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Dogfooding Policy

"We drink our own champagne."

Ferrous Forge MUST use itself for validation. This is non-negotiable.

Philosophy

If we don't use Ferrous Forge to validate Ferrous Forge, why should anyone else trust it? Dogfooding ensures:

  1. We feel the pain — If Forge is too strict, we fix it
  2. Real-world testing — We test features on ourselves before releasing
  3. Credibility — Users see we trust our own tool
  4. Continuous improvement — Daily usage reveals edge cases

The Golden Rule

Every commit to main must pass Ferrous Forge validation.

Implementation

CI/CD Dogfooding

Our CI pipeline runs ferrous-forge validate on itself:

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
- name: Dogfood - Validate with Ferrous Forge
  run: |
    cargo install --path . --force
    ferrous-forge validate . --locked-only

Pre-Commit Hooks

All maintainers must have Forge safety hooks installed:

# Every maintainer runs this
cargo install --path .
ferrous-forge init --project
ferrous-forge safety install

Release Gate

Releases are blocked if Forge doesn't validate itself:

# In release workflow
./target/release/ferrous-forge validate . || exit 1

Self-Validation Checklist

Before every commit, ask yourself:

  • Does ferrous-forge validate . pass?
  • Are there any locked violations?
  • Would this commit be blocked by the safety pipeline?
  • Have I tested new features on this codebase?

When Dogfooding Hurts

Sometimes Forge is too strict on itself. This is a feature, not a bug.

If validation fails:

  1. Don't bypass — Fix the code or adjust the rule
  2. Document exceptions — If truly needed, document why
  3. Improve Forge — Maybe the rule needs tuning

Exceptions

There are NO permanent exceptions. Temporary bypasses are allowed for:

  • Emergency hotfixes (with full audit trail)
  • CI infrastructure issues
  • Experimental features (in feature branches only)

Metrics

We track our own dogfooding:

  • Bypass Rate: Should be < 1% of commits
  • Violation Trend: Should decrease over time
  • Time to Fix: Average time from violation introduction to fix

Current Status

Last self-validation: ✅ PASSING
Last bypass: 2026-03-21 (testing bypass system)
Bypass rate (30 days): 0.3%

If Ferrous Forge can't validate Ferrous Forge, it has no business validating your code.