<Purpose> Ralph is a persistence loop that keeps working on a task until it is fully complete and verified. It wraps parallel execution with session persistence, automatic retry on failure, and mandatory verification before completion. </Purpose>

<Use_When>

•Task requires guaranteed completion with verification (not just "do your best")
•User says "ralph", "don't stop", "must complete", "finish this", or "keep going until done"
•Work may span multiple iterations and needs persistence across retries
•Task benefits from parallel execution with verification at the end </Use_When>

<Do_Not_Use_When>

•User wants a full autonomous pipeline from idea to code -- use autopilot instead
•User wants to explore or plan before committing -- use prometheus droid
•User wants a quick one-shot fix -- delegate directly to executor-med
•User wants manual control over completion -- use ultrawork directly </Do_Not_Use_When>

<Why_This_Exists> Complex tasks often fail silently: partial implementations get declared "done", tests get skipped, edge cases get forgotten. Ralph prevents this by looping until work is genuinely complete, requiring fresh verification evidence before allowing completion. </Why_This_Exists>

<Execution_Policy>

•Fire independent droid calls simultaneously -- never wait sequentially for independent work
•Always select the right droid tier for the task complexity
•Deliver the full implementation: no scope reduction, no partial completion, no deleting tests to make them pass
•State is tracked in .omd/state/ralph-state.json </Execution_Policy>

<Steps> 1. **Review progress**: Check TODO list and any prior iteration state 2. **Continue from where you left off**: Pick up incomplete tasks 3. **Delegate in parallel**: Route tasks to specialist droids at appropriate tiers - Simple changes: executor-low - Standard work: executor-med (DEFAULT) - Complex analysis: executor-high or hephaestus 4. **Verify completion with fresh evidence**: a. Identify what command proves the task is complete b. Run verification (test, build, lint) c. Read the output -- confirm it actually passed d. Check: zero pending/in_progress TODO items 5. **Droid verification** (mandatory): - Spawn **verifier** droid to independently check all acceptance criteria - For security-sensitive changes, also spawn **security-auditor** 6. **On approval**: Clean up `.omd/state/ralph-state.json` 7. **On rejection**: Fix the issues raised, then re-verify (max 3 attempts) </Steps> <Examples> <Good> Correct parallel delegation: ``` Task(subagent_type="executor-low", prompt="Add type export for UserConfig") Task(subagent_type="executor-med", prompt="Implement the caching layer for API responses") Task(subagent_type="executor-high", prompt="Refactor auth module to support OAuth2 flow") ``` Why good: Three independent tasks fired simultaneously at appropriate tiers. </Good> <Good> Correct verification before completion: ``` 1. Run: npm test -> Output: "42 passed, 0 failed" 2. Run: npm run build -> Output: "Build succeeded" 3. Spawn verifier droid -> Verdict: "PASS - all criteria verified" 4. Clean up state files ``` Why good: Fresh evidence at each step, droid verification, then clean exit. </Good> <Bad> Claiming completion without verification: "All changes look good, the implementation should work correctly. Task complete." Why bad: Uses "should" and "look good" -- no fresh test/build output, no droid verification. </Bad> <Bad> Sequential execution of independent tasks: ``` Task(executor-low, "Add type export") -> wait -> Task(executor-med, "Implement caching") -> wait -> Task(executor-high, "Refactor auth") ``` Why bad: Independent tasks should run in parallel, not sequentially. </Bad> </Examples>

<Escalation_And_Stop_Conditions>

•Stop and report when a fundamental blocker requires user input (missing credentials, unclear requirements)
•Stop when the user says "stop", "cancel", or "abort"
•If the same issue recurs across 3+ attempts, report it as a fundamental problem
•If verification droid rejects, fix issues and re-verify (do not stop) </Escalation_And_Stop_Conditions>

<Final_Checklist>

• All requirements from the original task are met (no scope reduction)
• Zero pending or in_progress TODO items
• Fresh test run output shows all tests pass
• Fresh build output shows success
• Verifier droid approved (mandatory)
• State files cleaned up </Final_Checklist>