| name | ralph-wiggum |
| description | Continuous iteration loop pattern for well-defined tasks with clear completion criteria. Use when getting tests to pass, implementing features with automatic verification, bug fixing with clear success conditions, or running automated development overnight. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| tags | ["workflow","iteration","automation","continuous","looping"] |
Ralph Wiggum Continuous Iteration
A while-loop pattern that keeps AI agents working on well-defined tasks until reaching a completion signal.
Core Philosophy
- Iteration > Perfection - Don't aim for perfect on first try. Let the loop handle refinement.
- Failures Are Data - Feed failures back into the next iteration.
- Persistence Wins - Let the loop handle retry logic automatically.
When to Use ✅
- TDD Implementation - Write failing tests, loop until all tests pass
- Bug Fixing - Iteratively debug and fix until verification succeeds
- Refactoring - Incremental transformations with test safety
- Feature Implementation - Tasks with automatic verification
- Quality Gate Passing - Loop until code review, linting, or security scans pass
When NOT to Use ❌
- Tasks requiring human judgment
- Ambiguous tasks without clear success criteria
- One-shot operations
- Tasks with external dependencies
- Critical production systems
Safety Measures
Required Parameters
- Max Iterations Cap - Set 10-50 iterations. Never run unlimited.
- Completion Promise - Unique phrase like
<promise>COMPLETE</promise>
- Progress Monitoring - Track iteration count
- Cancellation Mechanism - Ability to stop active loop
Prompt Template
Good completion criteria:
Build a REST API for todos.
When complete:
- All CRUD endpoints working
- Input validation in place
- Tests passing (coverage > 80%)
- Output: <promise>COMPLETE</promise>
Bad:
Build a todo API and make it good.
Example Usage
@full-stack-developer "Get all tests passing in src/auth.
Current Test Failures:
- ✗ auth.test.ts:45 - should validate JWT tokens
- ✗ auth.test.ts:78 - should reject expired tokens
Process:
1. Run failing test
2. Analyze error
3. Fix implementation
4. Re-run test
5. Repeat until all tests pass
Output <promise>ALL_TESTS_PASSING</promise> when done."
Quality Checklist
Before starting a Ralph Wiggum loop:
