> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://forgekit-docs-mintlify-9e781f1d.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CLI overview

> Every forge command grouped by Core, Memory, Substrate, Quality, and Config, plus the environment variables that control enforcement and output.

The `forge` command surface is defined as data (`src/commands.js`) and reconciled against
the docs by `forge docs check`, so a command can't ship or disappear without the docs
noticing. Commands are organized into five groups.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Core" icon="gear" href="/cli/core">
    Bootstrap and maintain: `init`, `sync`, `doctor`, `catalog`, `docs`, `update`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Memory" icon="brain" href="/cli/memory">
    Cross-session and team memory: `cortex`, `recall`, `remember`, `brain`, `ledger`,
    `reuse`, `handoff`, `decide`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Substrate" icon="diagram-project" href="/cli/substrate">
    The pre-action gate and its stages: `substrate`, `preflight`, `route`, `impact`,
    `scope`, `context`, `anchor`, `diagnose`, `imagine`, `lean`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quality" icon="shield-check" href="/cli/quality">
    Verification and safety: `verify`, `scan`, `spec`, `taste`, `uicheck`, `harden`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Config" icon="sliders" href="/cli/config">
    Providers, cost, dashboards, brand, atlas, stack: `config`, `cost`, `dash`, `brand`,
    `atlas`, `stack`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Conventions

* **Advisory by default.** Set `FORGE_ENFORCE=1` to turn the substrate into a hard block
  on the strongest signals (vacuous prompt, un-assemblable required context, blast radius
  over the default 25-file threshold).
* **Quiet by default.** The per-command `Forge <cmd> — …` title is branding chrome behind
  `--verbose` / `FORGE_VERBOSE`; a command emits its result first.
* **Pipe-friendly output.** Plain text when piped; on a TTY it adds brand-palette color
  and confidence meters. `NO_COLOR` turns color off, `FORCE_COLOR=1` forces it on.
* **`--json`** is available on the substrate and most analysis commands for scripting.

## Environment variables

| Variable                  | Effect                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `FORGE_ENFORCE=1`         | Turn the substrate's strongest advisory signals into a hard block.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `FORGE_GUARD_STRICT=1`    | Escalate the secret redactor's `DEGRADED` warning into a blocking exit. By default a redaction failure prints `secret redaction DEGRADED` to stderr and lets output through; strict mode refuses to emit anything the redactor couldn't fully scrub. Use it in CI or on shared boxes where an unredacted line is worse than a failed command. |
| `FORGE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1` | Silence the "commits behind upstream" notice in `forge doctor`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| `FORGE_NO_HINT=1`         | Mute the one-time init tip that prompts you to run `forge init`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `FORGE_VERBOSE=1`         | Show the per-command banner (`Forge <cmd> — …`) that is hidden by default.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `FORGE_EMBED=1`           | Opt in to the embedding tier for memory recall (MinHash stays the zero-dependency default).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |

<Note>
  Run `forge --help` for the always-current list, or `forge catalog` for the Start-Here
  index of every tool, crew, and guard with a one-line why.
</Note>

## New in v0.19+

Several commands and flags are landing in the v0.19 line. They are documented in their
group pages and flagged inline:

| Command / flag        | Group   | What it does                                  |
| --------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| `forge know`          | Memory  | Route a fact to its correct storage home.     |
| `forge deja`          | Memory  | Similar-past-work lookup.                     |
| `forge precommit`     | Quality | Commit-level verification gate.               |
| `forge radar`         | Quality | Dependency-currency rings.                    |
| `forge report`        | Config  | Static HTML report of the repo's Forge state. |
| `forge tools`         | Config  | Primary-tool selection + gitignore wiring.    |
| `forge verify --deep` | Quality | Multi-lens consensus verification.            |
| `forge update --to`   | Core    | Pin or downgrade to a specific version.       |