When Claude Code is denied permission to execute commands (e.g., npm install),
Ralph now detects this from the permission_denials array in the JSON output
and halts the loop immediately with clear guidance for the user.
Changes:
- Add permission denial detection to parse_json_response() in response_analyzer.sh
- Extract permission_denials array from Claude Code JSON output
- Track has_permission_denials, permission_denial_count, denied_commands
- Add analyze_response() support for permission denial fields
- Add permission denial exit condition to should_exit_gracefully() in ralph_loop.sh
- Permission denial takes highest priority among exit conditions
- Display helpful guidance for updating ALLOWED_TOOLS in .ralphrc
- Update circuit breaker with CB_PERMISSION_DENIAL_THRESHOLD=2
- Track consecutive_permission_denials in state file
- Open circuit after 2 consecutive loops with permission denials
- Add 11 new TDD tests (6 in test_json_parsing.bats, 5 in test_exit_detection.bats)
- Update documentation in CLAUDE.md and README.md
Test count: 452 (up from 452 - added 11 new tests)
Fixes#101
Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
* fix: Recognize STATUS: COMPLETE as progress in circuit breaker
The circuit breaker was only detecting progress through git diff changes.
When Claude completed work and committed it, subsequent loops showed 0
uncommitted changes, causing the circuit breaker to trip after 3 loops.
This fix adds multiple progress detection sources:
1. Git diff changes (existing)
2. has_completion_signal from response analysis (STATUS: COMPLETE)
3. files_modified reported by Claude in RALPH_STATUS block
This ensures that completed work is recognized as progress even when
all changes have been committed to git.
Fixes issue where circuit breaker would repeatedly trip on projects
where Claude finishes tasks and commits them immediately.
* Update lib/circuit_breaker.sh
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Frank Bria <frank.bria@proton.me>
Co-authored-by: coderabbitai[bot] <136622811+coderabbitai[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Replace confidence-based heuristic in update_exit_signals() with explicit
EXIT_SIGNAL checking. JSON mode always has confidence >= 70 due to
deterministic scoring, causing completion_indicators to fill after 5 loops
and triggering premature exits even when Claude sets EXIT_SIGNAL: false.
Changes:
- lib/response_analyzer.sh: Check exit_signal == "true" instead of
confidence >= 60 when updating completion_indicators array
- ralph_loop.sh: Update safety circuit breaker comment to reflect that
completion_indicators now only accumulates on EXIT_SIGNAL=true
- tests/unit/test_exit_detection.bats: Add 4 TDD tests (32-35) validating
the fix for update_exit_signals() behavior
- CLAUDE.md: Document fix as v0.11.1, update test counts (420 → 424)
Test count: 424 passing (100% pass rate)
Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
* refactor(naming): remove @ prefix from on-disk filenames
BREAKING CHANGE: Renames @fix_plan.md → fix_plan.md and @AGENT.md → AGENT.md
This change improves POSIX compliance and compatibility with command-line tools.
The @ prefix was originally used to avoid naming conflicts, but with the .ralph/
folder structure introduced in v0.10.0, this convention is no longer necessary.
Changes:
- Update all scripts to use new naming (fix_plan.md, AGENT.md)
- Update migration script to handle both old and new naming conventions
- Update templates to use new naming
- Update all documentation references
- Update all 420 tests to expect new naming (TDD approach)
Migration:
- Existing projects with @-prefixed files will be automatically renamed
when running ralph-migrate
- Projects already using the new naming will continue to work unchanged
* docs(claude): update file naming conventions section
* fix(migrate): prevent orphaned @-prefixed files during migration
When both root/@fix_plan.md and .ralph/@fix_plan.md exist, the root file
now takes priority and the .ralph/@fix_plan.md is removed (backup exists).
This prevents orphaned legacy files after migration.
