: Merge When Ready

Real-World Example

Common Task Types

Pro Tips

Next Steps

Troubleshooting