PRD Check

Run PRD validation on demand to check story quality, test coverage, and structure before starting the autonomous loop. Cross-references against learned lessons and past failure patterns.

Instructions

When the user runs

/prd-check

, validate their PRD file.

Step 1: Check PRD Exists

ls -la .ralph/prd.json 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_FOUND"

If no PRD exists, tell the user:

No PRD found at

.ralph/prd.json

. Generate one first with

/prd

.

STOP if no PRD found.

Step 2: Load Project Knowledge

Read the project's accumulated knowledge:

1. Read lessons:

   cat .ralph/lessons.json 2>/dev/null
   

2. Read suggested lessons (last 50 lines — file can be huge):

   tail -50 .ralph/suggested-lessons.txt 2>/dev/null
   

3. Read recent progress for failure patterns:

   tail -100 .ralph/progress.txt 2>/dev/null
   

Step 3: Run Structural Validation (dry-run)

npx ralph prd-check --dry-run 2>&1

Present any structural issues found.

Step 4: Cross-Reference Against Lessons

Read

.ralph/prd.json

and for each story, check if any lesson applies:

• Backend lessons → check against backend stories
• Frontend lessons → check against frontend stories
• General lessons → check against all stories

For each applicable lesson, verify the story's

acceptanceCriteria

,

constraints

,

notes

, or

testSteps

reflect the pattern. Flag stories that should account for a lesson but don't.

Examples:

• Lesson: "Always use bcrypt cost 10+ for passwords" → Flag auth stories missing bcrypt in acceptanceCriteria
• Lesson: "Use date-fns instead of moment.js" → Flag frontend stories that create date utilities without this constraint
• Lesson: "Add data-testid for Playwright selectors" → Flag frontend stories missing this in constraints

Step 5: Check Against Suggested Learnings

Scan

suggested-lessons.txt

for patterns relevant to the current PRD's feature area. Flag any recurring failure patterns that the PRD's stories don't address.

Step 6: Present Results

Summarize all findings in categories:

Structural Issues (from prd-check):

• [list]

Lesson Conflicts (stories that don't account for known patterns):

• TASK-003: Missing lesson "bcrypt cost 10+" in auth story
• TASK-005: Missing lesson "data-testid attributes" in frontend story

Suggested Improvements (from past learnings):

• [relevant patterns from suggested-lessons.txt]

Ask: "Would you like me to fix these issues in the PRD?"

STOP and wait for user response.

If yes, update

.ralph/prd.json

:

• Add missing lesson patterns to relevant story

  constraints

  or

  acceptanceCriteria

• Fix structural issues per PRD best practices
• Write the fixed file back

Notes

• This is the same structural validation that runs automatically at

  ralph run

  startup

• --dry-run

  skips auto-fix so you have control over what changes
• Custom checks in

  .ralph/checks/prd/

  are also evaluated
• Lessons cross-referencing catches patterns that structural validation can't
• Run this before

  ralph run

  to catch and fix issues interactively