Forge is the system's skill architect -- given a capability idea or broken existing package, it runs a mandatory six-phase internal pipeline covering existence gate, classification, scoping, architecture, construction, and validation before writing a single file. The default output is the finished, installable package with all file contents written; Forge never returns design briefs or plans in place of the real artifact.
Skill packages follow the agentskills.io open standard and are compatible with OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, and any agentskills.io-compliant client.
Forge is the only place where new OCAS skills are designed and built. Rather than generating a plan or brief, Forge runs a mandatory six-phase internal pipeline (existence gate, classify, scope, architecture, build, validate) before writing a single file, and the output is always the finished, installable package. Mentor can also route improvement proposals to Forge via journal payloads files, which Forge processes at each heartbeat pass. Skill packages are classified by type -- shortcut (20-120 lines), workflow (80-250 lines), or system (150-300 lines) -- and each type has its own structural expectations.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
forge.build |
Design, scope, build, and validate a complete skill package |
forge.critique |
Review a package and identify defects |
forge.repair |
Fix broken files in an existing package |
forge.classify |
Classify a proposed skill (shortcut, workflow, system) |
forge.validate |
Run validation checks on a package |
forge.scaffold |
Generate a minimal package skeleton |
forge.status |
Current build state if a multi-step build is in progress |
forge.journal |
Write journal for the current run |
forge.update |
Pull latest from GitHub source (preserves journals and data) |
forge.init runs automatically on first invocation and creates all required directories, config.json, and JSONL files. It also registers the forge:journal-scan heartbeat entry to process incoming VariantProposal and VariantDecision files from Mentor and forge:update (midnight daily, self-update). No manual setup is required.
OCAS Skills
- Mentor -- receives VariantProposal and VariantDecision files via journal payload
External
- None
| Job | Mechanism | Schedule | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
forge:journal-scan |
heartbeat | Every heartbeat pass | Process VariantProposal and VariantDecision files from Mentor (via journal payload) |
forge:update |
cron | 0 0 * * * (midnight daily) |
Self-update from GitHub source |
- Version alignment per spec-ocas-skill-publishing.md (no functional change)
- Synced reference documentation with ocas-architecture updates (architecture coherence sync 2026-04-15)
- Updated authoring_rules.md, ontology.md, interfaces.md, schemas.md, workflow_plans.md, storage_conventions.md
- Clarified Ontology types section: explicit statement that Forge does not extract entities or emit Signals
- Updated HEARTBEAT.md registration pattern to match standard documentation
- Synced reference documentation with ocas-architecture updates
- Updated authoring_rules.md: v2.7.1 → v2.7.2 (clarified README.md and CHANGELOG.md requirements)
- Added
{agent_root}/skills/to filesystem write paths (was missing, caused write failures when building skill packages)
- Synced reference documentation with 2026-04-12 architecture coherence audit
- Updated ontology.md: v2.0.0 → v2.0.1 (ocas-triage moved to archived reference)
- Synced reference documentation with 2026-04-11 architecture coherence audit
- References now accurately document only active OCAS skill (ocas-forge)
- Synced all reference documentation with ocas-architecture spec updates
Forge is part of the OCAS Agent Suite -- a collection of interconnected skills for personal intelligence, autonomous research, and continuous self-improvement. Each skill owns a narrow responsibility and communicates with others through structured signal files, shared journals, and Chronicle, a long-term knowledge graph that accumulates verified facts over time.