| name | development-loop |
| description | Complete development lifecycle: brainstorm → TDD planning → ralph implementation → review → feedback loop until approved |
Development Loop - The Outer Loop for Ralph
Overview
A complete development workflow that wraps Ralph with planning, review, and feedback cycles. Think of it as an "outer loop" that ensures quality through iterative refinement.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DEVELOPMENT LOOP │
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐ │
│ │BRAINSTORM│───▶│ PLAN │───▶│ RALPH IMPLEMENT │ │
│ │ │ │(superthink) │ (inner loop) │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┬───────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐ │
│ │ APPROVED │◀───│ REVIEW │◀───│ 5-AGENT REVIEW │ │
│ │ (exit) │ │(decision)│ │ │ │
│ └──────────┘ └────┬─────┘ └──────────────────────┘ │
│ │ needs work │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ FEEDBACK LOOP │ │
│ │ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ FEEDBACK │───▶│ RALPH │───▶│ REVIEW │──┐ │ │
│ │ │ PLAN │ │ FIX │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ │ │ │
│ │ ▲ │ │ │
│ │ └────────── needs more work ─────────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The Phases
Phase 1: BRAINSTORM
Goal: Understand what to build through collaborative dialogue.
- Invoke
workers-do:brainstorming skill
- Ask questions one at a time
- Explore approaches and trade-offs
- Output: Design document in
docs/plans/
Exit criteria: User approves the design
Phase 2: PLAN (Superthink)
Goal: Create TDD beads issues with extended thinking.
Use extended thinking to:
- Break design into implementable modules
- For each module, create beads issue chain:
RED: [Module] tests (tdd-red label)GREEN: Implement [Module] (tdd-green label, blocked by RED)REFACTOR: Clean up [Module] (tdd-refactor label, blocked by GREEN)
- Set up cross-module dependencies
- Prioritize order of work
Output: Beads issues with full dependency graph
Exit criteria: Issue plan reviewed and approved
Phase 3: IMPLEMENT (Ralph Loop)
Goal: Autonomous implementation following TDD.
Start Ralph loop with prompt:
Work through beads issues in dependency order.
For each issue:
1. Claim it (bd update --status=in_progress)
2. Follow TDD: write test (RED), implement (GREEN), refactor
3. Close it (bd close)
4. Move to next ready issue (bd ready)
Continue until all issues are closed.
Output <promise>IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETE</promise> when done.
Exit criteria: All beads issues closed, tests passing
Phase 4: REVIEW (5-Agent)
Goal: Comprehensive quality check.
Launch 5 parallel review agents:
- General code review
- Architectural review
- TypeScript review
- Product/vision review
- TDD/beads compliance review
Output: Synthesized review with findings
Decision point:
- APPROVED → Exit loop, work is done
- NEEDS WORK → Continue to Phase 5
Phase 5: FEEDBACK PLAN (Superthink)
Goal: Convert review feedback into actionable issues.
Use extended thinking to:
- Analyze each review finding
- Create beads issues for fixes:
FIX: [Finding description] with appropriate labels
- Set priorities based on severity
- Add dependencies if fixes depend on each other
Output: New beads issues for fixes
Phase 6: FIX (Ralph Loop)
Goal: Address review findings.
Start Ralph loop with prompt:
Work through fix issues from code review.
For each issue:
1. Claim it
2. Implement the fix following TDD
3. Verify tests pass
4. Close it
Output <promise>FIXES COMPLETE</promise> when all fix issues closed.
Phase 7: FINAL REVIEW
Goal: Verify fixes and decide if done.
Run 5-agent review again, focused on:
- Were the findings addressed?
- Any new issues introduced?
- Overall quality assessment
Decision:
- APPROVED → Exit, publish/merge
- NEEDS MORE WORK → Loop back to Phase 5
State Management
The loop tracks state in .claude/dev-loop.local.md:
---
phase: IMPLEMENT
iteration: 1
started_at: "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
design_doc: "docs/plans/2024-01-01-feature-design.md"
initial_issues: ["workers-xxx", "workers-yyy"]
fix_issues: []
review_findings: []
---
Original task description here...
Commands
/dev-loop "task description"
Start a new development loop.
/dev-loop-status
Show current phase and progress.
/dev-loop-advance
Manually advance to next phase (for human checkpoints).
/dev-loop-cancel
Cancel the loop and clean up.
Human Checkpoints
The loop pauses for human approval at:
- After BRAINSTORM - Approve design before planning
- After PLAN - Review issues before implementation
- After REVIEW - Decide: approved or needs work
- After FINAL REVIEW - Final approval or more iteration
Extended Thinking Integration
Phases 2 and 5 use "superthink" - extended thinking mode for:
- Deep analysis of requirements
- Comprehensive issue breakdown
- Thorough dependency mapping
- Quality feedback analysis
Enable with: thinking: extended in prompts or model configuration.
Example Usage
/dev-loop "Add user authentication with JWT tokens, SSO support, and session management"
Key Principles
- Quality over speed - Multiple review cycles ensure quality
- TDD throughout - Every implementation follows RED-GREEN-REFACTOR
- Tracked work - All work captured in beads issues
- Human oversight - Key decisions require human approval
- Autonomous execution - Ralph handles implementation phases
- Comprehensive review - 5 specialized perspectives catch issues
When to Use
Good for:
- Significant features (multi-day work)
- Complex implementations
- High-quality requirements
- Work that needs documentation
Not good for:
- Quick fixes (use simple TDD)
- Exploratory work (use just brainstorming)
- Urgent hotfixes (skip the loop)
