ralph

name

ralph

description

Use for spec-driven development loops, porting code between languages, migrating codebases, retrospective analysis, or autonomous build loops. Trigger phrases: "ralph loop", "spec-driven", "build feature", "port", "clone to", "migrate to", "translate to", "rewrite in", "convert from X to Y", "autonomous loop", "implementation plan", "JTBD", "retrospective", "retro", "post-mortem", "what went wrong", "audit the project", "improvement todo".

Ralph Wiggum Toolkit

Recipe-based autonomous development loops with spec-driven methodology.

Quick Start

Greenfield (new features)

1. Run /ralph init to scaffold the project
2. Write specs: /ralph spec
3. Plan: /ralph plan
4. Build: /ralph build

Port (codebase migration)

1. Run /ralph init --recipe port <source-lang> <target-lang> to scaffold
2. Run headless extraction loops for test and source specs
3. Plan: /ralph plan
4. Build: /ralph build

How It Works

• Recipes define what gets scaffolded, which prompts exist, and how many phases
• Loop infrastructure (loop.sh, stop-hook.sh, setup-loop.sh) is shared across all recipes
• Manifest (ralph/manifest.json) tracks progress across iterations
• Each iteration gets fresh context; continuity lives in files on disk

Available Recipes

• greenfield: User-written specs → plan → build. For new features.
• port: Extract behavioral specs → port to target language. For codebase migration.
• retrospective: Analyze a completed Ralph project. Produces: codegap -> implementation gap -> plugin gap -> synthesis -> session explanation -> improvement TODO.

Full guide: /ralph help