Forgecrew
Build your own AI software team — no coding required.
Forgecrew is a desktop app for Claude Code agent teams.
Describe what you want to build in one sentence, approve the suggested team, and a
team lead splits the work into tasks and hands them to the other members while you
follow along in a chat.
Website: greg13-pro.github.io/forgecrew · Magyar leírás → README.hu.md
- Team from one sentence. A wizard suggests a team (planner, designer, frontend,
backend, tester, writer…) for your idea, or you start from a template: website,
online shop, game, app, automation, existing project.
- Chat with the lead. Ask questions, change direction, or message a single
teammate — the lead passes it on. Permission requests appear as buttons.
- See everything. Progress, time left, who is working on what; click any member to
see their activity.
- Simple and advanced view. The simple view shows only what matters. The advanced
view adds the lead's real Claude Code terminal, a full activity log, task
dependencies, session details, and per-member model and system-prompt editing.
- Sign in with your Claude account. Forgecrew uses Claude Code with your own
subscription (Pro / Max) or an Anthropic Console account. You sign in on Claude's
official page; Forgecrew never sees your password.
- Its own installer. A custom-designed setup — language, requirements (installs
Claude Code if missing), location and shortcuts, theme, view and permissions — with no
admin rights needed.
- English and Hungarian, light and dark theme.
Forgecrew is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.
Requirements
- Windows 10 or 11 (x64). macOS works from source (see below); the installer is Windows-only.
- Claude Code — the installer can install it for you.
- A Claude account: a Pro or Max subscription, or an Anthropic Console account.
Install
Download Forgecrew-Setup.exe (the latest release) and run it.
The installer is per-user: it installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Forgecrew, registers
in Settings › Apps, and can create desktop / Start menu shortcuts. Uninstall from
Settings › Apps — your projects are kept.
Unsigned builds: until the executables are code-signed, Windows SmartScreen shows
"Windows protected your PC" — choose More info › Run anyway. Some antivirus products
are suspicious of new, unsigned installers; if yours blocks Forgecrew, restore it from
the quarantine and add an exception for the install folder.
Getting started
- New project → describe your idea → Suggest a team (or pick a template).
The project folder is created under
Documents\Forgecrew.
- Review the team, add or remove members → Launch team.
- For a new folder Claude Code asks whether you trust it → Yes, I trust this folder.
- The lead receives the goal and the team, creates the tasks and starts the members.
Chat with the lead, or pick a teammate as the recipient below the input field.
- Stop interrupts the lead (like pressing Esc). Projects in the sidebar continue
where they left off.
Existing folder: Open existing folder in the sidebar — the wizard suggests a team
for it as well (or start without one).
Build from source
npm install
npm start # run the app from source (Windows, macOS)
npm run package # → dist/Forgecrew-<platform>-<arch>/
npm run build-setup # Windows: → dist/Forgecrew-Setup.exe (single-file installer)
build-setup needs only what ships with Windows: tar.exe and the C# compiler of the
.NET Framework 4.x (csc.exe). Forgecrew.bat starts the app from source with a
double-click (installs dependencies on first run).
Development switches:
| Variable / flag | Effect |
|---|
FORGECREW_PROFILE=<dir> | run an isolated instance with its own settings folder |
FORGECREW_INSTALL_DIR=<dir> | default install location shown by the installer |
--setup / --uninstall | open the installer / uninstaller UI from a packaged build |
How it works
- The lead is a real Claude Code session running in a pseudo-terminal (
node-pty)
in the project folder. The chat pastes your messages into it; permission prompts are
recognised in the (hidden) terminal screen (electron/prompt-detector.js) and
answered with arrow keys and Enter when you click a button.
- The team is a set of Claude Code agent files written to
<project>/.claude/agents/crew-*.md by the wizard (Forgecrew only ever touches its own
crew- files). The lead's extra instructions are in electron/lead-prompt.{en,hu}.txt;
roles and templates in lib/templates.js.
- Forgecrew enables agent teams and the task tools for the lead
(
CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1, CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TASKS=1,
CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TODO_TOOLS=1).
- Live state comes from Claude Code's own files — transcripts, subagent metadata,
task files and team configs — watched with chokidar and pushed to the UI over SSE by a
small Express server bound to
127.0.0.1 only.
- The installer (
setup/Bootstrap.cs) is a 44 KB native stub with the packaged app
appended as a zip: it shows a splash with progress, unpacks to %TEMP% and starts the
app's own installer UI (public/setup.html). The same stub is installed as
uninstall.exe, which runs the uninstaller UI from %TEMP% and removes the install
folder afterwards. No PowerShell or script hosts are involved.
What Forgecrew reads and writes
Read only:
~/.claude/projects/** transcripts and subagent metadata (incrementally)
~/.claude/tasks/<folder>/*.json task files (.lock is never opened)
~/.claude/teams/<team>/ team config and inboxes
~/.claude/forgecrew/events.jsonl events from the optional hooks
~/.claude/settings.json only to show whether the hooks are installed
Written:
<project>/.claude/agents/crew-*.md — the team (wizard / team editor).~/.claude/settings.json — only if you turn on precise tracking (three hooks;
a backup is made first; removed again by the uninstaller).- Its own settings:
%APPDATA%\Forgecrew\forgecrew-config.json.
Team configs, inboxes, .lock and .highwatermark files are never written. The project
folder itself is edited by the lead and the team (Claude Code), as you instruct them.
Overview dashboard and hooks
Settings › All sessions overview (advanced view) opens a dashboard of every Claude Code
session and team on the machine. It also runs without the app:
npm run web # http://127.0.0.1:4317 (PORT=4318 npm run web for another port)
Precise tracking installs three Claude Code hooks (TaskCreated, TaskCompleted,
TeammateIdle) that log completions instantly. From the command line:
node install-hooks.js --dry-run # show what would change
node install-hooks.js # install
node install-hooks.js --uninstall # remove only Forgecrew's entries
Project structure
electron/main.js main process: app, installer and uninstaller modes, IPC
electron/workspace.js the lead (Claude Code) in node-pty; chat → paste, answers to prompts
electron/prompt-detector.js permission prompts and questions from the terminal screen
electron/claude.js Claude Code: status, sign-in, sign-out, install
electron/installer.js per-user install / uninstall (files, registry, shortcuts)
electron/preload.js the bridge to the window (window.forgecrew)
public/app.html, ui.js the app UI; setup.html, setup.js — the installer UI
public/i18n.js, i18n-dict.js English and Hungarian texts
public/index.html, app.js the overview dashboard
setup/Bootstrap.cs native setup / uninstall stub (C# 5, .NET Framework 4.x)
scripts/ package.js, build-stub.js, build-setup.js, make-icon.js
server.js Express (127.0.0.1) + SSE + API; also runs standalone
lib/ transcripts, tasks, teams, groups, ETA, templates, team wizard
install-hooks.js, hook/ optional Claude Code hooks
docs/index.html the project website (one self-contained file, ready for GitHub Pages)
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|
| "Windows protected your PC" | More info › Run anyway (unsigned build) |
| The installer stops or files disappear | Your antivirus quarantined them: restore and add an exception |
| A coloured frame around the window, changes do not stick | Avast / AVG runs Forgecrew in its sandbox: add an exception for the install folder |
| "Claude Code is missing" | Install it from the requirements step, or from claude.com/claude-code |
| No tasks appear | Make sure the lead runs through Forgecrew (it enables the task tools) |
| The team does not react | Advanced view › Terminal shows exactly what the lead sees |
License
MIT © 2026 Forgecrew contributors.
