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

# What is Forge?

> The one-paragraph answer, in plain language.

export const DecisionLedger = () => <Tooltip tip="An append-only record of every engineering decision and the reasoning behind it. Decisions are never edited, only superseded.">decision ledger</Tooltip>;

export const Ontology = () => <Tooltip tip="A structured model of what kinds of things exist in a domain and how they relate. For ships: a Vessel has Hulls, a Hull has Compartments, and so on.">ontology</Tooltip>;

<Note>
  **In plain terms:** Forge is an intelligence layer that sits *around* the design
  and engineering tools your yard already uses. It keeps track of what is known,
  what is missing, what changed, which rules apply, and what needs a human's
  approval before a design moves into production.
</Note>

## The short version

Forge does **not** replace ShipConstructor, AutoCAD, CADMATIC, NAPA, Rhino, or
your ERP system. Those tools draw the ship and run the yard. Forge is the layer
that *understands* the reasoning around the design: which rule applied, what
prior vessel it was based on, what evidence supported a choice, who approved it,
and what later changed.

Today that reasoning is scattered. Rules live in ABS and USCG documents. Drawings
live in CAD. Bills of material live in spreadsheets. Prior-vessel knowledge lives
in old project folders and in the heads of senior engineers. Decisions live in
email threads and meetings. When a senior engineer retires, much of it walks out
the door.

Forge pulls that scattered reasoning into one place that can be **searched, traced,
and trusted**.

## What it gives a yard

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="A memory that does not retire" icon="brain">
    Decades of contracts, drawings, and decisions become a single searchable
    record instead of tribal knowledge.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Rules that check themselves" icon="scale-balanced">
    ABS and USCG requirements are applied automatically, with a citation back to
    the exact rule and version every time.
  </Card>

  <Card title="A record of why" icon="clipboard-list">
    Every engineering decision is stored with the reason behind it, so months
    later you can answer "why did we do it this way?"
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your data stays yours" icon="lock">
    Sensitive designs are processed on your own infrastructure. Nothing
    proprietary leaves the building.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How to read these docs

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Start Here" icon="play" href="/start-here/the-problem">
    The plain-language case: the problem, why it matters, and how Forge fits.
    No technical background needed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Concepts" icon="lightbulb" href="/concepts/two-clock-problem">
    How Forge thinks, one idea at a time. Still plain language, a little deeper.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How It Works" icon="layer-group" href="/how-it-works/architecture-overview">
    The specifics of the system, layer by layer, for the technically curious.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Research Log" icon="calendar" href="/research-log/overview">
    Our weekly progress updates.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>