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fix(loop): respect Claude's EXIT_SIGNAL when checking completion indicators (#90)

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* fix(loop): respect Claude's EXIT_SIGNAL when checking completion indicators

The should_exit_gracefully() function was exiting prematurely based solely
on completion_indicators heuristics, ignoring Claude's explicit EXIT_SIGNAL
in the RALPH_STATUS block. This caused premature exits during productive
iterations when Claude reported work in progress.

Changes:
- ralph_loop.sh: Added dual-condition check requiring BOTH completion
  indicators >= 2 AND exit_signal == true before exiting
- response_analyzer.sh: Added explicit_exit_signal_found flag to prevent
  natural language heuristics from overriding Claude's explicit intent
- Added 14 new tests (10 unit + 4 integration) covering EXIT_SIGNAL behavior

Decision matrix:
| indicators >= 2 | EXIT_SIGNAL | Result |
|-----------------|-------------|--------|
| true            | true        | Exit   |
| true            | false       | Continue |
| true            | missing     | Continue (defaults to false) |
| false           | true        | Continue (threshold not met) |

Fixes premature exit bug during productive development iterations.

* Update lib/response_analyzer.sh

Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

* test(exit): add STATUS=COMPLETE vs EXIT_SIGNAL=false conflict test

docs(exit): update CLAUDE.md with EXIT_SIGNAL gate documentation

- Added test for STATUS=COMPLETE with EXIT_SIGNAL=false conflict
  (EXIT_SIGNAL takes precedence, allowing phase completion without loop exit)
- Updated "Intelligent Exit Detection" section with dual-condition explanation
- Added "Completion Indicators with EXIT_SIGNAL Gate" section with decision table
- Documented conflict resolution behavior and implementation details

---------

Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
Frank Bria 2026-01-12 22:07:24 -07:00 • committed by GitHub
parent 3e8d3fdcde
commit aca3670cc7
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5 changed files with 539 additions and 14 deletions
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16
ralph_loop.sh
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@ -309,11 +309,21 @@ should_exit_gracefully() {
return 0
fi
# 3. Strong completion indicators
if [[ $recent_completion_indicators -ge 2 ]]; then
log_status "WARN" "Exit condition: Strong completion indicators ($recent_completion_indicators)"
# 3. Strong completion indicators (only if Claude's EXIT_SIGNAL is true)
# This prevents premature exits when heuristics detect completion patterns
# but Claude explicitly indicates work is still in progress via RALPH_STATUS block.
# The exit_signal in .response_analysis represents Claude's explicit intent.
local claude_exit_signal="false"
if [[ -f ".response_analysis" ]]; then
claude_exit_signal=$(jq -r '.analysis.exit_signal // false' ".response_analysis" 2>/dev/null || echo "false")
fi
if [[ $recent_completion_indicators -ge 2 ]] && [[ "$claude_exit_signal" == "true" ]]; then
log_status "WARN" "Exit condition: Strong completion indicators ($recent_completion_indicators) with EXIT_SIGNAL=true" >&2
echo "project_complete"
return 0
elif [[ $recent_completion_indicators -ge 2 ]]; then
log_status "INFO" "DEBUG: Completion indicators ($recent_completion_indicators) present but EXIT_SIGNAL=false, continuing..." >&2
fi
# 4. Check fix_plan.md for completion