Forge — OpenClaw for Enterprise: A Secure, Portable AI Agent Runtime

Build, run, and deploy AI agents from a single SKILL.md file. Secure by default. Runs anywhere — local, container, cloud, air-gapped.

Why Forge?

• 60-second setup — forge init wizard configures provider, keys, channels, and skills
• Secure by default — outbound-only connections, egress allowlists, encrypted secrets, no public listeners
• Portable — same agent runs locally, in Docker, Kubernetes, or inside Initializ Command
• Observable — structured NDJSON audit logs with correlation IDs for every action
• Extensible — add skills, tools, channels, and LLM providers without changing core code

Quick Start

# Install (pick one)
brew install initializ/tap/forge
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/initializ/forge/main/install.sh | bash

# Create and run an agent
forge init my-agent && cd my-agent && forge run

# Connect to Slack
forge run --with slack

See Quick Start for the full walkthrough, or Installation for all methods.

How It Works

SKILL.md --> Parse --> Discover tools/requirements --> Compile AgentSpec
                                                            |
                                                            v
                                                    Apply security policy
                                                            |
                                                            v
                                                    Run LLM agent loop
                                               (tool calling + memory + cron)

You write a SKILL.md. Forge compiles it into a secure, runnable agent with egress controls, encrypted secrets, and audit logging.

Key Features

| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Atomic Skills | SKILL.md-based agent definitions with YAML frontmatter | | Egress Security | Runtime + build-time domain allowlists with subprocess proxy | | Channel Connectors | Slack (Socket Mode), Telegram (polling) — outbound-only | | Cron Scheduling | Recurring tasks with channel delivery | | Memory | Session persistence + long-term vector search | | LLM Fallbacks | Multi-provider with automatic failover | | Web Dashboard | forge ui for browser-based agent management | | Build Signing | Ed25519 artifact signing & verification | | Air-Gap Ready | Runs with local models, no cloud required |

Documentation

Getting Started

| Document | Description | |----------|-------------| | Quick Start | Get an agent running in 60 seconds | | Installation | Homebrew, binary, and Windows install | | Architecture | System design, module layout, and data flows |

Core Concepts

| Document | Description | |----------|-------------| | Skills | Skill definitions, registry, and compilation | | Tools | Built-in tools, adapters, and custom tools | | Runtime | LLM providers, fallback chains, running modes | | Memory | Session persistence and long-term memory | | Channels | Slack and Telegram adapter setup | | Scheduling | Cron configuration and schedule tools |

Security

| Document | Description | |----------|-------------| | Security Overview | Complete security architecture | | Egress Security | Egress enforcement deep dive | | Secrets | Encrypted secret management | | Build Signing | Ed25519 signing and verification | | Guardrails | Content filtering and PII detection |

Operations

| Document | Description | |----------|-------------| | Commands | Full CLI reference | | Configuration | forge.yaml schema and environment variables | | Dashboard | Web UI features and architecture | | Deployment | Container packaging, Kubernetes, air-gap | | Hooks | Agent loop hook system | | Plugins | Framework plugin system | | Command Integration | Initializ Command platform guide |

Philosophy

Running agents that do real work requires atomicity (explicit skills, defined tools, declared dependencies), security (restricted egress, encrypted secrets, audit trails), and portability (runs locally, in containers, in Kubernetes, in cloud — same agent, anywhere).

Real agent systems require atomicity, security, and portability. Forge provides those building blocks.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, how to add skills/tools/channels, and the PR process.

Please read our Code of Conduct before participating.

License

See LICENSE for details.