Welcome to Forge

Forge is where benefit programs are born. Upload documents, ask questions about similar programs, build eligibility templates, and generate all the messaging you need—in every language.

Program managers spend months designing new benefit programs. They research similar programs, define eligibility criteria, create documentation requirements, design workflows, and write communications for every scenario. Forge compresses this work from months to days.

What Forge Does

Forge is a program design studio with four integrated capabilities:

Document Library

Upload RFPs, guidelines, existing program materials, and reference documents. Build a knowledge base for your programs.

Program Q&A

Ask questions about similar programs. “What income limits do rental assistance programs typically use?” Get answers grounded in your documents and existing programs.

Template Builder

Build program templates with guided workflows. Define eligibility criteria, required documents, application fields, and review workflows.

Messaging Generator

Generate all program communications—approval letters, denial notices, reminder emails, social media posts, flyers—and auto-translate to 20+ languages.

Who Uses Forge

Primary User: Program Manager The program manager is not technical. She needs:

A polished, intuitive UI (no scripts or code)
Ability to upload documents and ask questions
Guided workflows for building program templates
One-click export to Terra
All messaging variants generated and translated

Secondary Users:

Executive Director: Review program designs before launch
Communications Team: Access generated messaging for campaigns
Case Managers: Reference program requirements during intake

Core Workflows

1. Program Research

Example questions:

“What income limits do similar rental assistance programs use?”
“What documents are typically required for childcare subsidies?”
“How do other programs handle self-employed applicants?”
“What fraud controls do housing programs implement?“

2. Template Building

Template components:

Eligibility Rules: Income limits, household requirements, residency, citizenship
Required Documents: Paystubs, ID, proof of address, bank statements
Application Fields: Questions mapped to eligibility criteria
Review Workflow: Approval steps, fraud checks, notification triggers

3. Messaging Generation

Or upload a flyer:

Messaging Variants

For any program, Forge generates:

Category	Variants
Outreach	Social media posts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), community flyers, partner toolkit
Notifications	Application received, documents needed, under review, decision pending
Approvals	Approval letter, payment details, next steps, renewal timeline
Denials	Denial notice, appeal rights, alternative programs, reapplication info
Reminders	Document deadline, renewal due, payment scheduled, follow-up needed
Banners	Website banners, email headers, form announcements

All variants are generated in:

Plain language (8th grade reading level)
Legally compliant format
Culturally appropriate for target communities
Auto-translated to 20+ languages

Integration with Terra

Forge exports program templates directly to Terra: What gets exported:

Form schema (fields, logic, validation)
Eligibility rules (conditional logic)
Notification templates (email/SMS)
Branding assets (if generated)

Technical Architecture

Document Processing

Upload: PDF, Word, images accepted
Extract: OCR + AI extraction via @unify/extraction
Chunk: Split into semantic chunks for retrieval
Embed: Generate embeddings via @unify/ai
Store: Vector store for similarity search

Q&A Pipeline

// User asks a question
const question = "What income limits do rental assistance programs use?";

// Retrieve relevant documents
const relevantDocs = await vectorSearch(question, {
  sources: ['uploaded_docs', 'existing_programs', 'public_benefits'],
  limit: 10,
});

// Generate grounded answer
const answer = await rag({
  query: question,
  documents: relevantDocs,
  options: { citeSources: true },
});

// Returns answer with citations
{
  answer: "Most rental assistance programs set income limits at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI)...",
  citations: [
    { source: "HUD Guidelines 2024.pdf", page: 12 },
    { source: "Seattle ERAP Program", section: "Eligibility" },
  ]
}

Template Schema

interface ProgramTemplate {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  description: string;

  eligibility: {
    incomeLimit: {
      type: 'ami_percentage' | 'fpl_percentage' | 'fixed_amount';
      value: number;
      householdAdjustment: boolean;
    };
    residency: {
      required: boolean;
      jurisdictions: string[];
    };
    citizenship: {
      requirements: ('citizen' | 'permanent_resident' | 'work_authorized' | 'any')[];
    };
    customRules: EligibilityRule[];
  };

  requiredDocuments: {
    type: DocumentType;
    required: boolean;
    alternatives: DocumentType[];
    description: string;
  }[];

  applicationFields: FormField[];

  workflow: {
    steps: WorkflowStep[];
    fraudChecks: FraudCheck[];
    notificationTriggers: NotificationTrigger[];
  };

  messaging: {
    outreach: MessagingVariant[];
    notifications: MessagingVariant[];
    approvals: MessagingVariant[];
    denials: MessagingVariant[];
    reminders: MessagingVariant[];
  };
}

