New Build

Quick Start: New Build

Turn a product idea into a ready-to-deliver application. This guide walks you through every step, from defining your intent to saving the Application Context and moving into delivery.

Note: Build Something New does not require an existing repository. You can start with a product idea, a draft, or supporting materials.

---

How it works

The journey has four phases:

The default journey includes: Intent, PRD-Spec, Architecture, User Stories, and Testing.

You can also enable UI Design or use the BRD + PRD requirements path when needed.

---

Define

Step 1: Create your project

1. From the Forge home screen, select Build Something New.
2. Enter the project details.
3. Under Journey Stages, review the stages selected for the project.
4. Keep the default stages or customize based on your requirements.
5. Select Create.

Forge opens the Intent stage after the project is created.

Tip: If you are new to Forge, start with the default journey. You can adjust stages later from project settings.

Step 2: Define your product intent

Use the Intent stage to describe what you want to build.

1. Enter a description of your product or application.
2. Describe the problem you want to solve and the users you want to support.
3. Include important business, functional, or technical requirements.
4. Add any constraints, integrations, security, or compliance requirements.
5. Select Add sources to attach supporting documents or references.
6. Generate the Intent artifact.

Note: Once you complete and submit the Intent stage, Forge analyzes your project details and suggests the pipeline stages that best fit your needs. You can review and adjust the recommendations before approving the intent.

For the best results, include:

• Target users and their needs
• Business problem and desired outcome
• Key capabilities
• Technology preferences or constraints
• Integrations and security requirements
• Expected scale or usage

See Defining Intent.

Step 3: Review and approve your intent

1. Read through the generated content.
2. Edit or refine sections that need changes.
3. Regenerate the artifact if needed.
4. Select Approve & Continue when the intent accurately represents what you want to build.

Approval records the current artifact version and moves the journey to the next stage. It does not permanently lock the artifact. You can continue to edit or regenerate as your requirements evolve.

Note: If Auto-generate next artifacts when ready is enabled, Forge automatically starts the next generation step when its prerequisites are met.

---

Specify

Step 4: Generate and review requirements

The default journey uses PRD-Spec to define product and business requirements.

1. Open the PRD-Spec stage.
2. Complete any preflight questions if prompted.
3. Generate the PRD-Spec.
4. Review and refine the generated requirements.
5. Select Approve & Continue when the requirements are ready.

See PRD-Spec.

Using BRD and PRD instead

You can use separate BRD and PRD stages instead of PRD-Spec. When this path is enabled, Forge generates BRD first, then PRD. PRD-Spec and BRD + PRD are alternatives and cannot be enabled together.

See Spec generation.

Step 5: Define the application architecture

1. Open Architecture.
2. Review the generated components, technical decisions, and architectural details.
3. Refine the architecture as needed.
4. Select Approve & Continue when it is ready.

The approved architecture provides the foundation for generating user stories.

See Architecture & user stories.

Step 6: Design the UI (Optional)

If UI Design is enabled, use this stage to define the application's user experience before generating stories.

1. Open UI Design.
2. Generate the UI design in Forge or import a design from Figma.
3. Review and refine the design.
4. Select Approve & Continue when it is ready.

UI Design requires Architecture to be completed first. If it is not enabled, Forge continues directly from Architecture to User Stories.

See UI Design.

---

Prepare

Step 7: Review and approve user stories

Forge converts your approved requirements and architecture into development-ready work.

1. Open User Stories.
2. Review the generated epics, features, and stories.
3. Review the acceptance criteria for each story.
4. Edit, refine, or reprioritize as needed.
5. Select Approve & Continue when the backlog is ready.

Forge can also generate a Requirements Traceability Matrix to connect requirements to the resulting stories.

Step 8: Generate and review testing artifacts

1. Open Testing.
2. Select the test types you want to generate.
3. Generate the testing artifacts.
4. Review and export when needed.

Testing does not require an approval step. The stage is complete when the artifact is generated.

---

Deliver

Step 9: Save the Application Context

1. Select Save Application Context.
2. Review the save action and confirm.
3. Select Open Application Context to continue to the delivery workspace.

The first save creates the initial versioned snapshot of your artifacts and stories. Subsequent saves capture new versions as the project evolves.

Note: The Application Context is a delivery snapshot and is separate from the live journey drafts.

See Application Context.

Step 10: Continue development and delivery

From the Application Context workspace, you can:

Manage stories

Use Stories to manage and track the generated development work in the ALM workspace.

Sync with external tools

Use External Sync to synchronize stories with Jira, Azure DevOps, and other supported tools.

Connect your IDE

Use Connect IDE to connect your development environment through MCP and work with the generated context. See MCP Integration.

Implement with Coding Agent

If Coding Agent is enabled, use it to implement stories against a connected repository. See Coding Agent.

---

Customize Your Journey

You can customize the stages included in your project when you create it or later through project settings.

PRD-Spec and BRD + PRD are alternative requirements paths and cannot be enabled together.

---

Tips

Start with the outcome, not the spec
Describe the problem you want to solve, who you are solving it for, and what they need to accomplish. You do not need to write the complete technical specification yourself.

Add supporting context early
Attach relevant documents, references, and constraints before generating Intent. More context gives Forge a stronger foundation for everything that follows.

Review before approving
Requirements and decisions made early in the journey influence everything generated later. Take time to review each artifact before moving forward.

Iterate as requirements change
You can edit and regenerate artifacts as your product evolves. Keep in mind that changes to upstream artifacts can affect downstream artifacts and approvals.