maestro-ralph

name	maestro-ralph
disable-model-invocation	false
description	Closed-loop policy over the canonical Session/Run chain
argument-hint	<intent> [-y] [-c] [--amend]
allowed-tools	["Bash","Edit","Glob","Grep","Read","Write","followup_task","interrupt_agent","list_agents","request_user_input","send_message","spawn_agent","spawn_agents_on_csv","update_plan","wait_agent"]
session-mode	run
contract	{"discovery":"self-described","consumes":[],"produces":[]}
version	0.5.83

<required_reading> @/.maestro/workflows/run-mode.md @/.maestro/workflows/orchestrator-run-loop.md @/.maestro/prepare/ralph.md @/.maestro/workflows/codex-run-mode.md </required_reading>

If any required file above was not expanded into context by the host, or its content is no longer in context, Read it explicitly before executing the state machine.

<deferred_reading>

• ralph-amend-goal.md — read only for --amend </deferred_reading>

Apply retry, confidence, drift, goal-audit and stopping policy over the exact current Session chain of a durable topic Session. Ralph does not own a CLI driver, private Session type, host-only lease, or second state store; it follows the shared session/3.0 Run loop. Primary path: locate and drive an existing Session. Opening a Session is a fallback when no compatible identity exists. Only these user flags are accepted:

• -y — skip all confirmation/clarification interactions, use default choices. Does NOT change data semantics (no auto-deferred decisions). Never bypasses: high-risk classification, confidence <60, ambiguity requiring user input, failed gates, or drift escalation.
• -c — continue the unique compatible Session's exact current chain; a stuck Run enters run check / run transition / run cancel recovery.
• --amend — amend the exact current Session objective/definition-of-done; remaining text is the change request.

All remaining text is intent. No engine, roadmap, script, depth, role, tier, platform, resume or dry-run flags are parsed. Those choices belong to Skill contracts and Runtime.

1. **Ralph owns policy, not authority** — locate Session identity -> bind exact session_id + orchestration_revision -> dispatch -> check -> drift evaluation -> complete/decide -> next -> session complete. 2. **One executor per Run** — dispatch one unnamed `run-executor`; nested execution strategy belongs to the Skill. 3. **Thin executor** — executor executes and checks one Run but never receives the private claim or completes it. 4. **Session owns chain and lifecycle** — Session is a durable topic grouping/index that owns the chain, decisions, artifact registry, and the orchestration_revision CAS fence; Runs own immutable attempts and outputs. There is no Execution, no lease, no pause/resume/seal. 5. **Canonical upstream map** — same-Session sealed outputs enter only through birth/brief; no manual context reconstruction. 6. **Runtime mutation authority** — protocol JSON is never written directly; canonical mutation uses exact `maestro session ...` / `maestro run ...` commands and `run-response/1.2` envelopes. 7. **Proposal governance** — Skill proposes, Ralph evaluates budget/confidence/intent, Runtime applies atomically inside the Session chain (`session chain insert|replace|skip`). 8. **No prompt fix templates** — fix/review/goal gaps dispatch a Skill that may emit a proposal. 9. **Decision receipts are single-source** — decisions land through fenced `maestro run decide`, never direct append. 10. **Auto is bounded** — `-y` cannot bypass high risk, confidence <60, ambiguity, escalation, failed gates or reground halt. 11. **Legacy compatibility is out of band** — Session lifecycle aliases are allowed only by the labeled `session/1.x` branch in the shared loop. 12. **Session terminality** — a completed Session never hosts new Runs until unarchived; the Session identity may be unarchived and extended. 13. **Decision is mandatory** — every Ralph-created Session chain contains at least one formal decision node before `session complete`; Run completion never substitutes for `run decide`. 14. **Completion and decision both continue** — after successful `run complete --json` or `run decide --json`, consume the fresh `orchestration_revision` and immediately execute any satisfiable automatic continuation in the same turn. 15. **Capability negotiation is mandatory** — before mutation, call `maestro capabilities --json`; require the v3 six-key exact contract (`session_run_minimal_v3`/`entity_revision_cas`/`participant_identity`/`request_receipts_v2` true, `execution_lease`/`operation_registry` false, `session_schema_writes` containing `session/3.0`, `execution_schema_writes` empty, `run_response_writes` containing `run-response/1.2`), otherwise fail closed or enter the explicitly selected legacy branch.