Data Model

Core Tables

-- Program templates created in Forge
CREATE TABLE forge_templates (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT NOT NULL,
  description TEXT,
  status TEXT DEFAULT 'draft', -- draft, review, published
  template_data JSONB NOT NULL,
  created_by UUID REFERENCES users,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

-- Documents uploaded for research
CREATE TABLE forge_documents (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  template_id UUID REFERENCES forge_templates,
  filename TEXT NOT NULL,
  file_path TEXT NOT NULL,
  extracted_text TEXT,
  chunk_count INTEGER,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

-- Document chunks for vector search
CREATE TABLE forge_chunks (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  document_id UUID REFERENCES forge_documents,
  chunk_index INTEGER,
  content TEXT NOT NULL,
  embedding VECTOR(1536),
  metadata JSONB
);

-- Generated messaging variants
CREATE TABLE forge_messaging (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  template_id UUID REFERENCES forge_templates,
  category TEXT NOT NULL, -- outreach, notification, approval, denial, reminder
  variant_type TEXT NOT NULL, -- social_twitter, email_reminder, etc.
  content JSONB NOT NULL, -- I18nString with all translations
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

-- Q&A history for context
CREATE TABLE forge_conversations (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
  template_id UUID REFERENCES forge_templates,
  messages JSONB NOT NULL, -- Array of {role, content, citations}
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

UI Wireframe

Main Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Forge                                    [User] [Settings]     │
├──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              │                                                  │
│  Programs    │  Emergency Rental Assistance                     │
│  ──────────  │  ═══════════════════════════                    │
│              │                                                  │
│  > ERA 2025  │  [Documents] [Q&A] [Template] [Messaging]       │
│    SNAP Exp  │  ─────────────────────────────────────          │
│    Childcare │                                                  │
│              │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  ──────────  │  │                                         │    │
│  + New       │  │   Ask a question about this program     │    │
│              │  │   or similar programs...                │    │
│              │  │                                         │    │
│              │  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│              │                                                  │
│              │  Recent Questions                                │
│              │  ────────────────                               │
│              │  • What income limits do similar programs use?  │
│              │  • What documents are typically required?       │
│              │  • How do other programs handle appeals?        │
│              │                                                  │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Template Builder

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Template Builder                          [Save] [Export]      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  Progress: ████████░░░░░░░░ 50%                                │
│                                                                 │
│  [✓] Eligibility  [✓] Documents  [ ] Fields  [ ] Workflow      │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────  │
│                                                                 │
│  Required Documents                                             │
│  ═══════════════════                                           │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  [✓] Proof of Income                                    │   │
│  │      Paystubs (last 30 days) OR Tax return OR           │   │
│  │      Self-employment documentation                       │   │
│  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤   │
│  │  [✓] Proof of Identity                                  │   │
│  │      Government-issued ID                                │   │
│  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤   │
│  │  [✓] Proof of Address                                   │   │
│  │      Utility bill OR Lease agreement                    │   │
│  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤   │
│  │  [ ] Proof of Crisis (optional)                         │   │
│  │      Eviction notice, job loss letter, etc.             │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
│  [+ Add Document Requirement]                                   │
│                                                                 │
│                              [← Back]  [Next: Application Fields →]
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Document Library + Q&A

Document upload and storage
Text extraction and chunking
Vector embeddings and search
Basic Q&A interface

Phase 2: Template Builder

Eligibility rule builder
Document requirements UI
Application field generator
Terra export

Phase 3: Messaging Generator

Messaging variant generation
Flyer upload and extraction
Auto-translation
Export for all channels

Next Steps

Core Concepts

Mental models for program design

Document Processing

How documents are extracted and indexed

Template Schema

Program template data model

Messaging Engine

How messaging variants are generated

Foundation

​Welcome to Forge

​What Forge Does

Document Library

Program Q&A

Template Builder

Messaging Generator

​Who Uses Forge

​Core Workflows

​1. Program Research

​2. Template Building

​3. Messaging Generation

​Messaging Variants

​Integration with Terra

​Technical Architecture

​Document Processing

​Q&A Pipeline

​Template Schema

​Data Model

​Core Tables

​UI Wireframe

​Main Layout

​Template Builder

​Implementation Phases

​Phase 1: Document Library + Q&A

​Phase 2: Template Builder

​Phase 3: Messaging Generator

​Next Steps

Core Concepts

Document Processing

Template Schema

Messaging Engine

Welcome to Forge

What Forge Does

Who Uses Forge

Core Workflows

1. Program Research

2. Template Building

3. Messaging Generation

Messaging Variants

Integration with Terra

Technical Architecture

Document Processing

Q&A Pipeline

Template Schema

Data Model

Core Tables

UI Wireframe

Main Layout

Template Builder

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Document Library + Q&A

Phase 2: Template Builder

Phase 3: Messaging Generator

Next Steps