---------
Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
When wizard prompt functions (prompt_text, prompt_number, select_option,
select_with_default) were used with command substitution, ANSI-colored
prompts were captured along with user responses, corrupting .ralphrc
values like: PROJECT_NAME="[0;36mProject name[0m [value]: value"
Fix:
- Redirect all display output (colored prompts, validation messages) to
stderr using >&2, matching the pattern already used by select_multiple()
- Keep only the actual response/result on stdout for command substitution
Changes:
- lib/wizard_utils.sh: Add >&2 to prompt_text (lines 84-87),
prompt_number (lines 118-121, 131-151), confirm (lines 44, 60),
select_option (lines 190-215), select_with_default (lines 330-364)
- tests/unit/test_wizard_utils.bats: Add 20 new tests for stdout/stderr
separation and clean command substitution results
- CLAUDE.md: Update test count to 420
Test count: 420 (up from 396)
Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
* feat(enable): add ralph-enable wizard for existing projects (v0.11.0)
Add interactive wizard and CI version for enabling Ralph in existing projects.
New commands:
- ralph-enable: Interactive 5-phase wizard for humans
- ralph-enable-ci: Non-interactive version with JSON output for CI/automation
New library components:
- lib/enable_core.sh: Shared logic for idempotency, project detection, templates
- lib/wizard_utils.sh: Interactive prompt utilities
- lib/task_sources.sh: Task import from beads, GitHub Issues, PRD documents
Features:
- Auto-detects project type (TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go)
- Auto-detects framework (Next.js, FastAPI, Django, Express)
- Imports tasks from beads, GitHub Issues, or PRD documents
- Generates .ralphrc project configuration file
- Idempotent: safe to run multiple times, respects existing files
- Exit codes: 0 (success), 1 (error), 2 (already enabled)
Updated:
- install.sh: Added new commands to global installation
- ralph_loop.sh: Loads .ralphrc configuration at startup
Tests: 75 new tests (30 enable_core + 23 task_sources + 22 integration)
Total: 396 tests passing (100% pass rate)
Closes#85, #121, #64, #87, #99
* fix(enable): address code review feedback
Fixes from PR #124 review:
1. sed -i portability (ralph_enable.sh:456)
- Use portable sed + mv pattern instead of GNU-only sed -i
2. sed regex portability (lib/task_sources.sh)
- Replace \s with POSIX [[:space:]] character class
- Add sed -E flag for extended regex
3. jq availability check (ralph_enable_ci.sh:177)
- Add check for jq when --json flag is used
4. Unused filter parameter (lib/task_sources.sh:44)
- Pass filter to bd list --filter command
5. Word-splitting in select_multiple (ralph_enable.sh:322)
- Return comma-separated indices instead of space-separated text
- Update caller to parse indices correctly
6. Missing || true for check_existing_ralph (ralph_enable.sh:185)
- Prevent set -e from exiting on non-zero return
7. select_multiple stdout corruption (lib/wizard_utils.sh)
- Redirect interactive output to stderr
- Only final result goes to stdout
8. Color variables not exported (lib/wizard_utils.sh:12)
- Export WIZARD_* color variables for subshells
9. select_option infinite loop (lib/wizard_utils.sh:179)
- Add guard for empty options array
* fix(tests): add missing mocks and exports for new enable feature
- Add RESPONSE_ANALYSIS_FILE export to test_session_continuity.bats setup
- Add mock ralph_enable.sh and ralph_enable_ci.sh to test_installation.bats
- Add mock lib files: enable_core.sh, wizard_utils.sh, task_sources.sh, timeout_utils.sh
All 396 tests now pass.