<state_machine>

S_PARSE — parse intent and the three public flags S_RESOLVE — locate or create a compatible Session S_INFER — infer lifecycle position and roadmap need S_DECOMPOSE — derive boundary and observable goals for a new Session S_ASSESS — classify creation risk and evidence confidence S_BUILD — build initial Skill chain S_CREATE — open/resolve Session identity, bootstrap its chain S_CONFIRM — confirm unless `-y` S_RUN_LOOP — shared v3 Run lifecycle (`run next` → execute → check → complete/decide) S_EVALUATE — quality/goal/scope/reground decision S_AMEND — audited goal amendment S_RECOVER — audited recovery for an open decision gate or stuck Run S_FAIL — retry or stop; retry exhaustion leaves the chain step pending (no paused Execution) S_DONE — complete the current Session S_PARSE: → S_AMEND WHEN: `--amend` → S_RESOLVE WHEN: `-c` or intent present → S_FAIL OTHERWISE

S_RESOLVE: -> S_RECOVER WHEN: exact current Session has an open decision gate or a stuck Run and -c -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: exact current Session is open with a chain and a valid orchestration_revision fence -> S_INFER WHEN: only a gated/stuck Session exists and no -c (treat as new intent; do not mutate it) -> S_INFER WHEN: no current Session and intent present -> S_FAIL WHEN: multiple identities/Sessions or archived identity

S_INFER → S_DECOMPOSE → S_ASSESS → S_BUILD → S_CREATE S_CREATE → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: -y AND risk ≠ high AND confidence_score ≥ 60 S_CREATE → S_CONFIRM WHEN: -y AND (risk == high OR confidence_score < 60) S_CREATE → S_CONFIRM OTHERWISE S_CREATE → S_FAIL WHEN: creation fails (delete temp file, report error) S_CONFIRM → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: confirmed S_CONFIRM → S_BUILD WHEN: revised S_CONFIRM → END WHEN: cancelled

S_RUN_LOOP: → S_EVALUATE WHEN: next node is a decision → S_FAIL WHEN: executor/check/drift reports retry or blocker → S_DONE WHEN: CHAIN_COMPLETE → S_DONE WHEN: no pending steps and no CHAIN_COMPLETE (implicit completion) → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: Run sealed and another pending step exists

S_EVALUATE: -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: proceed or accepted fix proposal -> S_RECOVER WHEN: escalate blocks the decision gate (Session stays open until re-decided) -> S_FAIL WHEN: escalation cannot be committed -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: post-goal-audit AND has_unmet (fix loop; insert repair step at target_stage) -> S_DONE WHEN: post-goal-audit AND all_met AND INTENT_ALIGNED -> END WHEN: post-goal-audit AND all_met AND NOT INTENT_ALIGNED (REGROUND_HALT) -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: post-analyze-scope (apply scope_verdict to the Session chain path) -> S_DONE WHEN: post-execution AND preflight passed (decide then Session completion) -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: post-execution AND preflight failed (fix loop) -> END WHEN: post-debug-escalate (gate stays escalated) -> END WHEN: post-reground AND drifted AND confidence >= 60 (REGROUND_HALT; -y does not bypass) -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: post-reground AND aligned -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: post-reground AND drifted AND confidence < 60 (proceed, mark LOW CONFIDENCE)

S_FAIL: -> S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: retry budget remains -> END WHEN: retry budget exhausted (chain step stays pending for a later fenced run next) -> END WHEN: gate escalated or user aborts

S_AMEND → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: shared amend protocol committed S_RECOVER → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: blockers resolved and re-dispatch committed S_RECOVER → S_FAIL WHEN: blockers unresolvable S_RECOVER → END WHEN: user aborts recovery S_DONE → S_RUN_LOOP WHEN: Session completion fails due to unmet gates S_DONE → END

All command syntax and lifecycle mechanics follow orchestrator-run-loop.md and run-mode.md. The actions below define only Ralph-specific policy decisions.

A_RESOLVE

Read-only lookup via run recall. Explicit birth session_id + run_id wins. Multiple candidates require user selection; historical similarity never grants authority.

A_INFER

Classify lifecycle_position from evidence in this order:

1. An explicit request for grill, brainstorm or blueprint selects that entry.
2. Outside those three pre-project entries, a missing Maestro project structure selects init.
3. Reusable sealed outputs from the same Session may skip only the stages they satisfy: verified analysis without a plan selects plan; a verified plan without implementation selects execute; verified implementation selects the first applicable review/test stage.
4. Without reusable same-Session evidence, bounded work starts at analyze. Work whose scope is itself unresolved starts at analyze-macro.

Code presence, historical similarity from another Session, or a stage name mentioned only as an example never proves lifecycle completion. Set wants_roadmap=true only for an explicit roadmap request or evidence of at least 2 independently releasable milestones; file count alone is insufficient.

Record lifecycle_position, wants_roadmap, supporting evidence and every skipped stage with its reason. Ambiguous evidence is carried into A_ASSESS rather than silently choosing a later stage.

A_DECOMPOSE

Derive one boundary contract and outcome-oriented goal set before building the chain:

{
  "boundary_contract": {
    "in_scope": [],
    "out_of_scope": [],
    "constraints": [],
    "definition_of_done": ""
  },
  "decomposition": {
    "execution_criteria": [],
    "goals": [
      {
        "id": "G1",
        "goal": "",
        "boundary": "",
        "done_when": "",
        "evidence": "",
        "lifecycle": 
         
      
    
     
  

Work is broad when it affects at least 3 modules, changes a cross-package interface, or leaves at least 2 of scope/constraints/done criteria unresolved. Ask at most 3 boundary questions; -y cannot invent answers for broad ambiguity. Narrow work may use the intent as its single in_scope item, but still requires an observable definition_of_done.

Every goal must describe a user-visible or verifiable outcome, map to at least one in_scope item, name concrete evidence in done_when/evidence, and list only lifecycle stages that can produce that evidence. Reject empty goals, stage-named goals, duplicate IDs and goals with no evidence path.

A_ASSESS

Produce a creation assessment with risk, risk_reasons, confidence_score, confidence_reasons and unresolved_questions.

• high risk: destructive or irreversible operations; production/release mutation; authentication, authorization or sensitive-data changes; data/schema migration without a proven rollback; or backward-incompatible public contract changes.
• medium risk: multi-module behavior, compatible API/schema changes, new dependencies, concurrency/state-machine changes, or migrations with a verified rollback.
• low risk: isolated reversible work with existing patterns and a known verification path.

Compute confidence from 100 and clamp to 0–100. Apply each applicable penalty once: −30 unresolved scope/constraint/done criterion; −20 ambiguous lifecycle position; −20 missing or stale required upstream evidence; −15 unverified cross-module integration assumption; −15 unknown test or verification path. Cite evidence for every deduction.

Confidence maps to low <60, medium 60–79, high ≥80. High risk always requires confirmation. Confidence below 60 cannot enter S_RUN_LOOP until the missing evidence or ambiguity is resolved; -y never bypasses either gate.

A_BUILD

Consume the outputs of A_INFER, A_DECOMPOSE and A_ASSESS; do not re-infer them while assembling the chain. Quality is quick/standard/full based on specs and observable risk, not a user flag. Quality criteria: quick = single-file + existing tests; standard = multi-file + new logic; full = cross-module + no existing coverage.

Build the chain from prepare/ralph.md Stage Mapping. If the Stage Mapping or Build Rules are not in context, Read prepare/ralph.md directly (it is in required_reading) — in v3 the same prepare guidance is injected into the run next / run create birth packet (guidance-snapshot/1.0); prepare is embedded in the Run, not a standalone run prepare step. Propagate goal references, map the current host to the Skill scanner's target_platform (claude|codex|agent|agy|pi), and prevalidate every command with maestro skills --steps --json --platform {target_platform}. Never default a non-Claude host to claude; pi resolves Skills from the installed pi-maestro-flow npm package's package.json#pi.skills directories. Every chain includes at least one final quality/goal/scope decision node before session complete; long chains also include periodic reground decision nodes. Step execution strategy is defined by each Skill, never by Ralph flags.

A_EXECUTE

Follow orchestrator-run-loop.md exactly. Display identity may use stage prefixes, but no private agent name or Ralph progress file is persisted. Task/Goal UI is projection only.

A_EVALUATE

Follow orchestrator-run-loop.md "4. Decision Step"; the VERDICT format is defined in prepare/ralph.md. Ralph policy thresholds:

• Confidence mapping: low = <60, medium = 60-79, high = ≥80.
• Confidence below 60 → cannot proceed.
• Retry budget exhaustion → escalate.
• Goal audit: compare every pending goal's done_when against evidence; missing evidence means unmet.
• Reground: compare cumulative handoffs against intent and boundary; confident drift halts even under -y. drift = cumulative handoffs deviate from ≥2 boundary_contract.in_scope items or introduce ≥1 out_of_scope item; confident drift = drift detected with confidence ≥80%.

A_FAIL

• Repairable failure → verdict needs-retry; re-dispatch only after Runtime returns the step to pending (via run transition/run cancel).
• External or exhausted blocker → apply the receipt's structured continuation with the fully fenced run transition ... blocked or run cancel form from orchestrator-run-loop.md; the chain step stays pending for a later fenced run next. There is no Execution lease to release.
• Never allocate a new Run while the previous Run is running or gate-blocked.

A_RECOVER

Only explicit -c enters recovery. Follow orchestrator-run-loop.md "5. Recovery and Amend" exactly.

A_AMEND

Read ralph-amend-goal.md. High risk always asks. Pending-tail changes come from a planning Skill proposal, not direct edit.

A_DONE

When every Run is sealed, every decision is terminal, every goal is done, no request is claimed, and the chain is complete -> maestro session complete with the exact session_id + orchestration_revision. Session identity remains reusable.

</state_machine>

<success_criteria>

• Public flags are exactly -y, -c, --amend.
• No legacy Ralph driver, private Session type, or independent Skills CLI appears in normal flow.
• Each Run (run/3.0) follows run next -> execute -> run check -> fenced maestro run complete --verdict --advance; backtracking uses run brief. Every decision uses fenced run decide.
• Final completion uses maestro session complete; Session identity is never permanently sealed in the canonical branch.
• Proposal acceptance is pathless from Ralph's perspective and atomic with Run completion.
• Retry, confidence, drift, goal audit, recovery and terminal semantics remain explicit. </success_criteria>