Quickstart

#1. Get a key

Send a work order. When your invite arrives, open console.useblackforge.com, go to Keys and create one with the run scope. It is shown once.

export BF_KEY="bf_live_..."

#2. Install the CLI

curl -fsSL https://get.useblackforge.com | sh
forge login --key "$BF_KEY"

The CLI is optional. Everything below also works with curl, shown in the second tab of each block.

#3. Check for free GPUs

$ forge forges
  F1  is-south  16× B200
      strike  free 5   wait ~0 min
      ember   free 9   wait ~2 min

#4. Run a job

A job is an image, a command, a GPU count, a plan and a time limit.

forge run --gpus 2 --plan strike --limit 4h \
  --image ghcr.io/yourlab/train:latest \
  -- python train.py --epochs 3

The response carries the job id, for example job_2a4k1. The job moves through four stages: queue, heat, strike and quench. Only strike is billed.

#5. Watch it

forge watch job_2a4k1     # live heat per GPU
forge logs job_2a4k1 -f   # stdout and stderr

#6. Stop it early

forge stop job_2a4k1

The container gets SIGTERM, then SIGKILL 20 seconds later. Billing ends when the container exits.

#Next

Read Jobs for limits and results, and Containers and storage for what your image needs and where to write files.