* fix(config): fix critical issues from PR review
1. .ralphrc Configuration Loading Fix:
- Captured env var state BEFORE setting defaults with _env_* variables
- load_ralphrc now only restores values explicitly set by environment
- .ralphrc settings are now properly applied (not overwritten by defaults)
2. sed Command Injection Fix:
- Replaced sed with awk for .ralphrc updates in ralph_enable.sh
- awk -v pattern safely handles user input without shell injection risk
3. Shell Injection Fix in safe_create_file():
- Replaced echo with printf '%s\n' for safer content handling
- Prevents issues with backslashes, -n, and special characters
4. Specific Error Codes:
- Added ENABLE_INVALID_ARGS=3 for argument errors
- Added ENABLE_FILE_NOT_FOUND=4 for missing files
- Added ENABLE_DEPENDENCY_MISSING=5 for missing deps (e.g., jq)
- Added ENABLE_PERMISSION_DENIED=6 for permission errors
- Updated ralph_enable.sh and ralph_enable_ci.sh to use specific codes
5. Added tests for .ralphrc loading pattern verification
Test count: 398 (up from 396)
* fix(enable): make --force flag actually overwrite existing files
The --force flag was accepted but safe_create_file() always skipped
existing files regardless of ENABLE_FORCE value.
Changes:
- safe_create_file() now checks ENABLE_FORCE environment variable
- When ENABLE_FORCE="true", overwrites existing files instead of skipping
- Added proper logging for overwrite operations
Added tests:
- Verify enable_ralph_in_directory actually changes file contents with --force
- Test safe_create_file overwrites when ENABLE_FORCE is true
- Test safe_create_file skips when ENABLE_FORCE is false
Test count: 400 (up from 398)
---------
Co-authored-by: Test User <test@example.com>
Merged origin/main into PR branch and applied review feedback:
Review fixes:
- Guard against empty result_obj if jq fails (Macroscope)
- Prioritize result object's session_id over init message (CodeRabbit)
- Add regression test for arrays with session_id only in result element
Resolved conflicts:
- CLAUDE.md: Updated test count to 319
All 319 tests pass.
Claude Code CLI outputs a JSON array instead of a single object:
[{type: "system", ...}, {type: "assistant", ...}, {type: "result", ...}]
This caused parse_json_response to fail with "jq: invalid JSON text"
because it assumed the top-level JSON was an object.
Changes:
- Detect if JSON is an array before parsing
- Extract the "result" type message from the array
- Preserve session_id from init message for continuity
- Normalize to object format for existing parsing logic
- Clean up temporary file after processing
Fixes#112
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(structure): migrate Ralph files to .ralph/ subfolder
BREAKING CHANGE: Ralph configuration files now live in .ralph/ subfolder
This refactoring moves all Ralph-specific files into a hidden .ralph/
directory while keeping src/ at the project root. This improves
compatibility with existing tooling and keeps the project root clean.
Changes:
- Move PROMPT.md, @fix_plan.md, @AGENT.md to .ralph/
- Move specs/, logs/, docs/generated/, examples/ to .ralph/
- Move state files (.response_analysis, .circuit_breaker_state, etc.) to .ralph/
- Keep src/ at project root (unchanged)
- Add RALPH_DIR=".ralph" configuration variable
- Add ralph-migrate command for existing projects
- Create migrate_to_ralph_folder.sh migration script
- Update all path references in scripts and tests
- Update documentation (README.md, CLAUDE.md)
New project structure:
project/
├── .ralph/ # Ralph configuration
│ ├── PROMPT.md
│ ├── @fix_plan.md
│ ├── @AGENT.md
│ ├── specs/
│ ├── logs/
│ └── docs/generated/
└── src/ # Source code (unchanged)
Migration: Run `ralph-migrate` in existing projects to upgrade.
All 310 tests pass (100% pass rate).
* chore: add .claude/settings.local.json to .gitignore
* fix: address code review feedback for .ralph/ subfolder structure
Fixes multiple path-related issues identified in code review:
Test fixes:
- Fix create_sample_prompt to use $RALPH_DIR/PROMPT.md in test_session_continuity.bats
- Fix result_file path to use $RALPH_DIR/.json_parse_result in test_json_parsing.bats
- Fix @fix_plan.md and .response_analysis paths in test_cli_modern.bats
- Update templates directory missing test to account for global fallback
Template fix:
- Fix @fix_plan.md reference in templates/PROMPT.md to use .ralph/ prefix
Script fixes:
- Fix PROMPT_FILE comparison in ralph_loop.sh to use $RALPH_DIR/PROMPT.md
- Fix examples migration logic in migrate_to_ralph_folder.sh (remove premature mkdir)
- Move templates directory check AFTER cd in setup.sh (was checking wrong location)
- Add template directory validation with fallback to global templates
All 310 tests pass.
