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Ralph Loop

Dev Tools

Autonomous AI coding loop that breaks features into small user stories, runs isolated coding agents per story, tests, commits, and repeats until all pass.

Install

openclaw skills install ec-ralph

Ralph Loop Skill

Autonomous AI coding loop that runs Codex/Claude Code repeatedly until all PRD items are complete.

Source: https://github.com/snarktank/ralph (8,600+ stars)

Concept

Ralph solves the "context overflow" problem. Large tasks exceed one context window → bad code. Ralph:

  1. Breaks work into small user stories in prd.json
  2. Spawns FRESH coding agent instance per story
  3. Each instance implements ONE story, runs tests, commits if passing
  4. Marks story as passes: true
  5. Repeats until all stories pass

Memory persists via: git history, progress.txt, prd.json (not context).

Quick Start

# 1. Create a PRD for your feature
~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/create-prd.sh "Feature description"

# 2. Convert PRD to prd.json
~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/convert-prd.sh tasks/prd-feature.md

# 3. Run Ralph loop
~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/run-ralph.sh [project_dir] [max_iterations]

Files

FilePurpose
prd.jsonUser stories with passes: true/false
progress.txtLearnings between iterations
AGENTS.mdUpdated with patterns/gotchas each iteration

prd.json Format

{
  "branchName": "ralph/feature-name",
  "userStories": [
    {
      "id": "1",
      "title": "Add database column",
      "description": "Add email_verified column to users table",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Migration exists",
        "Column is boolean, default false",
        "Tests pass"
      ],
      "priority": 1,
      "passes": false
    }
  ]
}

Right-Sized Stories

✅ Good (one context window):

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

❌ Too big (split these):

  • "Build the entire dashboard"
  • "Add authentication"
  • "Refactor the API"

Integration with Codex CLI

Ralph uses Codex CLI (codex exec) or Claude Code for implementation:

# Default: uses Codex CLI
./run-ralph.sh ~/Code/myproject 10

# Or specify Claude Code
./run-ralph.sh ~/Code/myproject 10 --tool claude

Workflow

  1. Create PRD → Detailed markdown requirements
  2. Convert to prd.json → Structured user stories
  3. Run Ralph → Loop until all pass
  4. Review → Check commits, merge branch

Example Session

# Henry asks: "Implement RLS for all 154 tables"

# 1. Create PRD
~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/create-prd.sh "Implement Row Level Security for all database tables"

# 2. Convert (generates 154 user stories)
~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/convert-prd.sh tasks/prd-rls-migration.md

# 3. Run overnight
nohup ~/clawd/skills/ralph/scripts/run-ralph.sh ~/Code/myproject 154 > ralph.log 2>&1 &

# 4. Check progress
cat ~/Code/myproject/scripts/ralph/prd.json | jq '.userStories[] | {id, title, passes}'

Stop Conditions

  • All stories have passes: true → outputs <promise>COMPLETE</promise>
  • Max iterations reached
  • Manual stop (Ctrl+C)

Tips

  1. Small stories - Each should complete in one context window
  2. Good tests - Ralph relies on test feedback
  3. AGENTS.md - Keep updated with patterns/gotchas
  4. Browser verification - For UI stories, include "Verify in browser" criteria

References

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