Forge Product Agent

Forge is a local, interactive Python agent that helps turn an idea into a maintainable product. It starts with brainstorming, records an agreed product brief, proposes a small design, plans vertical slices, implements with tests, and verifies the result before calling it done.

The default configuration tries Groq first and automatically retries quota or rate-limit failures (HTTP 402/429) against the local LM Studio model identified as forge-local. The fallback remains active for the rest of that Forge process; restart Forge to try Groq again. Other provider errors remain visible so authentication and configuration mistakes are not hidden.

Its tools use the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The workspace server is deliberately narrow: it can only operate inside one configured workspace, hides common secret files, refuses stale overwrites, never invokes a shell, limits command families, and asks you to approve every write or process execution.

Forge also includes a separate read-only research MCP server. It can fetch bounded text from public HTTPS pages, inspect public GitHub repositories, and optionally search through Perplexity. Every network request shows its exact arguments and requires approval. The research process receives no model-provider credential and has no workspace tools.

Important: rotate the keys shared in chat

API keys pasted into a chat should be treated as exposed. Revoke the Groq and Hugging Face credentials previously shared, create replacements, and use only the replacements below. This repository contains no real key and does not load .env files.

Install on Windows

Forge requires Python 3.11 or newer.

py -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -r requirements-windows.lock
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e . --no-deps
$secret = Read-Host "Paste your NEW Groq API key" -AsSecureString
$env:GROQ_API_KEY = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new("", $secret).Password
.\.venv\Scripts\forge-agent.exe

To include optional Langfuse tracing, install requirements-windows-tracing.lock instead of the base lock file.

The default workspace is product_workspace. Forge creates it on first run.

Useful commands in the chat:

• /help shows commands.
• /status shows the provider, model, workspace, and session size.
• /tools shows the MCP tools and which ones require approval.
• /save optional-name writes a local session snapshot under .forge_agent/sessions.
• /new clears the conversation after confirmation.
• /quit exits.

For a one-off prompt:

.\.venv\Scripts\forge-agent.exe --message "Help me explore an idea for a meal planning app."

To check configuration without sending data to a model:

.\.venv\Scripts\forge-agent.exe --doctor

Local OpenAI-compatible endpoints

For another local service such as Ollama, add a provider section and select it:

[agent]
provider = "local"
model = "your-local-model"

[providers.local]
base_url = "http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1"
api_key_env = ""

Provider fallback is configured in [agent]:

provider = "groq"
model = "openai/gpt-oss-120b"
fallback_providers = ["local"]

[providers.local]
base_url = "http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1"
api_key_env = ""
model = "forge-local"

LM Studio must be running when fallback is needed. Forge announces each fallback in the terminal.

Interactive responses are labeled with the provider and API model identifier that actually produced them, for example forge [local/forge-local]>. The host also injects these runtime facts into every model request because a model's unsupported claims about its own identity are not reliable. Use /status for the authoritative provider and execution location.

Only loopback HTTP is allowed. Non-local providers must use HTTPS.

Safe public research

Direct URL and public GitHub research work without another API key. Ask Forge to research a public URL or repository; before any request leaves the computer, Forge displays the exact tool arguments and requires you to type yes.

Optional general web search uses Perplexity's Search API. It is disabled at call time until you provide a dedicated key:

$secret = Read-Host "Enter your Perplexity API key" -AsSecureString
$env:PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new("", $secret).Password

The token is passed only to the isolated research subprocess and only to https://api.perplexity.ai/search. Perplexity search is a paid external service; direct URL and public GitHub research remain available without it. To remove search from the tool entirely, use:

[research]
search_provider = "none"

To restrict direct page fetching to selected sites, configure an allowlist. Subdomains are included:

[research]
allowed_domains = ["python.org", "github.com"]

Research controls include HTTPS port 443 only, DNS resolution pinned to validated public addresses, private/local/reserved address rejection, redirect revalidation, response and timeout limits, an explicit content-type allowlist, no compression, no cookies, no JavaScript, and no browser or login state. HTML scripts, styles, templates, SVG, and other active content are removed before text reaches the model.

Optional privacy-first Langfuse tracing

Langfuse tracing is disabled by default and does not affect normal Forge operation. When enabled, Forge records one trace per user turn, groups turns into a session, and adds child observations for model generations and tool decisions. The default capture_content = false records only provider/model identity, local-or-remote execution, timing, token counts when supplied by the model endpoint, tool names, approval outcomes, and error types. It does not send prompts, responses, file contents, tool arguments, or tool results.

Install the pinned optional dependency snapshot:

.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -r requirements-windows-tracing.lock
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e . --no-deps

Set all three values only in the current PowerShell process. Use the base URL for the Langfuse region where the project was created:

$publicKey = Read-Host "Langfuse public key"
$secretKey = Read-Host "Langfuse secret key" -AsSecureString
$env:LANGFUSE_PUBLIC_KEY = $publicKey
$env:LANGFUSE_SECRET_KEY = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new("", $secretKey).Password
$env:LANGFUSE_BASE_URL = "https://us.cloud.langfuse.com"

Then set enabled = true under [tracing] in forge.toml and run forge-agent.exe --doctor. Allowed cloud destinations are pinned in tracing.allowed_hosts; remote HTTP, URL credentials, query strings, fragments, and unlisted hosts are rejected. The Langfuse client uses a private OpenTelemetry provider, is never exposed as an MCP tool, and its credentials are never passed to either MCP subprocess. Forge flushes traces on exit and continues working if tracing cannot initialize or export.

Setting capture_content = true is an explicit privacy tradeoff. A defense-in-depth masker redacts common credential fields and token formats, but it cannot guarantee removal of every sensitive value. Keep metadata-only mode for normal use.

What “safe MCP” means here

• Only the two bundled, reviewed stdio servers are loaded. There is no one-click installation of registry servers or remote MCP transport.
• Both MCP subprocesses get intentionally small environments. Neither receives a model-provider API key; the research process may receive only PERPLEXITY_API_KEY when explicitly configured.
• Langfuse is an optional host-side observer, not an MCP server. It receives metadata only by default and never receives Forge's model-provider keys.
• Only eight exact tool names reach the model. Server descriptions and descriptive schema annotations are discarded; the host supplies short, trusted descriptions.
• All results are treated as untrusted data. Writes, commands, and every outbound research request require an exact, visible approval each time. A remote model also needs approval before reading each workspace file.
• Existing files can be changed only after reading them and supplying their current SHA-256 digest.
• File access is rooted, symlink escapes are rejected, and common credential paths and key formats are denied.
• Commands use an argument array with shell=False. Safe mode permits Python syntax compilation and read-only Git inspection, but blocks project tests, linters, build tools, and npm scripts.

Safe mode is the default:

[workspace]
allow_project_code_execution = false

For a project you have personally reviewed and trust, setting this to true enables the allowlisted test commands. This is not an operating-system sandbox: enabled tests execute with your user permissions. Use a disposable VM or container for untrusted repositories. See SECURITY.md for the threat model.

Design choices

Forge borrows the productive parts of the Superpowers workflow—Socratic brainstorming, explicit design approval, small plans, test-first implementation, review, and evidence before completion—without installing its full plugin framework. It uses the official MCP Python SDK instead of maintaining a private protocol implementation. Model providers and public research endpoints are called with Python's standard library, avoiding separate provider, search, HTML, and GitHub SDK dependencies.

Develop and test

.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m unittest discover -s tests -v
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m compileall -q src tests

Architecture, research, and extension guidance live in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/RESEARCH.md, and docs/ADDING_MCP.md.

Release history is recorded in CHANGELOG.md.