* Update migrate_to_ralph_folder.sh
Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
* fix: address code review feedback for .ralph/ subfolder structure
Code Review Fixes:
- Fix test_json_parsing.bats: all result_file and session file paths now use $RALPH_DIR prefix
- Fix ralph_loop.sh help text: paths now show .ralph/.ralph_session, .ralph/.call_count, etc.
- Fix migrate_to_ralph_folder.sh:
- Proper error handling for date command (separate local declaration)
- Use cp -a source/. dest/ pattern to preserve dotfiles and attributes
- Remove 2>/dev/null suppression to surface copy errors
- Update create_files.sh to use .ralph/ structure for embedded scripts
- Update .gitignore with all .ralph/ state file paths
- Add old structure detection in ralph_loop.sh with helpful migration message
Version Update:
- Bump to v0.10.0 (breaking change: structural reorganization)
- Update README.md and CLAUDE.md with new version and release notes
- Add ralph-migrate documentation to Key Commands section
All 310 tests pass.
---------
Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
* feat(timeout): add cross-platform timeout support for macOS
Add portable timeout wrapper that automatically detects and uses the
appropriate timeout command based on the platform:
- Linux: Uses standard GNU `timeout` from coreutils
- macOS: Uses `gtimeout` from Homebrew coreutils
Changes:
- Add lib/timeout_utils.sh with detect_timeout_command() and
portable_timeout() functions
- Update ralph_loop.sh to source timeout_utils.sh and use
portable_timeout for Claude Code execution
- Update install.sh to check for coreutils on macOS and provide
installation instructions
- Update test mocks to include gtimeout and portable_timeout
- Update README.md with macOS coreutils installation instructions
- Update CLAUDE.md with timeout_utils.sh documentation
Users on macOS now need to install coreutils: brew install coreutils
* Update model reference in opencode-review workflow
* Update model name in opencode-review workflow
* Update model version in opencode-review workflow
* Update model version in opencode-review workflow
* Update lib/timeout_utils.sh
Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
* Update opencode-review.yml
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: macroscopeapp[bot] <170038800+macroscopeapp[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
- Fix BSD date parsing to handle milliseconds in ISO timestamps
(e.g., 2026-01-09T10:30:00.123+00:00)
- Document error_count mapping behavior when only has_errors=true is present
- Remove unused has_session_id_field variable
- Add debug logging for session persistence (controlled by VERBOSE_PROGRESS)
- Standardize session filename to .claude_session_id across all files
All 239 tests passing.
- Extend parse_json_response() to support both flat and Claude CLI formats
- Extract result, sessionId, and metadata fields
- Support metadata.files_changed, metadata.has_errors, completion_status
- Parse progress_indicators array for confidence boosting
- Add session management functions for continuity tracking:
- store_session_id(): Persist session with ISO timestamp
- get_last_session_id(): Retrieve stored session ID
- should_resume_session(): Check session validity (24-hour expiration)
- Add get_epoch_seconds() to date_utils.sh for cross-platform epoch time
- Auto-persist sessionId to .session_id file during response analysis
- Add 16 new TDD tests for Claude CLI format and session management
- Update documentation for v0.9.6 (239 tests total)
Test count: 239 (up from 223)
Replace two heredocs that write analysis results with jq construction
to prevent JSON injection via work_summary or other string fields.
Fixed locations:
- Line 205-235: JSON parsing path analysis result
- Line 351-381: Text parsing path analysis result
Both now use jq with --arg for strings and --argjson for numeric/boolean
fields, ensuring proper escaping of special characters.
