Redaction And Cleanup

Redaction and Cleanup

Overview

Prepare .forge/ documents for external sharing by copying them to .forge/redacted/ and replacing sensitive information with consistent placeholders. Original files are NEVER modified. The redaction manifest documents every change for internal reference.

When to Use

• Sharing documents with investors, advisors, or partners
• Preparing materials for external review or cross-validation
• Publishing case studies or documentation based on internal artifacts
• Any situation where internal data must not leave the organization

When NOT to Use

• Documents are already public — no redaction needed
• User wants to delete files — that's not redaction
• The sensitive data IS the deliverable (e.g., a security audit for the client)

Common Rationalizations

Red Flags

• Original files modified in place (SAFETY VIOLATION — must copy first)
• Placeholder values are inconsistent (same entity gets different placeholders)
• Grep after redaction still finds sensitive terms
• Manifest is missing (no record of what was changed)
• Redaction categories not defined before scanning (ad-hoc misses patterns)

SAFETY RULE

NEVER modify original files in place. All redaction happens on copies in .forge/redacted/. Original files in .forge/ must remain untouched. If you are about to edit a file outside .forge/redacted/, STOP.

Core Process

Step 1: Define redaction categories

With the user, define what to redact and what to keep:

Redact (typical):

• Pricing, margins, unit economics
• API keys, credentials, connection strings
• Internal strategy, competitive positioning details
• Employee names, internal team structure
• Specific customer names (unless public case study)
• Internal metrics, revenue numbers

Keep (typical):

• Public pricing from competitors
• Architecture patterns and technology choices
• General cost categories (without specific numbers)
• Role titles (without names)
• Publicly available data

Step 2: Define placeholder format

Use consistent, identifiable placeholders:

• Company names: [COMPANY-A], [COMPANY-B] (consistent across all docs)
• Prices: [PRICE-TIER-1], [PRICE-TIER-2]
• People: [TEAM-MEMBER-1], [TEAM-MEMBER-2]
• Metrics: [INTERNAL-METRIC]
• Credentials: [CREDENTIAL-REDACTED]

Consistency rule: the same entity gets the same placeholder everywhere.

Step 3: Scan all files

Scan every file in .forge/ for matches against redaction categories. For each match, record:

• File path
• Line number
• Original content (summary, not full text)
• Redaction action (replace with which placeholder)

Step 4: Generate manifest

Write .forge/redaction-manifest.md:

• Redaction categories defined
• Placeholder mapping (which entity → which placeholder)
• Per-file change list
• Total changes count

Step 5: Copy and redact

1. Create .forge/redacted/ directory
2. Copy all files from .forge/ to .forge/redacted/ (preserving structure)
3. Apply redactions to the copies only
4. Do NOT copy .forge/redaction-manifest.md to redacted/ (it contains the mapping)

Step 6: Verify

Run grep on .forge/redacted/ for every term in the redaction categories. Zero matches required. If any remain, fix and re-verify.

Step 7: Sync check

If documents are updated later, the redacted copies are stale. Note in the manifest: "Redacted on [date]. If originals change, re-run redaction."

Output

• .forge/redaction-manifest.md — what was redacted, placeholder mapping
• .forge/redacted/* — cleaned copies of all documents

Verification

• Original files in .forge/ are unchanged
• All files copied to .forge/redacted/ before any edits
• Placeholders are consistent (same entity → same placeholder across all files)
• Grep confirms zero remaining matches for redacted terms in .forge/redacted/
• Manifest documents every change with file and line reference
• Redaction manifest is NOT copied to .forge/redacted/
• .forge/redaction-manifest.md written