ralph (Ouroboros) — Specification-First AI Development

Stop prompting. Start specifying.

"The beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning." The serpent doesn't repeat — it evolves.

When to use this skill

• Before writing any code — expose hidden assumptions with Socratic interviewing
• Long-running tasks that need autonomous iteration until verified
• Vague requirements — crystallize them into an immutable spec (Ambiguity ≤ 0.2)
• Tasks requiring guaranteed completion — loop until verification passes
• When stuck — 5 lateral thinking personas break through stagnation
• Drift detection — measure how far execution has deviated from original spec

Core Architecture: The Loop

    Interview → Seed → Execute → Evaluate
        ↑                           ↓
        └──── Evolutionary Loop ────┘

Each cycle evolves, not repeats. Evaluation output feeds back as input for the next generation until the system converges.

Double Diamond

    ◇ Wonder          ◇ Design
   ╱  (diverge)      ╱  (diverge)
  ╱    explore      ╱    create
 ╱                 ╱
◆ ──────────── ◆ ──────────── ◆
 ╲                 ╲
  ╲    define       ╲    deliver
   ╲  (converge)     ╲  (converge)
    ◇ Ontology        ◇ Evaluation

The first diamond is Socratic: diverge into questions, converge into ontological clarity. The second diamond is pragmatic: diverge into design options, converge into verified delivery.

1. Commands (Full Reference)

ooo interview

ooo interview

interview me

clarify requirements

socratic questioning

ooo seed

ooo seed

crystallize

generate seed

freeze requirements

ooo run

ooo run

execute seed

ouroboros run

ooo evaluate

ooo evaluate

3-stage check

evaluate this

verify execution

ooo evolve

ooo evolve

evolutionary loop

iterate until converged

ooo unstuck

ooo unstuck

I'm stuck

think sideways

lateral thinking

ooo status

ooo status

am I drifting?

drift check

session status

ooo ralph

ooo ralph

ralph

don't stop

must complete

keep going

ooo setup

ooo setup

ooo help

ooo help

2. Interview → Specification Flow

Philosophy: From Wonder to Ontology

Wonder → "How should I live?" → "What IS 'live'?" → Ontology — Socrates

   Wonder                          Ontology
     💡                               🔬
"What do I want?"    →    "What IS the thing I want?"
"Build a task CLI"   →    "What IS a task? What IS priority?"
"Fix the auth bug"   →    "Is this the root cause, or a symptom?"

Step 1: Interview (expose hidden assumptions)

ooo interview "I want to build a task management CLI"

The Socratic Interviewer asks questions until Ambiguity ≤ 0.2.

Ambiguity formula:

Ambiguity = 1 − Σ(clarityᵢ × weightᵢ)

Greenfield: Goal(40%) + Constraint(30%) + Success(30%)
Brownfield: Goal(35%) + Constraint(25%) + Success(25%) + Context(15%)

Threshold: Ambiguity ≤ 0.2 → ready for Seed

Example scoring:

Goal:       0.9 × 0.4 = 0.36
Constraint: 0.8 × 0.3 = 0.24
Success:    0.7 × 0.3 = 0.21
                        ──────
Clarity             = 0.81
Ambiguity = 1 − 0.81 = 0.19 ≤ 0.2 → ✓ Ready for Seed

Step 2: Seed (crystallize into immutable spec)

ooo seed

Generates YAML specification:

goal: Build a CLI task management tool
constraints:
  - Python 3.14+
  - No external database
  - SQLite for persistence
acceptance_criteria:
  - Tasks can be created
  - Tasks can be listed
  - Tasks can be marked complete
ontology_schema:
  name: TaskManager
  fields:
    - name: tasks
      type: array
    - name: title
      type: string

Step 3: Run (execute via Double Diamond)

ooo run seed.yaml
ooo run  # uses seed from conversation context

Step 4: Evaluate (3-stage verification)

ooo evaluate <session_id>

Drift thresholds:

• 0.0 – 0.15

  — Excellent: on track

• 0.15 – 0.30

  — Acceptable: monitor closely

• 0.30+

  — Exceeded: course correction needed

3. Ralph — Persistent Loop Until Verified

ooo ralph "fix all failing tests"
/ouroboros:ralph "fix all failing tests"

"The boulder never stops." Each failure is data for the next attempt. Only complete success or max iterations stops it.