Fixes three security issues identified in Phase 1.1 code review:
1. JSON injection in parse_json_response() (response_analyzer.sh:113-132)
- Replace heredoc with jq construction using --arg for strings
- Use --argjson for numeric/boolean fields
- Ensures proper escaping of quotes, newlines, backslashes
2. Input validation for --allowed-tools flag (ralph_loop.sh:903-905)
- Add VALID_TOOL_PATTERNS whitelist
- Add validate_allowed_tools() function
- Validate against whitelist in argument parsing
- Allow Bash(...) patterns with any content
3. Shell injection in build_claude_command() (ralph_loop.sh:439-444)
- Convert from string concatenation to command array
- Use global CLAUDE_CMD_ARGS array
- Execute with "${CLAUDE_CMD_ARGS[@]}" instead of bash -c
- No manual escaping needed - array handles metacharacters
All 98 tests passing.
Closes#48, #50
Implements Issue #28 - modernize CLI commands for better Claude integration.
Key changes:
- Add JSON output format support with --output-format flag (default: json)
- Add session continuity with --continue flag and .claude_session_id file
- Add tool permissions via --allowed-tools flag
- Add build_loop_context() for loop-aware context injection
- Add detect_output_format() and parse_json_response() for JSON parsing
- Maintain backward compatibility with text output fallback
- Add version checking with check_claude_version()
New CLI options:
- --output-format json|text: Control Claude output format
- --allowed-tools "Write,Read,Bash(git *)": Restrict tool permissions
- --no-continue: Disable session continuity
Test coverage:
- 20 new JSON parsing tests (test_json_parsing.bats)
- 23 new CLI modern tests (test_cli_modern.bats)
- All 98 tests passing (100% pass rate)
Add -u flag to GNU date command in get_iso_timestamp() to match
the macOS implementation and function documentation. Both platforms
now consistently return UTC timestamps in YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS+00:00
format.
Before: date -Iseconds (returned local time on Linux)
After: date -u -Iseconds (returns UTC on Linux)
Add cross-platform date utility library to handle differences between
GNU date (Linux) and BSD date (macOS). Fixes issues with:
- ISO 8601 timestamp formatting (-Iseconds flag)
- Date arithmetic operations (-d vs -v flags)
Changes:
- Created lib/date_utils.sh with get_iso_timestamp() and get_next_hour_time()
- Updated ralph_loop.sh to use date utilities (2 instances)
- Updated lib/circuit_breaker.sh to use date utilities (4 instances)
- Updated lib/response_analyzer.sh to use date utilities (1 instance)
All date operations now work consistently across both platforms without
modification. The utility automatically detects the OS and uses the
appropriate date command syntax.
Tested on Linux with GNU date - all syntax checks and integration tests pass.
Addresses CodeRabbit outside diff range comment on lines 268-283:
CRITICAL BUG:
The detect_stuck_loop function had a multi-line string handling bug where
only the first error line was checked against historical outputs when
multiple distinct errors were present.
Problem:
grep -q "$current_errors" file.log
# When $current_errors has multiple lines, grep only matches first line
Impact:
Stuck loops with multiple recurring errors would not be detected correctly,
potentially allowing Ralph to continue running despite being genuinely stuck.
Fix:
Changed from simple grep to nested loop checking:
- For each historical output file
- For each error line in current output
- ALL error lines must appear in that file
- Only returns "stuck" if ALL files contain ALL current errors
Used grep -qF for literal fixed-string matching (not regex) to avoid
edge cases with special characters in error messages.
Test Coverage:
Added 2 new test scenarios (7 → 9 total tests):
Test 8: Multiple distinct errors where ALL repeat across history
Current: Error: Build failed + Fatal: DB lost + Exception: NPE
History: All 3 files contain all 3 errors
Expected: Stuck detected ✅
Test 9: Multiple errors where only some repeat
Current: Error: Build failed + Fatal: DB lost
History: Only first error appears consistently
Expected: Not stuck ✅
All existing tests continue to pass, validating backward compatibility.
