Software Forge

AI-powered software engineering pipeline for VS Code — from idea to deployment, with standardized documentation at every phase.

Software Forge acts as the software architect's assistant, guiding projects through a structured eight-phase process that transforms raw ideas into production-ready engineering documentation. Every artifact is traceable, versioned, and follows industry standards (IEEE 830, IEEE 829, C4 model).

Powered by Claude via the @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk.

Features

Idea Maturation Pipeline

Capture ideas freely, refine them individually, then let AI validate them as a cohesive set:

1. Wish List — Add raw ideas without structure constraints
2. Refinement — Claude asks targeted questions to shape each idea
3. Batch Validation — AI analyzes all ideas together for overlaps, gaps, and dependencies
4. Deep Context — Clarify scope, integration points, use cases, and architectural patterns
5. Document Generation — Produce formal engineering documents with full traceability

Eight Engineering Phases

34 Document Types

Each document type has a configurable Markdown template with YAML frontmatter, following industry standards:

• IEEE 830 — Software Requirements Specification
• IEEE 829 — Test Plan
• IEEE 1016 — Software Architecture Document
• C4 Model — Architecture diagrams (Context, Container, Component)

Traceability

Every requirement, decision, and test case links back through the pipeline:

IDEA-001 -> BR-001 -> FR-001 -> SRS-001 -> COMP-001 -> TC-001

Updates propagate staleness flags — never auto-overwrite.

Mermaid Diagrams

Documents include AI-generated Mermaid diagrams rendered live in the built-in webview:

• C4 architecture diagrams
• Entity-relationship diagrams
• Sequence diagrams
• State machines
• Flowcharts
• Class diagrams
• Gantt charts

Export to SVG or PNG with one click.

Configurable Templates

Override any template per project. Place your custom version in docs/forge/.templates/ and the extension uses it instead of the built-in default.

Getting Started

Install

From VSIX:

code --install-extension software-forge-0.1.0.vsix

From Marketplace:

Search for Software Forge in the VS Code Extensions panel.

Initialize a Project

1. Open a workspace in VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P and run Software Forge: Initialize Project
3. Enter your project name
4. The docs/forge/ directory is created with the phase structure

Typical Workflow

1. Add ideas         -> Software Forge: Add Idea to Wish List
2. Refine each idea  -> Software Forge: Refine Idea
3. Validate all      -> Software Forge: Validate All Ideas
4. Generate docs     -> Software Forge: Generate Document
5. Refine docs       -> Software Forge: Refine Document
6. Approve docs      -> Software Forge: Approve Document
7. Advance phase     -> Software Forge: Advance Phase

Commands

Configuration

Project Output Structure

docs/forge/
  forge.json                    # Project state
  .templates/                   # Optional: template overrides
  01-ideation/
    wish-list/                  # Raw ideas (IDEA-XXX)
    refined/                    # Refined ideas
  02-discovery/
    discovery-report.md
    stakeholder-analysis.md
    feasibility-assessment.md
    vision-document.md
  03-requirements/
    brd.md, frs.md, nfrs.md, srs.md, ...
    use-cases/                  # UC-XXX per use case
  04-system-design/
    sad.md, hld.md, api-spec.md, ...
    adrs/                       # ADR-XXX per decision
  05-detailed-design/
    lld.md, error-handling.md, ...
    technical-specs/            # SPEC-XXX per module
  06-implementation/
    implementation-plan.md, cicd-design.md, ...
  07-testing/
    test-strategy.md, test-plan.md, test-cases.md
  08-deployment/
    deployment-plan.md

Development

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/V4lle-Tech/software-forge.git
cd software-forge
npm ci
npm run build

Run in Development

# Watch mode
npm run watch:esbuild

# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

Generate VSIX

npx @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies

See HOW-VSIX.md for detailed build instructions.

Publish

See HOW-PUBLISH.md for distribution and CI/CD setup.

Tech Stack

License

MIT - Antonio Valle / V4lle-Tech