start

name: start description: "Initiate a new Forge workflow. Creates .forge/ state and begins the discovery phase. User-invoked only: do not auto-trigger." disable-model-invocation: true phase: any transitions:

target: discover-intent condition: "Workflow state initialized successfully" gates: entry: "User has explicitly requested to begin a new Forge workflow" exit: ".forge/forge-state.json exists and discover-intent has been activated"

Initiate a new Forge workflow. Check for existing workflow state in .forge/, create a new workflow if none exists, and hand off to discover-intent to begin collaborative refinement of what to build. User-invoked only: do not auto-trigger this skill.

Usage

/forge:start [description]

The optional [description] is a short phrase describing what the user wants to build. It becomes the initial intent field in forge-state.json and seeds the first discover-intent question.

Never create or overwrite `.forge/forge-state.json` if an active workflow already exists. An "active workflow" means `phases_completed` does not include all six phases. Overwriting active state destroys accumulated evidence and phase history.

If an active workflow exists, ask the user whether to resume or archive the existing one. Never decide unilaterally.

Process

Check .forge/forge-state.json for existing workflow state.
If an active workflow exists, show its current phase and progress, then ask the user whether to resume or archive.
If no workflow or user chose archive, create .forge/ directory and write a fresh forge-state.json using the initialization template (current_phase: discovery, phases_completed: [], created_at: <now>).
Record the user's [description] argument (if provided) as the initial intent.
Invoke the discover-intent skill to begin Phase 1.

Evidence

.forge/forge-state.json exists with current_phase: discovery after this skill runs.
discover-intent is the next active skill.

Transitions

→ discover-intent: Workflow state is initialized. Hand off to discovery phase.