Ralph Specum

Ralph Specum

Use this as the primary Codex surface for Ralph Specum. It carries the full reusable workflow and can handle the entire command surface directly when helper skills are not installed.

Derive RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT from this loaded skill: take the directory containing SKILL.md, then its parent skills directory, then the next parent. Never derive the plugin root from the project working directory.

Read These References

• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/references/workflow.md" for the phase flow, branch and worktree behavior, quick mode, and command routing
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/references/state-contract.md" for .ralph-state.json, .progress.md, commit rules, and resume semantics
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/references/path-resolution.md" for specs_dirs, .current-spec, ambiguity handling, and default directory behavior
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/references/parity-matrix.md" for Claude-to-Codex feature translation and command mapping
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/references/prototype-coordinator.md" for direct, suggested, resume, quick, cancel, and prototype handoff behavior
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/interview-framework-codex/SKILL.md" and its required algorithm and domain-modeling references for every normal-mode phase interview

Use These Helpers

• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/resolve_spec_paths.py" for spec roots, current spec, and unique or ambiguous name resolution
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/merge_state.py" for safe top-level state merges
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/count_tasks.py" for task counts and next incomplete task
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/phase_gate.py" for mode, skill-load, interview, parent-delegation, and artifact-write gates
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/locked_state.py" for locked state and activePrototypes mutations
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/prototype_records.py" for reviewed immutable prototype records and downstream selection
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/prototype_harness.py" for bounded builder control outcomes and retry metadata
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/templates/" for the canonical Ralph markdown file shapes
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/assets/bootstrap/" when the user wants optional project-local Codex guidance

Primary Routing

Handle these intents directly:

If the corresponding helper skill is installed and the user invoked it explicitly, keep behavior aligned with that helper. If not, perform the action here.

Core Rules

0. You are a coordinator, not a doer. Delegate each phase to the appropriate sub-agent and never write spec artifacts (research.md, requirements.md, design.md, or tasks.md) yourself. Apply the shared hard-transition invariant to only start, triage, research, requirements, design, and tasks. For only start, triage, research, requirements, design, and tasks, enforce that invariant. For those phases, gather context, discover and preload contracts, run the interview, obtain final approval, pass the gate, delegate, validate the output, and present results for artifact approval. Keep the existing delegation flows for implement and refactor unchanged; the new phase gates do not apply to them.
1. Keep the Ralph disk contract stable.
2. Treat .claude/ralph-specum.local.md as the settings source when present.
3. Default to ./specs when no valid config exists.
4. Keep .current-spec in the default specs root.
5. Merge state fields. Do not replace the whole state object.
6. Preserve source, name, goal, basePath, phase, taskIndex, totalTasks, taskIteration, maxTaskIterations, globalIteration, maxGlobalIterations, commitSpec, and relatedSpecs.
7. Also preserve newer state fields when present, especially awaitingApproval, quickMode, granularity, epicName, discoveredSkills, and native task sync metadata.
8. Write .progress.md after every phase and after every implementation attempt.
9. Keep pre-delegation interview approval separate from post-generation artifact approval.
10. Honor the Commit line in tasks during implementation unless the user explicitly disables task commits.
11. Use branch creation or worktree creation when the user asks for branch isolation or the repo policy requires it.
12. Run phase_gate.py mode at entry to every affected phase. Only exact --quick enables quick mode; exact --interactive clears it. Reject both together, -q, variants, and natural-language substitutes. No flags normalize invalid legacy quick state to interactive.
13. In exact quick mode, run discovery and contract loading, record the current manifest and bypassed_quick, generate missing artifacts, default task granularity to fine when unset, and continue into implementation in the same session.
14. For normal-mode start, triage, research, requirements, design, and tasks, follow "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/interview-framework-codex/references/algorithm.md" before each delegation.
15. Keep optional prototype work in activePrototypes; preserve the main phase and current checkout until the recorded handoff.
16. Use child-agent controls and store only agentId for internal builders. Never use create_thread or threadId for them.

Stop Enforcement

Before delegating any affected phase in normal mode, you MUST:

1. Complete the applicable discovery pass and reload receipts
2. Finish all critical decision frontiers
3. Obtain explicit approve and delegate
4. Pass phase_gate.py check-delegation

After completing any phase artifact (research, requirements, design, tasks), you MUST:

1. Display the walkthrough summary
2. Present the approval prompt (approve / request changes / continue to next)
3. STOP and wait for user response

The ONLY exception is exact --quick mode with a valid bypass receipt. Without it, you MUST NOT auto-continue to the next phase.

Response Handoff

• After writing research.md, requirements.md, design.md, tasks.md, or refactored spec files outside quick mode:
  • name the file or files that changed
  • give a short summary
  • end with exactly one explicit choice prompt:
    • approve current artifact
    • request changes
    • continue to <named next step>
• Treat continue to <named next step> as approval of the current artifact and permission to enter that phase's discovery and interview path.
• Treat apply the changes during artifact review as immediate authorization to delegate already-recorded revision feedback through a new unique dispatch. Redisplay and remain at artifact approval. Ask one focused change question only when no feedback is pending.
• Treat control-only continue, proceed, and go ahead as approval of nothing.
• After normal-mode start or new setup, run discovery pass 1 and begin the goal grill. Explicit final approval delegates research immediately.

Current Workflow Expectations

• Use critical-decision frontier interviews for start, triage, research, requirements, design, and tasks when quick mode is not active. Ask no setup, administration, or discoverable question.
• Route obviously large or cross-cutting efforts to triage before normal spec generation.
• Support active epic state via specs/.current-epic and per-epic state in specs/_epics/<epic-name>/.
• Treat task planning as POC-first with [P] markers for safe parallel work and [VERIFY] checkpoints for explicit quality validation.
• Support VE tasks when the plan needs autonomous end-to-end verification.
• During implementation, recompute task counts from disk, resume from the first incomplete task, and prefer task file truth over stale state.
• Native task sync is part of the current Ralph execution model. Keep Codex wording aligned with that behavior without promising Claude-only hook mechanics.

Bootstrap

Bootstrap project-local files only when the user wants them.

Suggested bootstrap files:

• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/assets/bootstrap/AGENTS.md" to give a consumer repo local Ralph guidance
• "$RALPH_CODEX_PLUGIN_ROOT/assets/bootstrap/ralph-specum.local.md" to seed local settings

Do not bootstrap by default. Installation into $CODEX_HOME/skills is enough.