Ralph Tasks

Ralph Tasks Skill

You are converting a Product Requirements Document (PRD) into actionable user stories for the Ralph autonomous development workflow. Your goal is to break down the specification into right-sized, implementable stories that Claude Code can execute autonomously.

Your Process

Phase 1: Analysis

1. Read the specification carefully to understand the full scope
2. Identify logical units of work that can be implemented independently
3. Map dependencies between different pieces of functionality

Phase 2: Story Creation

1. Order stories by dependency and priority (foundational work first)
2. Write clear acceptance criteria for each story
3. Assign priorities following the priority guidelines below

Phase 3: Output

1. Generate valid TASKS.json that matches the schema exactly
2. Verify all quality checks pass
3. Present for user review

Guidelines

Best Practices

Story Sizing

A good user story should:

• Be completable in a single iteration (1-2 hours of focused work)
• Have 3-6 clear acceptance criteria
• Be independently testable
• Not require more than 5-7 files to change

Story Ordering

• Foundational first: Data models → Services → UI/Commands
• Vertical slices: For features, create thin end-to-end slices
• Models before services: Data structures must exist before logic
• Services before commands: Business logic before CLI/API wrappers
• Core before extensions: Basic functionality before advanced features

Priority Assignment

Acceptance Criteria

Write criteria as imperative statements:

- Create models/user.py with User model containing id, name, email fields
- User model validates email format using Pydantic EmailStr
- Implement get_user_by_id() returning User or None
- Typecheck passes

Every story should include at least one of:

• "Typecheck passes" (for typed languages)
• "Tests pass" (if tests are required)
• "Lint passes" (if linting is configured)

Avoid

Too Large Stories (split them):

• More than 6 acceptance criteria
• Touches more than 7 files
• Contains "and" connecting unrelated work
• Requires multiple distinct features

Too Small Stories (combine them):

• Only changes one line or adds one field
• Has no meaningful acceptance criteria
• Is pure configuration with no logic

Poor Criteria:

• Vague: "Works correctly" (what does correct mean?)
• Implementation details: "Use a for loop" (let the agent decide)
• Duplicates: Same thing worded differently

Output Format

Your output MUST be valid JSON matching this exact schema:

{
  "project": "ProjectName",
  "branchName": "ralph/feature-name",
  "description": "Brief description of the feature being implemented",
  "userStories": [
    {
      "id": "US-001",
      "title": "Short descriptive title",
      "description": "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Specific testable criterion 1",
        "Specific testable criterion 2",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 1,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions

UserStory Fields

Example

Input Specification:

## Requirements
- User authentication with email/password
- Users can view their profile
- Admin users can manage other users

Output TASKS.json:

{
  "project": "UserAuth",
  "branchName": "ralph/user-authentication",
  "description": "User authentication system with profile viewing and admin management",
  "userStories": [
    {
      "id": "US-001",
      "title": "Create User model with authentication fields",
      "description": "As a developer, I need the User data model to store authentication and profile information.",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Create models/user.py with User Pydantic model",
        "User model has fields: id, email, password_hash, name, is_admin",
        "Email field validates format using EmailStr",
        "Model has created_at and updated_at timestamp fields",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 1,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    },
    {
      "id": "US-002",
      "title": "Implement authentication service",
      "description": "As a developer, I need authentication logic for user login and password verification.",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Create services/auth.py with AuthService class",
        "Implement hash_password() using bcrypt",
        "Implement verify_password() to check password against hash",
        "Implement authenticate(email, password) returning User or None",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 2,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    },
    {
      "id": "US-003",
      "title": "Create user profile viewing endpoint",
      "description": "As a user, I want to view my profile so that I can see my account information.",
      "acceptanceCriteria": [
        "Create GET /profile endpoint requiring authentication",
        "Endpoint returns current user's profile data",
        "Response excludes password_hash field",
        "Returns 401 if not authenticated",
        "Typecheck passes"
      ],
      "priority": 3,
      "passes": false,
      "notes": ""
    }
  ]
}

Quality Checklist

Before outputting, verify:

• Valid JSON: Parseable with no syntax errors
• Schema compliance: All required fields present with correct types
• ID uniqueness: No duplicate story IDs
• Priority sequence: Priorities start at 1 and are sequential
• Dependency order: No story depends on a later story
• Criteria quality: Each story has 3-6 specific, testable criteria
• Completeness: All requirements from spec are covered

Error Handling

Common Issues

When Blocked

If you cannot create valid TASKS.json:

1. Document what information is missing
2. Note any assumptions you would make
3. Produce a partial task list if possible
4. Explain what the user needs to clarify

Next Steps

Once TASKS.json is complete:

Review the generated stories for accuracy, then run:

ralph loop

This will begin autonomous implementation of the user stories.

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