How Ralph Works

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. EXECUTE (parallel)          │
│     Independent tasks           │
│     concurrent scheduling       │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  2. VERIFY                      │
│     Check completion            │
│     Validate tests pass         │
│     Measure drift vs seed       │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  3. LOOP (if failed)            │
│     Analyze failure             │
│     Fix identified issues       │
│     Repeat from step 1          │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  4. PERSIST (checkpoint)        │
│     .omc/state/ralph-state.json │
│     Resume after interruption   │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

State File

Create

.omc/state/ralph-state.json

{
  "mode": "ralph",
  "session_id": "<uuid>",
  "request": "<user request>",
  "status": "running",
  "iteration": 0,
  "max_iterations": 10,
  "last_checkpoint": null,
  "verification_history": []
}

Loop Logic

while iteration < max_iterations:
    result = execute_parallel(request, context)
    verification = verify_result(result, acceptance_criteria)
    state.verification_history.append({
        "iteration": iteration,
        "passed": verification.passed,
        "score": verification.score,
        "timestamp": <now>
    })
    if verification.passed:
        save_checkpoint("complete")
        break
    iteration += 1
    save_checkpoint("iteration_{iteration}")

Progress Report Format

[Ralph Iteration 1/10]
Executing in parallel...

Verification: FAILED
Score: 0.65
Issues:
- 3 tests still failing
- Type errors in src/api.py

The boulder never stops. Continuing...

[Ralph Iteration 3/10]
Executing in parallel...

Verification: PASSED
Score: 1.0

Ralph COMPLETE
==============
Request: Fix all failing tests
Duration: 8m 32s
Iterations: 3

Verification History:
- Iteration 1: FAILED (0.65)
- Iteration 2: FAILED (0.85)
- Iteration 3: PASSED (1.0)

Cancellation

/ouroboros:cancel

/ouroboros:cancel --force

ooo ralph continue

ralph continue

4. Evolutionary Loop (Evolve)

ooo evolve "build a task management CLI"
ooo evolve "build a task management CLI" --no-execute  # ontology-only, fast mode

Flow

Gen 1: Interview → Seed(O₁) → Execute → Evaluate
Gen 2: Wonder → Reflect → Seed(O₂) → Execute → Evaluate
Gen 3: Wonder → Reflect → Seed(O₃) → Execute → Evaluate
...until ontology converges (similarity ≥ 0.95) or max 30 generations

Convergence Formula

Similarity = 0.5 × name_overlap + 0.3 × type_match + 0.2 × exact_match
Threshold: Similarity ≥ 0.95 → CONVERGED

Gen 1: {Task, Priority, Status}
Gen 2: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}  → similarity 0.78 → CONTINUE
Gen 3: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}  → similarity 1.00 → CONVERGED ✓

Stagnation Detection

Ralph in Evolve Mode

Ralph Cycle 1: evolve_step(lineage, seed) → Gen 1 → action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 2: evolve_step(lineage)       → Gen 2 → action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 3: evolve_step(lineage)       → Gen 3 → action=CONVERGED ✓
                                                └── Ralph stops.
                                                    The ontology has stabilized.

Rewind

ooo evolve --status <lineage_id>          # check lineage status
ooo evolve --rewind <lineage_id> <gen_N>  # roll back to generation N

5. The Nine Minds (Agents)

Loaded on-demand — never preloaded:

6. Unstuck — Lateral Thinking

When blocked after repeated failures, choose a persona:

ooo unstuck                 # auto-select based on situation
ooo unstuck simplifier      # cut scope to MVP — "Start with exactly 2 tables"
ooo unstuck hacker          # make it work first, elegance later
ooo unstuck contrarian      # challenge all assumptions
ooo unstuck researcher      # stop coding, find missing information
ooo unstuck architect       # restructure the approach entirely

When to use each:

• Repeated similar failures →

  contrarian

  (challenge assumptions)
• Too many options →

  simplifier

  (reduce scope)
• Missing information →

  researcher

  (seek data)
• Analysis paralysis →

  hacker

  (just make it work)
• Structural issues →

  architect

  (redesign)

7. Platform Installation & Usage

Claude Code (Native Plugin — Full Mode)

# Install
claude plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros
claude plugin install ouroboros@ouroboros

# One-time setup
ooo setup

# Use
ooo interview "I want to build a task CLI"
ooo seed
ooo run
ooo evaluate <session_id>
ooo ralph "fix all failing tests"

All

ooo

• UserPromptSubmit

  → keyword-detector.mjs detects triggers

• PostToolUse(Write|Edit)

  → drift-monitor.mjs tracks deviation

• SessionStart

  → session initialization

Claude Code hooks.json (installed at

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/hooks.json

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [{ "matcher": "*", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node \"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/session-start.mjs\"", "timeout": 5 }] }],
    "UserPromptSubmit": [{ "matcher": "*", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node \"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/keyword-detector.mjs\"", "timeout": 5 }] }],
    "PostToolUse": [{ "matcher": "Write|Edit", "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "node \"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/drift-monitor.mjs\"", "timeout": 3 }] }]
  }
}

Codex CLI (Adapted Mode — bash loop)

Codex CLI has no native AfterAgent hooks. Use the setup script to configure:

# Setup
bash <your-agent-skills>/ralph/scripts/setup-codex-hook.sh

# Restart Codex, then use:
/prompts:ralph              # load ralph loop context
/prompts:ouroboros          # load full ouroboros context

# Use ooo commands in conversation:
ooo interview "build a REST API"
ooo ralph "fix all TypeScript errors"

Codex ralph loop contract:

1. Treat

   /ralph "<task>" [--completion-promise=TEXT] [--max-iterations=N]

   as a contract command
2. Parse completion signal inside XML:

   <promise>VALUE</promise>

3. If promise missing and iteration < max-iterations → continue immediately with same original command
4. If promise found or max-iterations reached → finish with status report

Completion promise syntax:

<promise>DONE</promise>

Manual state management for Codex:

• Create

  .omc/state/ralph-state.json

  at loop start
• Update

  iteration

  counter each cycle
• Set

  status: "complete"

  when promise found
• Default completion promise:

  DONE

  | Default max iterations:

  10

Gemini CLI (AfterAgent Hook Mode)

# Install via extensions
gemini extensions install https://github.com/Q00/ouroboros
# OR install skills-template
gemini extensions install https://github.com/supercent-io/skills-template

Required in

~/.gemini/settings.json

{
  "hooksConfig": { "enabled": true },
  "context": {
    "includeDirectories": ["~/.gemini/extensions/ralph"]
  }
}

AfterAgent hook for loop continuation (add to

~/.gemini/settings.json

{
  "hooks": {
    "AfterAgent": [{
      "matcher": "*",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "bash ~/.gemini/hooks/ralph-check.sh",
        "timeout": 10
      }]
    }]
  }
}

Run in sandbox + YOLO mode to prevent constant confirmation prompts:

gemini -s -y

Then use

ooo

ooo interview "build a task CLI"
ooo ralph "fix all tests"

⚠️ Gemini v0.30.0 bug:

stop_hook_active

false

.omc/state/ralph-state.json

8. Platform Support Matrix

ooo

/prompts:ralph

ooo

ooo

9. Quick Reference

ooo interview "topic"

ooo seed

ooo run [seed.yaml]

ooo evaluate <session_id>

ooo evolve "topic"

ooo ralph "task"

ooo unstuck [persona]

ooo status [session_id]

ooo setup

/ouroboros:cancel

/ouroboros:cancel --force

ooo ralph continue

/ralph:cancel

10. Installation

# Claude Code
claude plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros
claude plugin install ouroboros@ouroboros
ooo setup

# Codex CLI
bash <skills>/ralph/scripts/setup-codex-hook.sh

# Gemini CLI (extensions)
gemini extensions install https://github.com/Q00/ouroboros

# All platforms via skills-template
npx skills add https://github.com/supercent-io/skills-template --skill ralph

Source: Q00/ouroboros — MIT License