Run Forge (forgecode) CLI on Your Phone (2026)

You can run Forge (forgecode), the open-source Rust terminal agent, on your phone today. Forge ships no mobile app, so you run it on a Linux shell. On Android it works natively: Forge publishes a forge-aarch64-linux-android binary, so npm install -g forgecode inside Termux pulls native machine code, no emulation. On iPhone there is no native build at all, so you reach a cloud Ubuntu container from a native app: install Cosyra for iOS or Cosyra for Android, then npm install -g forgecode and run forge. 1 hour free on signup, no credit card.

This guide was written by the Cosyra team. We installed forgecode ourselves on 2026-07-26 and inspected exactly which binary npm ships on each platform, and we cross-checked every claim against Forge's official GitHub repo (tailcallhq/forgecode) and forgecode.dev, verified the same day.

What is Forge (forgecode)?

Forge is an open-source AI coding agent for the terminal, published under Apache-2.0 and written in Rust. Its repo describes it as an "AI enabled pair programmer for Claude, GPT, O Series, Grok, Deepseek, Gemini and 300+ models." As of 2026-07-26 it sits at v2.13.19 with about 7,500 GitHub stars, and archived is false, so it is under active development. The tool is free; the money is an optional hosted-inference subscription layered on top.

We ran forge --help on 2026-07-26. Running forge with no arguments starts an interactive TUI; forge -p "your prompt" runs a single headless answer for scripts and CI. There are subcommands for commit (AI commit messages), suggest (shell commands from natural language), mcp (Model Context Protocol servers), and a zsh plugin mode where lines starting with : at the prompt route to Forge. Models are BYOK through forge provider login, or you can use Forge's hosted quota.

The opinion we hold that a desktop-first Forge user might push back on: the most interesting thing about Forge for mobile developers is not a feature it advertises, it is the forge-aarch64-linux-android binary buried in its releases. Forge is one of the few terminal agents that actually ships native ARM64 Android machine code. It just never tells you what to do with it. The docs and README carry no Termux walkthrough, no note about Android's background-process limits, no mobile workflow at all. So the tool supports your phone better than its own documentation admits.

How can you run Forge on a phone?

There are two honest paths, and which one is right depends mostly on whether you carry an iPhone or an Android phone. Both put the actual Forge process on a real Linux shell. Comparison current as of 2026-07-26.

1. Termux on Android: native, free, local

This is the path Forge's docs skip. Install Termux from F-Droid, pkg install nodejs, then npm install -g forgecode. Because Forge ships a native forge-aarch64-linux-android binary and the npm wrapper detects Termux (it checks whether the PREFIX environment variable contains com.termux), you get native ARM64 code rather than an x86 translation layer. That is a real advantage over Node agents that fight Termux's Bionic libc.

• Works when: you are on Android, you want everything local and free, and you accept managing the install yourself.
• Breaks when: Android 12+'s phantom-process killer terminates a long agent run in the background, or you switch to an iPhone, where Termux does not exist. See why Termux is Android-only for the underlying reason.
• Cost: free Termux, free CLI. You pay your model provider, or Forge's hosted quota if you use it.

2. Cosyra: cloud x86_64 container, iPhone and Android

This is what we built: a native iOS and Android terminal connected to a persistent Ubuntu 24.04 container. Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI are already installed; Forge is the one you add. On a clean container it is a single npm install -g forgecode, which pulls the forge-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu binary to match the container's architecture.

• Works when: you are on iPhone (no native Forge build exists for iOS), or you want the same container from your phone, tablet, and the web, and you do not want a long session killed by Android's process limits.
• Breaks when: you are offline. The container lives in the cloud, so no internet means no terminal. Full trade-off list in Cosyra vs Termux.
• Cost: 1 hour free on signup, no credit card. Extend with a 10-hour, 7-day trial when you want more. After that, $29.99/month or $300/year. Model tokens are billed by your provider. See pricing.

How do you set up Forge on iPhone or Android?

