Ralph - Autonomous Feature Implementation

Ralph is an autonomous loop that implements features by breaking them into small user stories and completing them one at a time. Each iteration is a fresh agent with clean context. Memory persists via git, progress.txt, and prd.json.

Quick Start

# Run ralph in current project (assumes prd.json exists)
~/skills/ralph/scripts/ralph.sh [max_iterations]

Workflow

Step 1: Understand the Feature

Ask clarifying questions if needed:

• What problem does this solve?
• What are the key user actions?
• What's out of scope?
• How do we know it's done?

Step 2: Create prd.json

Generate a prd.json file in the project root:

{
  "project": "[Project Name]",
  "branchName": "ralph/[feature-name-kebab-case]",
  "description": "[Feature description]",
  "userStories": [
    {
      "id": "US-001",
      "title": "[Story title]",
      "description": "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Criterion 1",
        "Criterion 2",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 1,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    }
  ]
}

Step 3: Run the Loop

~/skills/ralph/scripts/ralph.sh [max_iterations]

Default is 10 iterations.

Critical Rules for User Stories

Size: One Context Window

Each story MUST be completable in ONE iteration. If you can't describe it in 2-3 sentences, it's too big.

Right-sized:

• Add a database column and migration
• Add a UI component to an existing page
• Update a server action with new logic
• Add a filter dropdown to a list

Too big (split these):

• "Build the entire dashboard" → schema, queries, UI components, filters
• "Add authentication" → schema, middleware, login UI, session handling

Order: Dependencies First

1. Schema/database changes (migrations)
2. Server actions / backend logic
3. UI components that use the backend
4. Dashboard/summary views

Acceptance Criteria: Verifiable

Good:

• "Add status column with default 'pending'"
• "Filter dropdown has options: All, Active, Completed"
• "Typecheck passes"

Bad:

• "Works correctly"
• "Good UX"

Always include:

• "Typecheck passes" on every story
• "Verify in browser using dev-browser skill" on UI stories

Example

User says: "use ralph to add task priorities"

You create prd.json:

{
  "project": "TaskApp",
  "branchName": "ralph/task-priority",
  "description": "Add priority levels (high/medium/low) to tasks",
  "userStories": [
    {
      "id": "US-001",
      "title": "Add priority field to database",
      "description": "As a developer, I need to store task priority.",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Add priority column: 'high' | 'medium' | 'low' (default 'medium')",
        "Migration runs successfully",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 1,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    },
    {
      "id": "US-002",
      "title": "Display priority badge on task cards",
      "description": "As a user, I want to see priority at a glance.",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Colored badge: red=high, yellow=medium, gray=low",
        "Visible without hovering",
        "Typecheck passes",
        "Verify in browser using dev-browser skill"
      ],
      "priority": 2,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    }
  ]
}

Then say:

prd.json created with 2 user stories. Run ~/skills/ralph/scripts/ralph.sh to start autonomous execution.

How Ralph Executes

Each iteration, a fresh agent:

1. Reads prd.json and progress.txt
2. Picks highest priority story where passes: false
3. Implements it
4. Runs quality checks (typecheck, lint, test)
5. Commits if passing
6. Updates prd.json to mark passes: true
7. Appends learnings to progress.txt
8. Exits

Loop continues until all stories pass or max iterations hit.

Files Reference