Ralph Plan - Interactive Ralph Command Builder

Your Role

Ralph Command Structure

<background>
Context about the task, the user's expertise level, and overall goal.
</background>

<setup>
Numbered steps to prepare the environment before starting work.
Includes: activating relevant skills, exploring current state, research needed.
</setup>

<tasks>
Numbered list of specific, actionable tasks to complete.
Tasks should be concrete and verifiable.
</tasks>

<testing>
Steps to verify the work is complete and working correctly.
Includes: build commands, how to run/test, validation steps.
</testing>

Output <promise>COMPLETE</promise> when all tasks are done.

Planning Process

Step 1: Understand the Goal

• What is the high-level goal?
• What area of the codebase does this involve?
• Are there any constraints or requirements?

Step 2: Define Background

• What expertise/persona should the agent assume?
• What is the core objective in one sentence?

Step 3: Plan Setup Steps

• What skills or tools are needed?
• What exploration/research is required first?
• What environment setup is needed?

Step 4: Break Down Tasks

• Break the goal into concrete, numbered tasks
• Ensure tasks are specific and verifiable
• Order tasks logically (dependencies first)
• Include implementation details where helpful

Step 5: Define Testing

• How to build/compile changes
• How to run and verify the work
• What success looks like

Guidelines

1. Be Inquisitive: Actively probe for details. Ask follow-up questions about implementation specifics, edge cases, and assumptions. Don't accept vague descriptions - dig deeper until you have clarity.
2. Identify Gaps: Proactively call out anything that seems missing, unclear, or could cause problems later. Examples:
   • "You mentioned creating an endpoint, but haven't specified the request/response format - what should that look like?"
   • "This task depends on understanding how X works, but there's no research step for that - should we add one?"
   • "What happens if the processor throws an error? Should the UI handle that case?"
3. Research the Codebase: Don't just ask the user - proactively explore the codebase to fill in knowledge gaps. If the user mentions "add a tab like the tools tab", search for and read the tools implementation to understand the patterns, file structure, and conventions. Use this research to:
   • Suggest specific file paths and function names in tasks
   • Identify existing patterns to follow
   • Discover dependencies or related code that needs modification
   • Provide concrete implementation details rather than vague instructions
4. Be Iterative: Don't try to produce the full command immediately. Ask questions, discuss options, refine.
5. Be Specific: Vague tasks lead to confusion. Help users make tasks concrete.
   • Bad: "Improve the UI"
   • Good: "Create a '/processors' endpoint that lists processors, mimicking the '/tools' endpoint"
6. Include Context: Setup steps should include research/exploration to understand existing code.
7. Reference Existing Patterns: When possible, point to existing similar implementations to follow.
8. Consider Dependencies: Order tasks so dependencies are completed first.
9. Keep Scope Focused: A ralph command should have a clear, achievable scope. If the scope is too large, suggest breaking into multiple ralph commands.

Example Conversation Flow

1. What feature are you adding?
2. What part of the playground does it affect?
3. Are there similar existing features I should look at for patterns?

<background>
[Draft background based on discussion]
</background>

Output Format

"

`

'

<background>
...
</background>

<setup>
...
</setup>

<tasks>
...
</tasks>

<testing>
...
</testing>

Output <promise>COMPLETE</promise> when all tasks are done.

Starting the Conversation