SiliconForgeFAQ / Practical answers
Before you install. Before you trust a result.
Product scope, Git workflows, AI costs, platform setup and engineering evidence. For an exact procedure, follow the linked documentation.
Product & projects ↓ · AI & privacy ↓ · Licensing & billing ↓ · Installation & recovery ↓
Looking for a first step? Install and start a project, run the small ready/valid example, or inspect the native tour.
Product and projects
What does SiliconForge help me build?
Digital RTL/IP: explore Verilog/SystemVerilog, propose bounded revisions, review hardware-aware changes and run configured engineering checks. It is not an autonomous full-chip design service, analog or PCB tool, physical-design/sign-off suite or RTL-to-GDS flow.
Can I bring an existing project?
Yes. Establish the source-file list, top module, include paths, defines and parameters first. Resolve elaboration diagnostics before relying on the architecture or hierarchy. Your external dependencies and their licenses remain your responsibility.
Does it replace Git?
SiliconForge provides documented native Git workflows and hardware-aware review: repository status, staging, commits, history and revision comparisons. Git history, a local checkpoint and an AI candidate are different concepts. This is not a promise of complete Git-client or Git-hosting parity; keep external Git tools for operations outside the documented native workflow.
Does a green diff or a clean diagram mean the hardware is correct?
No. Green denotes an addition in a comparison; a diagram shows interpreted structure. Correctness requires evidence for the relevant behavior, source and environment. A missing elaboration result is unavailable information, not proof that functionality was deleted.
What does a passing verification result actually mean?
Simulation covers its stimulus and oracle. Formal covers its specified properties under recorded assumptions and proof conditions. Generic synthesis is not device timing, power, board behavior or fabrication proof. Inspect failed, missing and unsupported checks as well as passes.
Are the examples production IP I can drop into a chip?
No. The telemetry and packet pages are engineering case studies with explicit limitations. They do not establish target-qualified IP, universal equivalence or rights to third-party source. The first-project guide provides a smaller starting workflow you can reproduce. Its downloadable ZIP contains the stream-register source and testbench, not the telemetry or packet-storage projects.
AI and project privacy
Does the assistant change my trusted project immediately?
No. The intended flow is Ask → Plan → explicit approval → Execute → Review. Execution creates an isolated candidate. Applying that candidate is a separate, explicit decision after reviewing its source and evidence.
What project material leaves my machine?
AI requests disclose the authorized context for the selected route. Check the context and provider before sending; do not assume an external provider has the same data practices as the managed service. Local project storage does not mean a remote AI request is local-only.
Understand AI routes and context → · Read the privacy policy →
Can I use my own AI account?
Supported external routes use your provider credentials or installed CLI. Provider fees, limits and availability are separate from managed SiliconForge allowances. External access does not waive the application's commercial license or guarantee that a particular model route is available.
Can everything run offline?
First activation needs internet. After activation, paid local engineering work can continue offline through your verified paid term. Reconnect after renewal to refresh your signed, installation-bound license. Reading, export and recovery remain available after expiry, and your project files stay yours. Managed AI, remote models, checkout and account changes need a network connection; an offline model is not bundled.
What should I do when an AI run stops or fails?
Preserve the candidate and outputs, read the reported error and inspect which checks actually finished. An interrupted or unavailable check is not a pass. Do not assume work was applied, repeatedly send the same request without inspecting state or bypass the execution boundary.
Licensing and billing
Is SiliconForge open source or free because the installer is public?
No. SiliconForge is proprietary commercial software. Public download availability is not a free-use or trial entitlement. Separately licensed open-source components and engineering tools retain their own license and source obligations.
Are managed units the same as model tokens?
No. They are product usage units consumed according to the model profile and quota policy. They are not a promise of unlimited tokens, successful proposals or correct designs. Seats, activated devices, monthly units and concurrent requests are separate limits; consult the application's usage display.
Payment succeeded, but activation is delayed. Should I buy again?
No. Keep the receipt and activation tab. Use the supported secure handoff when confirmation arrives; contact support with the receipt identifier and visible error if needed. Do not send card details, secret keys or activation claims.
What happens when I cancel?
Cancellation prevents the next renewal and normally retains access through the paid term. It is not a refund. Refund eligibility, disputes and suspension are governed by the published terms and refund policy.
Installation and recovery
Which operating systems and CPUs have downloads?
Linux AMD64 · Linux ARM64 · Windows x64. Match both operating system and CPU architecture; AMD64 means x86-64, not an AMD graphics card. Do not infer macOS or Windows ARM support from another channel.
Why does Edge warn that the Windows installer is not commonly downloaded?
This is a download-reputation warning, separate from antivirus detection. Check the exact release checksum and a valid signature identifying Denis Miclea; verification does not remove the warning. Do not disable protection. If your security policy prevents installation, contact support. If the checksum or signature fails, or antivirus detects a threat, do not install.
Are simulators and synthesis tools included?
Published application packages include platform-specific engineering tools with their own licenses. Check your package inventory and tool readiness before installing anything else; the inventory does not promise every tool on every platform. Native Verible and the dedicated Windows WSL environment can require additional setup. The Engineering Tool Pack is not offered as a separate download, and catalog IP is not bundled. An included or detected binary still needs a real configured check before you rely on it.
Why does Windows AI need a separate setup?
The native Windows application and AI execution have different boundaries. Supported Windows AI uses an isolated WSL route; native Windows and WSL checks are not interchangeable. Do not expose additional drives or disable isolation to bypass setup failures.
How do I update or roll back without losing work?
Keep projects outside the installation directory, preserve the previous installation and back up project/evidence data. Use only the published release or rollback package, verify it and close the app before replacing anything. Reverting a project revision is different from rolling back the application.
What should I include in a support report?
Release identifier, operating system, CPU, affected workflow, relevant tool versions, reproducible steps and the exact visible error. Use a non-secret receipt identifier for billing. Redact credentials and avoid uploading private designs unless an appropriate disclosure has been agreed.