All Forge commands are available from the Obsidian command palette.

Core Setup Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Install Documentation	Installs bundled docs and examples into the Forge folder	Yes, skips existing files
Forge: Validate Schema	Checks whether `A-I/Forge/Schema/schema.md` is a valid Forge schema	No
Forge: Run Vault Lint	Scans notes against schemas, lint rules, and structure checks	Yes, lint reports and history

Repair and Cleanup Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Normalize Tags	Cleans, sorts, and deduplicates tags across notes	Yes, modifies notes
Forge: Normalize Frontmatter	Reorders frontmatter fields into a consistent structure	Yes, modifies notes
Forge: Vault Repair	Opens an interactive repair workflow for malformed frontmatter and metadata issues	Yes, confirmed repairs only
Forge: Vault Maintenance	Cleans generated reports, history, and operational files using retention settings	Yes, removes old generated files

In Vault Health, cleanup commands that modify notes or remove generated operational files are shown with destructive action styling. This is visual emphasis only; it does not add a new confirmation step.

Patch and Migration Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Apply Vault Patch	Dry-runs, confirms, and applies operations from `A-I/Forge/Engine/Patches/vault-patch.md`	Yes, changed notes, backups, reports, archives
Forge: Restore Patch Run	Restores notes from a previous patch backup manifest	Yes, restored notes and files

Export Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Export Vault Overview	Generates inventory, metadata, and markdown overview exports	Yes, export files
Forge: Export Ontology Index	Generates relationship indexes for selected note groups	Yes, per-type JSON and markdown indexes

Shape Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Refine Shape Templates	Builds or refreshes shape templates from shape notes	Yes, template notes
Forge: Run Shape Repair (Dry Run)	Previews heading repairs without changing note content	No
Forge: Run Shape Repair	Repairs heading structures using shape templates	Yes, backups, repaired notes, reports, history

Utility Commands

Command	What it does	Writes files?
Forge: Rename Dataview Folder	Updates Dataview folder references after folder renames	Yes, renamed references and files where applicable

Recommended First Commands

If you are starting with an existing vault, begin with these:

Validate Schema
Run Vault Lint
Run Shape Repair (Dry Run), if using Shapes
Export Vault Overview

These commands are low-risk and help you understand the current state of the vault before making larger changes.

Commands That Modify Notes

Commands that modify notes generally include:

previews
confirmations
dry runs
backups
reports
restore support

Forge is intentionally conservative about vault changes.

Most write operations are designed to be reviewable and reversible.

Typical Workflow

A common Forge workflow looks like this:

Validate schema
Run lint
Review findings
Normalize metadata
Repair inconsistencies
Apply patches if needed
Export summaries and dashboards

Over time, this helps the vault become:

easier to query
easier to maintain
more consistent
more reliable for Dataview and Bases
easier to use with AI workflows