Build Your First Module

The quickest way to build a dForge module needs nothing installed on your computer — no editor, no Node.js, no command-line setup. You start from a ready-made template that opens in your browser, describe the module you want in plain language, and an AI assistant builds it for you, step by step.

Either way you build the module by talking to the same AI assistant. There are two routes in:

• Start from the template — recommended. A ready-made project with the dForge tools and authoring skill already wired up, so there’s nothing to configure. Open it in your browser with nothing to install, or clone it to your computer if you’d rather work locally — both are covered here.
• Wire it into your own editor — advanced, for developers. Already have a project or a preferred setup? Add the dForge MCP server to it yourself. See Connect Your AI Agent (MCP).

The walkthrough below opens the template in your browser — the simplest start. Prefer your own machine? Jump to Work on your computer instead at the end.

What you’ll need

1. A free GitHub account — to open the template.
2. A dForge tenant to install into — only needed at the final step. You can also download the finished module and install it from the admin panel without one.

Everything else — the editor, the AI assistant, and the dForge authoring tools — comes pre-installed in the cloud workspace.

1. Start from the template

Open the dForge module template: github.com/dforge-core/create-module. Click Use this template → Create a new repository to make your own copy (private is fine).

2. Open it in the cloud

On your new repository, click Code → Codespaces → Create codespace on main. A full editor opens right in your browser. The first time it loads, it spends a minute setting itself up — installing the AI assistant and the dForge authoring tools for you. Let that finish.

A Codespace is a free cloud development environment from GitHub. There’s nothing to install locally, and it picks up exactly where you left off next time you open it.

3. Start the assistant

In the terminal panel at the bottom of the editor, type:

claude

Sign in when prompted. When the assistant asks to approve the “dforge” tools, accept — that’s what lets it build modules.

4. Describe your module

Say what you want, in plain language. For example:

“Build me a client tracker for a pet-grooming business — clients, their pets, appointments, and invoices.”

The assistant walks you through a short, guided flow: it confirms what the module is for, proposes the data it should hold, designs the screens and the access rules, and shows you each piece before writing anything. You stay in control — it proposes, you approve. Refine in plain language at any point:

“Add a loyalty-points field.” · “Show appointments on a calendar.” · “Give front-desk staff a read-only role.”

When it’s done, your module lives in a module/ folder in the workspace.

5. Install it

Two ways to get it into dForge:

• Download and upload — most reliable from a Codespace. Ask the assistant to “pack the module,” download the resulting .dforge file from the file explorer, and upload it via Module Management → Install in the admin panel. Nothing to sign in to.

• Let the assistant install it directly. Give it your tenant’s web address — “install this to https://your-tenant.dforge.app.” The CLI opens a browser sign-in: you log in the normal way and it saves your session locally. There are no API keys or tokens to copy — just your tenant URL.

  Because that sign-in runs from inside the cloud workspace, it depends on the Codespace forwarding a local port back to your browser, which doesn’t always complete. If it hangs, cancel it and use the download-and-upload method above — that one always works.

Pick up where you left off

Your Codespace and your repository persist. Come back any time, reopen the Codespace, type claude, and keep refining — “add reminders,” “add a monthly revenue report.” Re-pack and re-install to push the changes to your tenant.

From an existing database

Already have a schema? Paste it into the chat — “here’s my spreadsheet / SQL / DBML, turn it into a dForge module” — and the assistant converts it, then finishes the rough edges with you.

Work on your computer instead

Prefer local files? Clone the same pre-wired template to your machine — the dForge tools and authoring skill come already configured, so there’s nothing to set up:

npx degit dforge-core/create-module my-module
cd my-module
code .   # or: cursor .  ·  zed .

Open the folder, approve the dforge tools on the first prompt, and build exactly as in the walkthrough above. Tip: if your editor offers “Reopen in Container,” accept it — that installs the assistant CLI for you too.

Already have a project or your own editor setup? Skip the template and wire the MCP server in yourself — see Connect Your AI Agent (MCP).

Related

• Connect Your AI Agent (MCP) — run the same authoring tools in your local editor
• Create Modules with the VS Code Extension — the guided six-phase flow, explained
• Getting Started — sign up, install a module, and the basics
• Core Concepts — entities, views, folders, roles, and the metadata model