FAQ

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You'll install two programs, type short commands like /search, and answer questions in plain language. The closest you'll come to "technical" is opening a terminal window, and the Quick Start holds your hand through that.

Will it apply to jobs for me?

No — deliberately. It prepares everything: the evaluation, the CV, the cover letter, the tracking. You read the PDFs and hit send. An application is a personal representation of you; CareerForge's job is to make yours excellent, not to fire them off unsupervised.

Does it work in my country and language?

That's the design goal. No job board, country, or language is hardcoded — you tell /setup where you're looking and which sites matter in your market. Cover letters are written in the posting's language automatically. The CV is always in English; if your market needs CVs in another language, that's a current limitation worth knowing up front.

What does the fit score actually mean?

A 0–100 score across five weighted dimensions: technical skills, career alignment, experience, behavioral fit, and a pass/fail on location. 75+ is a strong match. Treat it as a structured second opinion, not an oracle — its real value is why: the dimension table shows exactly where you're strong and where the gaps are.

Could the AI make something up about me?

It's built not to: every CV and cover-letter claim must trace to your profile, stretches are flagged for your decision, and claims about the company are independently verified before they're used. And the final read-through is yours — which is the other reason nothing sends automatically.

Where does my data go?

Nowhere. Profile, tracker, and PDFs all live in one folder on your machine — see Privacy for the full picture, including the one nuance (the AI conversation itself runs on Claude).

Do I have to use the dashboard?

No. The tracker is a plain CSV you can open in any spreadsheet. The dashboard just makes it pleasant: charts, safe status editing, notes. Skip it entirely and nothing else breaks.

What does it cost?

CareerForge itself is free and open source (MIT). You'll need a Claude account for Claude Code — the Free plan works; Pro is more comfortable for heavy use. There are no CareerForge fees on top.

Something's broken — where do I look?

The two usual suspects on a first run are LaTeX (a missing package — rerun the install line from the Quick Start) and being in the wrong folder (run claude from inside the CareerForge directory, or the commands won't exist). Beyond that, the GitHub issues are open, and bug reports are a genuinely useful contribution.