FlowForge v1.2.32 — the founder's letter, October 2026

SHEET 1/1 · REV v1.2.32 · DATE 2026-10 · DRAWN BY Alex

If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XII.17 (tr. George Long)

This release holds to both halves. A merge override is refused when a Claude Code session is above it, and a ticket is not done until it is proven on the real state (Rule #39).

Hi,

Every change to production should be one press, and an override at a merge should wait for a person. This release is about that. In Settings ▸ Databases, the switch that allows changes and the owner sign-in are now presses (#8914). A one-time data write shows its counts before you approve it (#9087). And when you upgrade, the old needs-you items move onto their presses: on a copy of my own list, 52 items became 23 (#9077). Start with the presses.

Two more things from these two days. An interrupted update can no longer lock you out of your own records (#8870). And when the shared GitHub budget is spent, Fleet and the Merge Queue say so in one line (#8921).

Please try three things: press S to open Settings, then go to the Databases tab, to see the changes switch and the owner sign-in; press w to open Waves, and ask ACE to start an epic; and then quit and relaunch every open cockpit and FlowForge Desktop. Before you start, read Not yet at the end of this letter: three limits are open. If anything breaks, or simply reads wrong, reply and tell me. I read every one.

All the best,
Alex

THIS RELEASE, IN NUMBERS

This release, in numbers

74 pull requests

merged.

97,806 lines added

— code 49,485 · tests 39,986 · docs 8,335.

Delivery mix

— bug 44% · feature 30% · docs 15% (the three largest).

Merged in two days. You are among the first to run it.

Read the full release notes →

The cockpit's Databases tab, as its test draws it from fixture data. The header reads "FlowForge ✦ acme-app ✦ Settings" beside the FlowForge mark, then "Settings — what the database assistant may read", with the tab strip ending in "▾ Data". One database is listed: "production Live database: read-only". Its facts read "Listed ✓ yes · Sign-in saved ✓ yes · Reading allowed ✓ yes · Last check ✓ worked 3m ago", and the next line reads "Changes ○ off (the safe setting) · Owner sign-in ✗ not saved". The selected button reads "↻ Check again". Under it sit "↳ Allow changes for production" and "↳ Save the owner sign-in", then "+ Connect a database".

Every change to production is one press

Settings ▸ Databases now shows two presses. "Allow changes for production" asks for a window (1 hour, 1 day, or until you switch it off), a reason and the ticket. You approve it in Needs you; on a Mac, FlowForge Desktop asks for Touch ID or, without it, the Mac's login password, and on Linux the approval is unsigned, as in 1.2.31. Then FlowForge's own process raises the switch. The switch only allows changes: each change is still its own press, and "Switch changes off" is yours alone.

"Save the owner sign-in" opens a secure field for the owner password. And "Last check" now tells the truth. One refused statement on a table the read-only login is kept out of used to flip a working database to "can't read".

ALSO IN THIS RELEASE

An epic runs like a sprint

An epic's run on Waves, as its test draws it from fixture data. The header reads "FlowForge ✦ owner/repo ✦ ◉ Epic #6137 · Epic in Focus · Waves". The progress line reads "0/7 · 0% ≈1/2 elapsed 00:42:00 ETA after 3 merges". The counts read "▶ 0 running ✓ 0 merged ⋯ 7 queued ⚠ 0 needs you". Wave ≈1 is queued, with child tickets #101, #102 and #103 under it. Wave "▸ ≈2 (4 hidden)" is waiting, with "4 queued" in its counts and "≈1 to merge" under WAITS FOR. The footer reads "Nothing needs you. Back to all runs · esc".

An epic (◉) now starts and queues like a sprint. flowforge waves start --epic N starts it, and --dry-run shows the plan first. ACE can start, queue, pause and stop it. It moves one wave after another as its tickets merge, and it never starts a child whose blocker outside the epic is still open. It runs beside other runs, and is refused only where tickets overlap.

The cockpit's S on an epic board does not start the epic yet. See Not yet.

ALSO IN THIS RELEASE

An override waits for a person

A drawing of the check. On the left, a box reads "An override at a merge". An arrow leads to the question "Is a Claude Code session above it in the process table?". If yes, the answer is "Refused". If no, and the override comes from a terminal or the cockpit's one-use press, the answer is "Honoured". Under the drawing: "The hands-free loop honours no override."