Test results:
✓ Error detection tests: 13/13 passing
✓ Stuck loop tests: 9/9 passing (was 7/7)
✓ Total: 22/22 tests passing
This ensures detect_stuck_loop correctly handles the real-world scenario
where Ralph gets stuck on multiple simultaneous recurring errors.
Addresses CodeRabbit review comment:
- Outside diff range (lines 268-283): Multi-line error matching bug
Addresses additional CodeRabbit findings in lib/response_analyzer.sh:
CRITICAL (line 267):
- Fixed detect_stuck_loop() to use two-stage filtering
- Was using naive grep -i "error\|failed" pattern
- Now filters JSON fields before extracting errors
- Pattern aligned with analyze_response() for consistency
DEAD CODE (line 18):
- Removed unused STUCK_INDICATORS array
- Array was defined but never referenced in code
- Reduces maintenance burden per coding guidelines
TEST COVERAGE:
- Added comprehensive test suite for detect_stuck_loop()
- New file: tests/test_stuck_loop_detection.sh
- 7 test scenarios validating:
* JSON fields don't trigger false stuck detection
* Actual repeated errors are correctly detected
* Type annotations are properly excluded
* Function returns appropriate exit codes
Test results:
✓ Error detection tests: 13/13 passing
✓ Stuck loop tests: 7/7 passing
✓ Total: 20/20 tests passing
This ensures both error detection functions (analyze_response and
detect_stuck_loop) use identical filtering logic, preventing circuit
breaker false positives across all code paths.
Addresses CodeRabbit review comments:
- Outside diff range comment: line 267 (Critical)
- Outside diff range comment: line 18 (Dead code)
- Outside diff range comment: lines 254-286 (Test coverage)
Aligns error detection patterns across all implementations and improves
test coverage based on CodeRabbit's critical and major findings.
Changes:
1. CRITICAL: Align lib/response_analyzer.sh pattern with ralph_loop.sh
- Changed Stage 1 filter from '"[^"]*\(error\|failed\)"[^"]*":' to '"[^"]*error[^"]*":'
- Removed bare 'cannot' and 'unable to' from Stage 2 (prevent false positives in prose)
- Both files now use identical patterns for consistency
2. MAJOR: Improved test coverage
- Renamed test 10 from "Cannot/unable in error context" to "Error prefix with descriptive message"
- Added test 10a to validate bare "cannot/unable" DON'T trigger false positives
- Now testing 13 scenarios (was 12)
3. MINOR: Added comprehensive test strategy documentation
- Header comments explain two-stage filtering approach
- Documents pattern consistency requirement
- Lists all 13 test scenarios and their purpose
Test results:
✓ All 13 tests passing
✓ Pattern consistency validated across ralph_loop.sh and lib/response_analyzer.sh
✓ False positive scenarios properly excluded
Addresses CodeRabbit review comments:
- r2655862688 (Critical pattern inconsistency)
- r2655862689 (Major test coverage gap)
- r2655862690 (Minor misleading test name)
Fixes circuit breaker opening prematurely due to naive error pattern matching
that treated JSON field names like "is_error": false as actual errors.
Changes:
- ralph_loop.sh: Implement two-stage error detection with JSON filtering
- lib/response_analyzer.sh: Apply same filtering to error counting
- tests/test_error_detection.sh: Add comprehensive test suite (12 scenarios)
Error detection now:
- Filters out JSON field patterns before searching for errors
- Uses context-specific patterns (^Error:, ]: error, Exception, Fatal)
- Avoids type annotations (error: Error) and code identifiers
- Includes debug logging when VERBOSE_PROGRESS=true
Test coverage validates:
✓ JSON fields don't trigger false positives
✓ Real error messages are correctly detected
✓ Mixed content handled properly
✓ Code diffs and documentation excluded
This prevents the consecutive_same_error counter from incrementing on
false positives, eliminating unnecessary circuit breaker trips.
