- Updated from @anthropic/claude-code to @anthropic-ai/claude-code
- This was causing npm 404 errors when trying to execute Claude Code
- Fixed in ralph_loop.sh, ralph_import.sh, install.sh, and README.md
- Ralph should now be able to successfully execute Claude Code commands
The issue was in line 378: if [[ $? -eq 0 ]]
- $? was checking the return code of 'local exit_reason=$(...)'
- This command always succeeds, so $? was always 0
- This caused Ralph to always exit immediately after loop #1
Fixed by:
- Calling should_exit_gracefully directly in the if condition
- Only calling it again to get exit reason if it returns 0 (exit needed)
- This properly checks the function's actual return code
- Add logging to show total_items and completed_items counts
- Add final debug statement to confirm function completion
- This will help identify if the fix_plan completion check is the culprit
- The debug log_status calls in should_exit_gracefully() were being
captured as stdout when called with
- This caused the debug messages to be treated as the exit reason
- Fixed by redirecting debug logging to stderr with >&2
- Ralph should now continue past the exit condition check properly
- Add debug statements to identify which exit condition is triggering
- Log each step of @fix_plan.md parsing and task completion checking
- Add logging for jq operations and file reading
- This should help identify why Ralph immediately exits after loop #1
🐛 Bug Fix: Silent Exit Issue
- Ralph was silently exiting when PROMPT.md not found (no error shown)
- Added comprehensive error handling with helpful guidance
- Now clearly explains when directory is not a Ralph project
🎯 Enhanced User Experience:
- Detects partial Ralph projects vs completely wrong directories
- Provides specific actionable solutions:
1. ralph-setup my-project (create new)
2. ralph-import requirements.md (import existing)
3. Navigate to existing Ralph project
4. Create PROMPT.md manually
- Updated help text with "IMPORTANT" note about project directories
- Added example workflow in help documentation
🔧 Technical Improvements:
- Better error detection logic
- Informative messages instead of silent failures
- Maintains proper exit codes for scripting
- Clear guidance for different scenarios
This resolves the confusing behavior where ralph would start logging
but then silently exit without explanation when run outside a Ralph project.
Major architectural change to make Ralph available as global commands:
🌟 New Global Installation System:
- Add install.sh script for global installation to ~/.local/bin
- Creates ralph, ralph-monitor, ralph-setup global commands
- Installs templates and scripts to ~/.ralph/ directory
- Automatic dependency checking and PATH configuration
🚀 Enhanced User Experience:
- ralph-setup my-project (run from anywhere, no directory constraints)
- ralph --monitor (start from any project directory)
- ralph-monitor (global monitoring command)
- No more ../ralph_loop.sh relative path requirements
🔧 Improved Architecture:
- Global template system in ~/.ralph/templates/
- Smart path detection (global commands vs local scripts)
- Maintains backward compatibility during transition
- Clean separation of installation vs project files
📚 Updated Documentation:
- All examples now use global commands (ralph vs ../ralph_loop.sh)
- Clear installation instructions with ./install.sh
- Global command reference in CLAUDE.md
- Streamlined Quick Start workflow
This makes Ralph much more professional and user-friendly by eliminating
directory structure requirements and providing standard Unix command experience.
- Add --monitor flag to ralph_loop.sh for integrated tmux monitoring
- Automatically creates split-pane session with Ralph loop and monitor
- Include tmux availability check with installation instructions
- Update documentation to recommend tmux workflow
- Add tmux session management commands and controls
- Preserve all existing functionality for users without tmux
New workflow:
../ralph_loop.sh --monitor # Creates split session automatically
Traditional workflow still supported:
../ralph_loop.sh # Terminal 1
../ralph_monitor.sh # Terminal 2
System requirements updated to include tmux (recommended).
- Fix nested EOF heredoc conflicts in update_status() and show_help() functions
- Use unique delimiters (STATUSEOF, HELPEOF) to avoid conflicts
- Complete Ralph for Claude Code implementation with all components:
- ralph_loop.sh: Main autonomous development loop with rate limiting
- ralph_monitor.sh: Live monitoring dashboard
- setup.sh: Project initialization script
- templates/: Template files for new projects
- .gitignore: Comprehensive ignore rules
All scripts are now executable and syntax-validated.
Features:
- Intelligent exit detection (knows when project is done)
- Test limiting (enforces 20% rule to prevent busy work)
- Rate limiting with graceful API usage management
- Live monitoring dashboard with real-time progress
- Auto-generated documentation every 10 iterations
- Specification-driven development approach
Based on Geoffrey Huntley's Ralph technique, adapted for Claude Code.
