> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rathforge.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fork model

> How to turn FORGE into your own server: keep the framework, replace the content.

FORGE is meant to be **forked**. You keep the framework packages, tune them through config, and put
your world in your own content package. You rarely edit framework internals, and when you do, you're
forking, so it's yours to change.

## The workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Fork the framework">
    Start from [FORGE-FRAMEWORK](https://github.com/1kaliel/FORGE-FRAMEWORK). The packages under
    `Scripts/` are now yours.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide on the neutral defaults">
    Keep them while prototyping, edit the `shared/data/*.lua` files to taste, or set
    `ShipDefaults = false` per package to start blank. See the [content model](/concepts/content-model).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your content package">
    Add a package (a good pattern: `Scripts/forge-examples/<your-server>` while prototyping, or a
    flat package for a real server) that registers your items, abilities, quests, and world through
    the framework's public APIs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tune the framework via config">
    Adjust `Config` in the packages you use (XP curve, HP defaults, container caps, currency caps) without touching framework logic.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Remove what you don't need">
    Disable a package in `config.json` (or its `Config.Enabled`) if your server doesn't use it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What goes where

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Framework packages" icon="cube">
    Mechanisms. Fork and tune via config; edit internals only if you must.
  </Card>

  <Card title="`shared/data/*.lua`" icon="pen">
    The framework's editable neutral defaults. Trim or reskin in place.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your content package" icon="wand-magic-sparkles">
    Your world, registered through public APIs. This is where most of your work lives.
  </Card>

  <Card title="`config.json` + `Config`" icon="sliders">
    Which packages load, in what order, tuned how.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Reference: the example content

`forge-examples/forge-example-content` is a complete worked example of a tier-2 content package, a
magic-academy slice (wand, firebolt, an instructor who gives a lesson quest, training dummies, a
player HUD). Read it as the canonical "how a creator builds on FORGE," then replace it with your own.

<Tip>
  Keep your content in its own package rather than editing framework packages. It makes pulling
  framework updates into your fork far easier, and keeps the removability guarantees intact.
</Tip>

## Learn by doing

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Add an item" icon="box" href="/guides/add-an-item" />

  <Card title="Add an effect" icon="sparkles" href="/guides/add-an-effect" />

  <Card title="Add a recipe" icon="hammer" href="/guides/add-a-recipe" />
</CardGroup>