Setup
Download a folder, open it in Claude, type one command. State lives in the folder, so you can stop and pick up days later.
What you need
- The Claude app, with Claude Code in it
- Node 20 or newer, only if you say yes to the design checkers, or the thing you build needs it
Start a project
Download a folder, open it in Claude, type one command.
- Download forest. You get
forest.zip. - Unzip it, and rename the folder to your project’s name. Put it wherever you keep your work.
- Open the folder in Claude Code, in the Claude app. Say yes when it asks whether you trust the folder.
- Type
/pack.
/pack asks a few questions and sets the project up in that folder. From then on, open the same folder and type /trail to carry on.
When you need GitHub
Not until the last camp.
Camp 5 commits each phase on your machine, and offers to set git up before its first commit. Nothing leaves your machine until /ship, the first thing that pushes. If the project has nowhere to push to yet, /publish sets that up.
Updates
New versions come out regularly. You choose when.
When one is out, Claude says so in one line at the start of a session. Type /resupply: it shows what changed, asks, and swaps forest’s own folder for the new one. Your project files and your app are never touched. Your own settings and any skills you added come across, and the old version is kept in case. Then restart Claude Code so it reads the new one.
If something goes wrong
| Claude Code asks whether you trust this folder | Normal the first time you open any folder. Say yes: it lets forest’s own settings apply, including the check for a newer version. |
/pack isn’t offered | Claude Code is open in a different folder. Choose the project folder itself: the one with the README in it. |
| Claude asks permission to create files | Normal on the first run. /pack writes the map, the compass and the camp folders into your project. |
| You can’t remember the command | Type / and Claude Code lists what it has. The ones you need are /pack and /trail. |
You can’t see a .claude folder | It is hidden on purpose. You never need to open it. |
/resupply asks to change the .claude folder | That is the update itself: forest lives there. Say yes. Nothing in project/ or app/ is touched. |
No git repository here yet | Not an error. Camp 5 offers to set git up before its first commit. |
What to expect
The first session.
When a session starts, forest checks for a newer version, at most once a day, and refreshes the project page. Otherwise nothing runs until you type a command. /pack creates the folders, map.md and compass.json once the idea is captured.
/pack asks your role and how much detail you want with each question, then starts intake. Expect 20 to 40 minutes.
The download holds 32 skills. You have to remember 2: /pack, then /trail. The rest are run for you at the point they apply, or offered once the deploy is live.
The ones you type
/pack | Set up the project and run intake. The only way in |
/trail | Move through the camps in order, running the right command at each |
/compass | Suggest the next step from current state |
/map | Show what is filled in and what is not |
/camp <name> | Jump to one camp and work there, out of order |
/rationale | Record why you made a call, the moment you make it |
The ones the trail runs for you
/stress | Offered at the start of Camp 2. Tries to kill the idea with one cheap test before interviews |
/scout | Camp 2. Interviews, audience, the problem |
/gather | Offered once your notes reach the depth you chose. Synthesis |
/sketch | Camp 4. Brand and visual direction from your references |
/weather | The gate. Fires when Camp 2 closes, and can say turn back |
/review | Each phase of Camp 5. The 5-check quality pass, findings first |
/test | Each phase of Camp 5. Writes and runs the tests for that phase |
/benchmark | Offered in Camp 2. Who else solves this, doing nothing included |
/ship | Camp 6. Checks, commit, push. The first of 6 commands there |
/a11y-audit | Run by /summit. Accessibility to a standard, with a report |
The ones you reach for when you need them
/publish | Folder to live address, once per project. Git, a host, a domain |
/refine | Strengthen one thing: harden, optimise, adapt, clarify or onboard |
/tune | Push the design one way: bolder, quieter, colourise or normalise |
/motion | Add motion that has a job, with a reduced-motion fallback |
/animate | Review the motion that's there, and what's missing |
/overdrive | One ambitious moment, proposed first |
/system | Document the design system as built, and where it drifted |
/debug | What broke and why. Says what the error means, then finds the cause |
/raise | Ready an investor conversation at any camp. Every claim graded, no number invented |
/diagram | Draw a user flow, the architecture or a positioning map from your files |
/resupply | Bring in the newest version of forest. Claude names it when one is out |
The ones offered at the summit
/summit | Verify what actually went live, and write SUMMIT.md |
/retro | What worked, what did not, what to keep |
/handoff | Package the folder for a client. Client projects only |
/reach | How it reaches people: position, wedge, who first, money, the first 30 days |
/landing | Write or audit the page that sells it, from the visitor's doubts |
Project structure
my-idea/ ├─ README.md how forest works, and where everything is ├─ project/ everything forest writes for you │ ├─ map.md where you are on the trail │ ├─ compass.json the project's direction. Every step reads it │ ├─ index.html every file on one page. Copy any part of it │ ├─ BRIEF.md hand this to whoever builds it │ ├─ EVIDENCE.md what you know, and how you know it │ ├─ 1-frame/ … 6-ship/ each camp's working files │ ├─ research/ your notes from talking to people │ ├─ decisions/ why each call was made │ ├─ design/ the design system │ └─ memory/ one line per session. Local to your machine ├─ app/ the product itself, built in Camp 5 ├─ .forest/ your settings and update backups. Local to your machine └─ .claude/ forest itself. Hidden; you never need to open it
Plain files throughout, readable at any point. 2 do most of the work once the thinking is done. BRIEF.md goes to a build tool. EVIDENCE.md goes to anyone asking why the thing is worth doing.