How it works

ForgeTrail encodes a proven build sequence into files your agent reads and follows. Each phase has clear entry and exit criteria. The agent tracks its own progress, proposes when to advance, and waits for your call.

The leverage is not in the model. It is in the structure you give it. Same model. Completely different output. The difference is what it knows before it starts writing code.

The seven phases

1. Plan: Lock architecture before code. The agent proposes. You confirm.
2. Build: Full working skeleton in one pass. Core workflow running end to end.
3. Stabilize: Environment, paths, auth, error handling. Make the foundation solid.
4. Iterate: Feature by feature with real data. The agent plans before it builds.
5. Refine: Complexity managed before it manages you. Systematic, not reactive.
6. Align: Features pressure-tested against the product vision. Cut what does not serve it.
7. Harden: Security, performance, documentation. Production-grade, not demo-grade.

Phases 4 and 5 often alternate. Full playbooks live in WORKFLOW.md.

What stays in the repo

Phase state, decisions, and gotchas live in .forgetrail/workflow_tracking.json, not in a chat transcript. The next session reads the trail and continues.

Ready to prove it? Try ForgeTrail.