Quick Start

Clean your workspace in minutes! Follow this simple guide to start organizing with forg.

Step 1: Initialize

First, set up your global configuration file in ~/.forg/config.json:

forg init

This creates a default set of rules that sort common files (PDFs, Pictures, Music, etc.) into standard folders.

Step 2: Dry Run (The Safety Step)

Before moving any files, it's always recommended to see what would happen:

# Preview what would happen to your Downloads folder
forg Downloads --dry-run

forg will scan your Downloads directory and show you which files match which rules and where they would be moved (without actually moving them).

Step 3: Execute

Ready? Run the command without the --dry-run flag to actually move the files:

forg Downloads

Step 4: Check the Report

After execution, forg generates a detailed report. It tells you:

Quick Tips

Case-Insensitive Matching

Want your regex rules to ignore case? Use the --ignore-case flag:

forg Downloads --ignore-case

Dealing with Hidden Files

By default, forg ignores files starting with a .. To include them:

forg Downloads --allow-hidden

Show the File List

To see every single file being processed, use the -L (or --file-list) flag:

forg Downloads -L

Decide overwrite strategy

In cases where the filename already exists in the destination directory:

forg Downloads --on-conflict skip # skips moving those files
# OR
# forg Downloads --on-conflict versioned # creates a versioned file ('_v2', '_v3', etc. suffixes)
# OR
# forg Downloads --on-conflict replace # overwrites the file with the new one
On this page
Step 1: Initialize Step 2: Dry Run (The Safety Step) Step 3: Execute Step 4: Check the Report Quick Tips Case-Insensitive Matching Dealing with Hidden Files Show the File List Decide overwrite strategy