Troubleshooting & Limitations
Known limitations
- Forge works on your project's files, not a live server. Generation, validation, and "what's in my project" answers all read the JSON/C# files in your customization folder. To work against what's deployed, run Import Schema from Server first.
- The AI agent still owns the thinking. Forge keeps the agent honest about Protrak contracts and your schema, but it can't catch a misunderstood requirement. Always review generated code and JSON before committing or deploying.
- Validation is static, not a full build. Program validation catches common mistakes (wrong interface, bad attribute access, type mismatches). A real compile runs only if you have the .NET SDK installed and a project referencing
Prorigo.Protrak.Toolkit. - Generation covers the elements listed under Authoring with AI. Other parts of a Protrak schema can still be imported and exported, but Forge won't scaffold them for you — author those in Protrak directly.
- Classic layouts are read-only. Forge does not author classic Home/Create/View/Edit/Report/Dashboard layouts; use Design Studio (Forms, Type Widgets, Layout Templates) for new layout work.
- Naming is PascalCase. Schema element names must be PascalCase.
- The workspace audit reports; it never repairs. Checking your workspace is read-only, covers structural problems only (references, names, promote loops) — not naming conventions or business correctness — and its warnings and info findings often describe intentional design. Read them before acting on them.
"Protrak Forge server failed to start" (VS Code)
- Check View → Output → Protrak Forge.
- Make sure the workspace contains
Types/and/orPrograms/, or a.csprojreferencingProrigo.Protrak.Toolkit. - If detection fails, run Protrak Forge: Set Protrak Project Root… to point Forge at the right folder.
No types or programs found
Forge returns empty results (with a note) when those directories are missing — this isn't an error. Make sure you opened the customization folder itself, not a parent directory.
Workspace not detected
Auto-detection looks for either a .csproj referencing Prorigo.Protrak.Toolkit or a folder with both Types/ and Programs/. If it misses:
- VS Code: run Protrak Forge: Set Protrak Project Root….
- Claude Code: set
"cwd": "/path/to/project"insettings.local.json. - Codex / any client: set
PROTRAK_PROJECT_ROOTto the absolute path of your customization repo.
Enable debug logging
Set PROTRAKFORGE_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG.
In VS Code, via .vscode/settings.json:
{ "terminal.integrated.env.osx": { "PROTRAKFORGE_LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG" } }
(Use linux or windows in place of osx.) For Claude Code or Codex, add it to the MCP server config's env block.
Updating
The VS Code extension updates automatically through the Marketplace and pulls a matching MCP server version via npx. To force-update the CLI manually:
npm install -g @prorigo/protrak-forge@latest