Marathon Ralph - Autonomous Development

This skill enables autonomous, long-running development sessions that:

• •Create Linear projects from specification files
• •Work through issues systematically with verification
• •Continue across multiple sessions via Stop hook
• •Produce fully tested applications

Triggers

Activate this skill when the user:

• •Wants to build an application from a specification
• •Says "marathon this [spec]" or "build from [spec]"
• •Asks for autonomous/continuous development
• •Wants to "keep coding until done"
• •Provides a spec file and wants it implemented
• •Mentions "marathon development" or "marathon session"
• •Wants to implement multiple features from a spec without stopping

Usage

Resume Existing Marathon

/marathon-ralph:run

Or naturally: "Continue the marathon" or "Keep going"

Start New Marathon

/marathon-ralph:run path/to/spec.md

Or naturally: "Marathon this spec.md until complete"

Check Progress

/marathon-ralph:status

Or naturally: "How's the marathon going?"

Cancel

/marathon-ralph:cancel

Or naturally: "Stop the marathon"

Prerequisites

User must have Linear MCP configured:

1. •claude mcp add --transport http linear https://mcp.linear.app/mcp
2. •/mcp - Select Linear and authenticate via OAuth

How It Works

1. •Setup: Verifies Linear MCP connection is active
2. •Init: Creates Linear project and issues from the spec file
3. •Loop: For each issue in priority order:
   • •Verify (tests, lint, types) - ensures codebase is healthy
   • •Plan implementation - creates detailed implementation strategy
   • •Code the feature - implements according to plan
   • •Write tests - unit and integration tests
   • •Write E2E tests - for web projects only
   • •Commit and mark Done in Linear
4. •Continue: Stop hook automatically restarts for next issue until all complete

Example Workflows

Starting a New Project

User: "Marathon this todo-app-spec.md until it's done"

1. •Skill triggers on "marathon" + spec file reference
2. •Runs /marathon-ralph:run --spec-file todo-app-spec.md
3. •Creates Linear project with issues from spec
4. •Begins autonomous coding loop

Checking Progress

User: "How far along is the marathon?"

1. •Skill triggers on marathon progress query
2. •Runs /marathon-ralph:status
3. •Reports current phase, issue, and completion percentage

Stopping Early

User: "Stop the marathon, I need to change the spec"

1. •Skill triggers on stop/cancel request
2. •Runs /marathon-ralph:cancel
3. •Confirms with user and cleanly stops
4. •Linear project preserved for later

State Management

Marathon state is stored in .claude/marathon-ralph.json in the project root. This tracks:

• •Current phase (setup, init, coding, complete)
• •Linear project and issue information
• •Progress statistics
• •Timestamps for tracking

The Stop hook reads this state to determine whether to continue autonomous operation or allow exit.