Ralph-dev
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Autonomous development workflow plugin for Claude Code that transforms natural language requirements into structured, testable code through a 5-phase process.
Overview
Ralph-dev automates software development workflows by:
- Breaking down requirements into atomic, testable tasks
- Implementing each task with fresh agent context for TDD enforcement
- Auto-detecting project language and framework (12+ languages supported)
- Managing state and progress through a CLI-driven task system
- Automatically healing errors through WebSearch-based investigation
- Creating git commits and pull requests for code review
Quick Start
# Step 1: Install CLI globally
npm install -g ralph-dev
# Step 2: Add plugin marketplace
/plugin marketplace add mylukin/ralph-dev
# Step 3: Install plugin
/plugin install ralph-dev
# Step 4: Initialize project (installs workflow rules)
ralph-dev init
# Step 5: Start your first task
/ralph-dev "Build a REST API for user authentication"
Ralph-dev will guide you through:
- Clarifying questions with structured multiple-choice answers
- Task breakdown approval (review atomic tasks before implementation)
- Autonomous implementation with TDD workflow
- Automated pull request creation
Key Features
Interactive Clarification
Structured Q&A eliminates requirement ambiguity through multiple-choice questions about tech stack, architecture, and deployment.
Autonomous Task Breakdown
Decomposes requirements into atomic tasks stored as markdown files with YAML frontmatter, enabling:
- Dependency tracking between tasks
- Granular progress monitoring
- Human-readable task descriptions
- Version control integration
Multi-Language Support
Auto-detects and configures verification commands for:
- JavaScript/TypeScript - Node.js, Next.js, React, Vue, Angular
- Python - Django, Flask, FastAPI
- Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, PHP, C#, Swift, Kotlin, Scala, C++
Self-Healing Implementation
When tasks fail, automatically:
- Investigates errors using WebSearch
- Applies fixes based on research
- Re-runs verification commands
- Retries up to 5 times before escalating (circuit breaker pattern)
Safety Features
Inspired by Superpowers:
- Gitignore Verification - Automatically ensures
.ralph-dev/ is gitignored before creating files
- Baseline Test Verification - Confirms all tests pass before starting implementation
- Auto-Cleanup - Removes temporary files after delivery while preserving documentation
Two-Stage Code Review
Before creating PRs:
- Spec Compliance - Validates acceptance criteria are met
- Code Quality - Runs type-check, lint, and tests
Architecture
5-Phase Workflow
CLARIFY → BREAKDOWN → IMPLEMENT ⇄ HEAL → DELIVER
Phase 1: CLARIFY
- Skill:
skills/phase-1-clarify/
- Asks structured questions about requirements
- Generates Product Requirements Document (PRD)
- Output:
.ralph-dev/prd.md
Phase 2: BREAKDOWN
- Skill:
skills/phase-2-breakdown/
- Parses PRD into atomic tasks (<30 min each)
- Creates modular task files with dependency tracking
- Output:
.ralph-dev/tasks/*.md + tasks/index.json
Phase 3: IMPLEMENT
- Skill:
skills/phase-3-implement/
- Spawns fresh agent context per task for TDD enforcement
- Manages task lifecycle (pending → in_progress → completed/failed)
- Automatically invokes Phase 4 on failure
Phase 4: HEAL
- Skill:
skills/phase-4-heal/
- Triggered when Phase 3 tasks fail
- Uses WebSearch to research error solutions
- Applies fixes and re-runs verification
- Max 5 retry attempts per error (circuit breaker)
Phase 5: DELIVER
- Skill:
skills/phase-5-deliver/
- Runs language-specific quality gates
- Two-stage code review process
- Creates git commit and pull request
Directory Structure