You set up Forge on a phone in about five minutes with Cosyra: install the app, open the container, install the CLI with npm, authenticate a provider, and run forge. This is the path that also covers iPhone, so it is the one we walk through step by step.

Step 1: Install Cosyra and open a container

Download from the App Store or Google Play. Sign in with Apple, Google, or email. On first launch we provision a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 container with Node.js, Python, Git, and tmux already on it, about 15 seconds in our testing.

Step 2: Install Forge with npm

Forge is not one of the four agents we ship in the image, so you add it yourself. The npm package name is forgecode. On our x86_64 container it pulls the forge-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu binary. When we ran it on 2026-07-26, forge --version printed forge 2.13.19. The official curl -fsSL https://forgecode.dev/cli | sh script works too.

Step 3: Authenticate a model provider

Forge is BYOK-capable. Run forge provider login to point it at your own provider credentials, or use Forge's hosted quota. On a phone we prefer BYOK, because it keeps billing in one place with the key you already have rather than a second hosted account.

Step 4: Run forge interactively or one-shot

Run forge to open the interactive TUI, or forge -p for a single headless answer. forge commit stages and writes an AI-generated commit message. Keep it inside tmux so a dropped signal on the train does not kill the session.

What can you actually do with Forge on your phone?

The honest pitch for Forge on a phone is a fast Rust terminal agent that reaches 300-plus models on your own key. Two sessions we run from a phone.

Draft a commit message on the couch

You made a few changes on the train and want them committed cleanly. From the couch, open the container, stage your work, and run forge commit. Forge reads the diff and writes a message you can accept or edit. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of task a phone keyboard handles fine, and it keeps history readable without switching to a laptop.

Compare Forge against the agents we pre-install

Since Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI already sit in the same container, a phone session is a low-stakes place to run the same prompt through forge and through one of them and see which reasoning you prefer. We do this when deciding which agent to keep on a repo. If you are weighing open-source terminal agents, running Forge next to OpenCode tells you fast which one fits your workflow. For the cross-agent picture, see the AI coding agents on mobile pillar.

What are the real limits of running Forge on a phone?

Knowing where Forge stops helps you match it to the right job instead of fighting it.

• No iOS build. There is no *-apple-ios asset and no App Store listing for Forge. On iPhone you must go through a cloud container or SSH into your own machine.
• Zero official mobile docs. Forge ships the Android binary but publishes no Termux setup guide, so the phone workflow is undocumented by the project. This guide fills that gap; the tool itself will not hold your hand.
• Free hosted tier is tight. Forge's hosted inference free tier is roughly 10 to 50 requests/day and adjusts with server load. Fine for trying it, tight for a full day. BYOK sidesteps this.
• Android process limits still apply on Termux. A native binary does not exempt you from Android 12+'s phantom-process killer on long background runs. That is a Termux constraint, not a Forge one, but it hits Forge too.
• No offline mode via Cosyra. The container and the model API both live in the cloud. Termux can run the CLI offline, but the model call still needs a network. See the install-it-yourself CLI pattern for another agent with the same not-pre-installed caveat.

How does Cosyra compare to Termux for Forge?

Termux wins on being free, local, and offline-capable, and it runs Forge's native Android binary. Cosyra wins on covering iPhone, avoiding Android's process killer, and keeping a persistent container across devices. Neither is strictly best. Comparison as of 2026-07-26.

Who should pick each option?

Choose Termux if you are on Android, you live in the terminal, and you want everything local and free, and you are willing to work around the phantom-process killer on long runs. Choose Cosyra if you are on iPhone, where Forge has no native build at all, or if you want the same container on both platforms without a session dying when Android reclaims memory, with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI sitting next to forge in the same shell. For the head-to-head on the terminal itself, see Cosyra vs Termux.

For the same walkthrough with the agents we pre-install, see Gemini CLI on phone and OpenCode on phone. For another install-it-yourself CLI with the same not-pre-installed caveat, see Aider on phone.

Frequently asked questions