Keep each project's work in its own folder. ThinkForge adds browsing, search, tags, workspaces, and capture actions while your documents remain ordinary files.
Captures and untargeted new documents normally go into _captured. The hidden .fire folder holds ThinkForge's project settings and workspace state.
Create a project
Open Projects and select Create New Project. Choose a template and its components, or create a generic project without template documents.
Templates can add documents, tags, a workspace, and associated Tools. See Project Templates Overview.
Open or switch projects
On the Projects page, double-click a row or select it and choose Open.
The list marks the active project as Current, linked folders as External, and unavailable links as Broken External. Use the filter above the list to narrow it by name, group, or location.
Switching projects changes the files, search, workspaces, restored tabs, and project capture destinations used by ThinkForge's connected surfaces.
To organize the list, right-click a project and choose Set Group. Groups do not combine project contents.
Add an existing folder
On Projects, select Add Existing Project Folder… and choose the folder.
Review the confirmation, then use Add and Open or Add Only. ThinkForge registers the folder as a separate project without moving the current project's documents.
If the folder is already registered, you can open that project. A Broken External entry means the linked folder or its project state is unavailable; restore its location or remove the broken entry.
Move a project
Open another project first, then select the inactive project and choose Move Project....
Choose an existing empty destination folder. Its name becomes the relocated project's name. The destination cannot be inside the original project or conflict with another registered project.
ThinkForge copies and verifies the project, then keeps the original in a sibling .fire-relocation-backups folder. Open the relocated project and check its files before deleting or archiving that backup.
Linked files or folders can prevent relocation. Resolve the reported link before trying again.
Change the default projects location
Open Settings → General.
Change Default Location… selects another root without moving existing projects. Move All Local Projects… copies the current root and keeps the original. Restart ThinkForge after changing it.
On Windows, the default is Documents\Think Forge\Projects. See Settings and Preferences.
Create and open documents
Right-click a project folder to create a Markdown document, or choose Other Document Types for the offered alternatives. A new document uses an Untitled name and opens for editing.
Main-window tabs choose the editor or viewer by file type:
- Markdown, HTML, and RTF use the document editor.
- Code and plain text use the code editor.
- CSV and TSV use a read-only table view.
- Images, PDFs, and supported videos use viewers.
Separate windows from Floating Navigator do not offer the same code and table workflow. Use the main window for those files.
See Document editor, Code editor, and View files.
Use Today's Note
Select Today's Note from the main command bar or File menu. Choose a folder on first use, or right-click a folder and select Use for Today's Notes.
ThinkForge opens the project's note for the current local date. Closing an empty note creates no file. After the date changes, it remains an ordinary Markdown document.
Save and search documents
Use File → Save or your Save Now shortcut. Saving updates the file and the search index for supported text.
If another application locks the file or permissions prevent saving, ThinkForge reports the blocked save. Resolve that problem before retrying.
Browsing and indexing cover different file types. A directly opened file can use an editor even if Project Navigator does not show its extension. Images, PDFs, videos, and CSV contents are not read by the general text index. Hidden and excluded folders are also skipped.
Restore a deleted file or folder
Open Trash at the bottom of the project folder tree. Right-click the item and choose Restore.
If its original name is already in use, ThinkForge restores it under a unique name. It does not overwrite the existing item.
Trash keeps at most 50 recent entries; older ones are permanently removed. Delete Permanently and Empty Trash also permanently remove items after confirmation. If an item lacks its original-location information, it cannot be restored.
If ThinkForge cannot move an item to Trash, deletion can become permanent. Read the confirmation and keep a separate backup.
Remove a project carefully
Open another project before selecting Remove; the active project cannot be removed.
For an external project, ordinary removal unregisters the link and leaves the external folder intact.
For a local project, leaving Also delete all project files permanently unchecked still deletes its .fire and _captured folders. Move or back up important captured documents first. Other project documents remain.
Selecting the permanent-delete checkbox deletes the entire project folder after another warning. For an external project, it reads Also delete the external folder and all its files permanently.
Project removal does not use document Trash.
Back up a project
Back up the whole folder, including your documents, _captured, and hidden .fire state. A file backup protects the work; keeping the full project also preserves more of its settings and workspace state.