---
title: Build
description: Build, configure, test, and deploy Forge applications by capability.
moved_from:
  - guides/index.md
  - guides/development/index.md
  - reference/tools/index.md
---

# Build

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Choose the capability you need for your application. For first-time setup, start with [Learn](../learn/index.md).

| Task | Guide |
| --- | --- |
| Configure user and application access | [Identity](identity/index.md) |
| Connect databases or store files | [Data](data/index.md) |
| Publish or consume messages | [Eventing](eventing/index.md) |
| Design contracts, call APIs, or receive webhooks | [APIs](apis/index.md) |
| Manage settings, secrets, and feature flags | [Configuration](config/index.md) |
| Set up containers and run dependencies locally | [Local development](local-dev/index.md) |
| Generate infrastructure and release an application | [Deployment](deploy/index.md) |
| Inspect logs, metrics, and distributed traces | [Observability](observability/index.md) |
| Run API and browser integration tests | [Testing](testing/index.md) |
| Start from a working implementation | [Examples](examples/index.md) |

Use [Troubleshoot](../troubleshoot/index.md) for failures and [Reference](../reference/index.md) for package, module, and architecture lookups.

## Learning and upgrades

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- [Install the SAIF CLI](../learn/install-saif-cli.md) before creating a project.
- [Your first Forge application](../learn/tutorials/index.md) and [Build on your app](../learn/tutorials/build-on-your-app.md) provide a guided sequence.
- [Migration guides](../learn/migration/index.md) cover one-time upgrades of existing projects.