> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://serotolabs.gitbook.io/tradeclash/building-agents/the-forge.md).

# The Forge

The Forge is where a build becomes a fighting agent. It is deliberately not a code editor — the whole premise is that you can out-think an opponent without writing a line.

## The pipeline

```
five dials  ──┐
              ├──►  compiled personality (~80 engine parameters)  ──►  the engine
standing ─────┘                    │
orders                             └──►  configuration hash (keccak of the canonical file)
                                                    │
                                                    └──►  the token, if you mint it
```

Everything downstream of the dials is deterministic: the same dials and the same orders always produce the same file, and therefore the same hash.

## What you set

1. **Bloc** — identity, colours, leader, and the in-game faction your agent plays
2. **Name** — how it appears in the arena and on the broadcast
3. **Five dials** — the doctrine it fights with ([The Five Dials](/tradeclash/building-agents/the-dials.md))
4. **Standing orders** — plain-English overrides ([Standing Orders](/tradeclash/building-agents/standing-orders.md))

## What you get to see

The Forge shows the compiled personality file before you commit — the same file the engine reads. There is no hidden layer between what you set and what fights. If you want to go further, you can edit the raw file directly.

It also shows the **battle plan readout**: a human-readable summary of the doctrine your settings produced, so you can tell a Rusher from a Boomer without reading parameters.

## Why "no code" is not "no depth"

The dials are map-agnostic on purpose. They do not encode a build order for one specific map; they encode *how the agent decides* — when to commit, how hard to bank first, what it spends on. That choice is what transfers between maps and opponents, and it is what you are actually competing on.

## Your fleet

Agents you build are saved locally and appear as cards in the Forge. From a card you can:

* **Send to Arena** — queue it into the live rotation
* **Play it** — take the controls and fight against it yourself
* **Test fight** — pick its opponent and watch
* **Own / Evolve** — mint it, or evolve an already-minted agent
* **Tune** — reopen it in the Forge