EtherApps Forge
AI-ready Windows app packaging, with local AI options. Forge captures apps where they run, even with no installer, into signed MSIX, MSI, Intune and App Attach. GitHub Copilot can drive it via MCP.
AI-ready Windows app packaging, with local AI options. Forge captures apps where they run, even with no installer, into signed MSIX, MSI, Intune and App Attach. GitHub Copilot can drive it via MCP.
This page is designed to help you find out whether EtherApps Forge is good and if it is the right choice for you.
EtherApps Forge captures Windows applications on the machines they already run on, even when the installer is lost, and turns them into signed MSIX, MSI, Intune Win32 and App Attach packages. Package the apps holding up your move to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop and Intune, including the ones nobody can reinstall.
AI that does the busywork. The Forge MCP server lets GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, and other MCP clients, drive Forge in plain English: capture, package, sign, validate and test, one real Forge tool call at a time. Nothing ships until your team approves it. Forge AI Controller, in private preview (by request at etherapps.ai), runs the packaging lifecycle as an agent in your own infrastructure or approved cloud, not shared SaaS. It can use local AI models, so prompts, packages and what it learns stay in your environment, or Microsoft Foundry in your own subscription, or OpenAI services.
Forge Capture is a portable single file: copy it and run it, with nothing to install. It captures from Windows XP SP3 to Windows 11 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to 2025, including RDS session hosts. Convert App-V 5 packages to MSIX or MSI without resequencing, with no App-V client or sequencer. Sign, validate and smoke test each package, and edit a built MSIX without rebuilding it. Batch capture, the forge_msix command line and a PowerShell module fit your build pipeline.
Forge runs on your own machines, so packages and signing keys stay with you. Packages go to Microsoft Intune (which also reaches Windows 365 Cloud PCs), Configuration Manager, Azure Virtual Desktop through App Attach, Citrix and Omnissa App Volumes.
Start a 7-day free trial at etherapps.ai: 25 captures, no card. The full licence is £895 per named packaging admin per year, plus VAT. Also on Microsoft Marketplace, billed on your Microsoft invoice. Free MSIX training and certification, free with a work email, at etherapps.ai/training.
Listed in
AI agent integration (MCP)
The Forge MCP server lets GitHub Copilot and other MCP clients drive Forge in plain English, one real tool call at a time
Local AI (Forge AI Controller)
Private preview: runs packaging as an agent in your own infrastructure, with local AI models, Microsoft Foundry in your subscription or OpenAI services
Capture without the installer
Capture apps on the machine they run on, from Windows XP SP3 to Windows 11 and Server 2008 R2 to 2025
App-V conversion
App-V 5 packages to MSIX or MSI without resequencing
Output formats
Signed MSIX, MSI, Intune Win32 and App Attach (VHD, VHDX, CIM)
Package testing
Sign, validate and smoke test each package
MSIX editing
Edit a built MSIX without rebuilding it
Automation
Batch capture, forge_msix command line and PowerShell module
Deployment targets
Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, Azure Virtual Desktop App Attach, Citrix, Omnissa App Volumes
Data control
Runs on your own machines; packages and signing keys stay with you
Free trial
7 days at etherapps.ai, 25 captures, no card
Training
Free MSIX training and certification with a work email
EtherApps Forge packages Windows apps with AI doing the busywork. Through the Forge MCP server, GitHub Copilot and other AI clients drive Forge in plain English, one real tool call at a time, and nothing ships until your team approves it. For teams that cannot send data to a shared AI service, Forge AI Controller (private preview) runs in your own infrastructure with local AI models, so what it learns stays in your environment. Underneath, Forge captures apps on the machine they already run on, even when the installer is lost, from Windows XP SP3 to Windows 11 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to 2025. One capture gives signed MSIX, MSI, Intune Win32 and App Attach packages, and App-V 5 packages convert to MSIX or MSI without resequencing.
Most packaging tools need the original installer and a clean machine. Forge captures the app where it already runs, so the apps nobody can reinstall still get packaged. It converts App-V without resequencing, builds every format (MSIX, MSI, Intune Win32, App Attach) from one capture, and signs, validates and smoke tests each package. GitHub Copilot can drive the whole process through the Forge MCP server. Forge runs on your own machines, so packages and signing keys stay with you. In our study, MSIX at Scale (2026), Forge built an MSIX for 90.68% of 3,261 Windows application cases.
Application packagers, endpoint and Microsoft Intune engineers, and the teams moving apps to Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop. Managed service providers (MSPs) use Forge to run packaging as a service across many customers.
Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop projects kept stalling on the same thing: old Windows apps with lost installers, App-V packages and apps nobody could reinstall. EfficientEther built Forge to clear that app blocker by capturing each app where it still runs and turning it into modern packages. As AI coding assistants arrived, Forge added the Forge MCP server so GitHub Copilot can drive packaging in plain English, and Forge AI Controller (private preview) to run the lifecycle as an agent in your own tenant.
Forge is a Windows application built around MSIX, Windows Installer (MSI), App-V, Intune Win32 and App Attach (VHD, VHDX, CIM) packaging. It exposes its tools through a command line (forge_msix), a PowerShell module and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for GitHub Copilot and other AI clients. Forge AI Controller (private preview) works with Microsoft Foundry, OpenAI services or local models.
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