An override at a merge skips a gate, so FlowForge now reads the machine's process table. If a Claude Code session is above the command, the override is refused, whatever its environment says. The cockpit's Bypass press is a one-use token. The hands-free loop honours no override at all.

One route is still open, and it is filed: a planted startup file can relaunch the call in a detached terminal pane, and that pane passes as a person.

THE ROSTER

53 specialists: three changed

No agent was added or removed. Three definitions changed.

`fft-code-reviewer`

fft-code-reviewer now stamps REAL-STATE-EVIDENCE at GOLDEN. A change that meets a real state needs a read-only run on that state, a fixture is not enough, and a FAIL blocks GOLDEN (#8908).

`fft-dba`

fft-dba never raises the changes switch itself: it tells you the press in Settings ▸ Databases. It prepares a one-time data write with its dry run, and the press shows you the counts before you approve.

`fft-devops-agent`

fft-devops-agent now reads flowforge platform backup status through the platform door.

AGENT PAIR SPOTLIGHT

The design pair: one sets the bar, one draws the page

Two agents split the work on how your product looks: one sets the standard for every surface, and the other draws the web page against it.

`fft-design-architect`

fft-design-architect decides which guidelines govern a piece of work, and writes the design brief that carries them. The brief has three parts: the guidelines that apply, the direction for the composition, and the bar the result must clear.

`fft-web-designer`

fft-web-designer decides how a web page looks, against that brief: the composition, the hierarchy, the motion and the light and dark themes. It hands fft-frontend a visual spec to build from, and it never writes the shipped code.

How the pair works:

• A new web page. fft-design-architect writes the design brief, fft-web-designer designs against it, and fft-code-reviewer judges the result against the same acceptance bar.

• Look and code. fft-web-designer settles the look and hands fft-frontend a visual spec, and fft-frontend writes the shipped code.

• The first screen. fft-web-designer composes the first screen for a fast read, in light and dark themes alike.

Ask ACE, or name fft-design-architect for any design decision that spans more than one surface and fft-web-designer for a web page.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Radio, one key away

Press J on the cockpit to open the Radio. Press / to search by station, genre or city, and Space to play or stop. Press f to mark a favourite and F to show only your favourites. Esc takes you back.

The Radio, as captured from a scratch session. The header reads "FlowForge ✦ JustCode-CruzAlex/FlowForge ✦ The Radio". A spectrum sits over the line "⏵ Playing Classic Vinyl HD", with "Search: station, genre, city…" under it. The station list has columns STATION, WHERE and RATE: RTL (FR · généraliste, 64k), 102.7 KIIS FM (US · pop), France Info (FR, 128k), the selected "▸ Classic Vinyl HD" (US · 1930, 320k), and more. The count reads "49 total". The footer reads "↑↓ station space stop / search f fav F favourites esc back".

It is a small thing, and it is already on your machine.

NOT YET

Not yet

A plain drawing of three open limits. One: the cockpit's S does not start an epic yet, so use ACE (#9141). Two: FlowForge's own nightly backup is built, not armed (#8732). Three: a real restore drill has not run (#9048).

The cockpit's S on an epic board does not start the epic yet. Start or queue it through ACE, or with flowforge waves start --epic N (#9141).

FlowForge's own nightly backup is built, not armed. Its storage is written and not applied, and the two presses that arm it, one that sets up the backup storage and one that turns on the backup login, are not built yet. Point-in-time recovery is not switched on yet (#8732, #9021, #9022, #8731).

A real restore drill has not run. Only its database half is proven, on a rehearsal (#9048).

HOW THIS LETTER REACHES YOU

How this letter reaches you

This letter comes out of FlowForge's own release pack: the same tooling keeps the release notes, the release page and this letter derived from one committed source. Release letters go to FlowForge accounts. The FlowForge Monthly is a separate letter, with its own page at flowforgesoft.com/newsletter.

Made with FlowForge — 74 PRs · 97,806 lines · 2 days.

Alex — FlowForge · alex@flowforgesoft.com

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Update: flowforge update → see how

FlowForge · v1.2.32 · sheet 1/1