Ralph Skill Review Loop

Overview

A meta-skill that uses the Ralph Wiggum technique to review and improve the Ralph Wiggum prompt generator skills themselves. Runs a continuous improvement loop until skills pass review twice consecutively with no recommendations.

Quick Start

Copy and run this prompt in a Ralph loop:

/ralph-wiggum:ralph-loop "[paste prompt below]" --completion-promise "RALPH_SKILLS_PERFECTED" --max-iterations 100

---

THE SELF-IMPROVING REVIEW LOOP PROMPT

# Task: Self-Improving Review of Ralph Wiggum Skills

## Objective
Review and improve the Ralph Wiggum prompt generator skills until they pass two consecutive reviews with zero improvement recommendations.

## Target Skills
1. ralph-prompt-builder (Master orchestrator)
2. ralph-prompt-single-task (Single task generator)
3. ralph-prompt-multi-task (Multi-task generator)
4. ralph-prompt-project (Project generator)
5. ralph-prompt-research (Research generator)

Location: .claude/skills/ralph-prompt-*/SKILL.md

## Reference Materials
- RALPH-WIGGUM-TECHNIQUE-COMPREHENSIVE-RESEARCH.md (12,000+ words of best practices)
- skill-builder-package/research/ (skill building best practices)
- skill-builder-package/examples/ (production skill patterns)

---

## STATE MANAGEMENT

### Required State Files
Create these files to track progress:

**RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json**:
```json
{
  "current_iteration": 1,
  "consecutive_clean_reviews": 0,
  "skills_reviewed": [],
  "improvements_made": [],
  "last_review_timestamp": "",
  "status": "IN_PROGRESS"
}

RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md:

# Ralph Skills Review Log

## Iteration History
[Append each iteration's findings here]

---

STEP 1: ORIENTATION (Every Iteration)

Read current state:

cat RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json
cat RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md | tail -50
git log --oneline -5
ls -la .claude/skills/ralph-prompt-*/

Check: How many consecutive clean reviews do we have?

• If 2 or more: Output <promise>RALPH_SKILLS_PERFECTED</promise>
• If less than 2: Continue to Step 2

---

STEP 2: COMPREHENSIVE SKILL REVIEW

Review Framework

For EACH skill in ralph-prompt-*, evaluate against:

2.1 Ralph Technique Alignment (from research)

• Clear completion criteria defined
• Includes self-verification commands
• Has TDD/iteration approach
• Includes "If Stuck" guidance
• Uses <promise> completion tags correctly
• Recommends appropriate max-iterations
• Follows "deterministically bad" philosophy (failures are fixable)

2.2 Skill Structure Quality

• YAML frontmatter complete (name, description with triggers)
• Progressive disclosure (overview → details → examples)
• Quick Start section exists and is actionable
• Examples are realistic and complete
• Best practices section included
• Integration with Ralph loop documented

2.3 Content Completeness

• All sections properly filled (no placeholders)
• Examples match the skill type
• Verification commands are real and runnable
• Edge cases addressed
• Cross-references to related skills

2.4 Prompt Template Quality

• Templates follow research best practices
• Success criteria are measurable
• Phase structure is clear (for multi-phase)
• State tracking included
• Progress tracking pattern included

Review Process

For each skill:

1. Read the SKILL.md file completely
2. Compare against RALPH-WIGGUM-TECHNIQUE-COMPREHENSIVE-RESEARCH.md
3. Check against all 16 criteria above
4. Document findings in REVIEW_FINDINGS.md

Review Output Format

Create/update REVIEW_FINDINGS.md:

# Review Findings - Iteration [N]

## Summary
- Skills reviewed: [count]
- Total issues found: [count]
- Critical issues: [count]
- Improvements needed: [count]

## ralph-prompt-builder
### Passing
- [x] Criterion that passes

### Issues Found
- [ ] [CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] Issue description
  - Location: [section/line]
  - Current: [what exists]
  - Should be: [what it should be]
  - Fix: [specific fix]

## ralph-prompt-single-task
[... same format]

## ralph-prompt-multi-task
[... same format]

## ralph-prompt-project
[... same format]

## ralph-prompt-research
[... same format]

## Recommendations Summary
### Must Fix (Critical/High)
1. [Recommendation 1]
2. [Recommendation 2]

### Should Fix (Medium)
1. [Recommendation 3]

### Nice to Have (Low)
1. [Recommendation 4]

## Review Result
- [ ] CLEAN (zero recommendations)
- [ ] NEEDS_WORK (has recommendations)

---

STEP 3: IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

If REVIEW_FINDINGS.md shows NEEDS_WORK:

3.1 Prioritize Fixes

Work in this order:

1. Critical issues (breaks functionality)
2. High issues (significantly impacts quality)
3. Medium issues (improves quality)
4. Low issues (polish)

3.2 Implement Each Fix

For each recommendation:

1. Read the target skill file
2. Implement the specific fix
3. Verify the fix addresses the issue
4. Commit the change:

git add .claude/skills/ralph-prompt-[name]/SKILL.md
git commit -m "Improve ralph-prompt-[name]: [brief description]

- [Change 1]
- [Change 2]

Part of Ralph skills self-improvement loop iteration [N]"

3.3 Track Improvements

Update RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json:

{
  "improvements_made": [
    {
      "iteration": N,
      "skill": "ralph-prompt-X",
      "issue": "description",
      "fix": "what was done"
    }
  ]
}

---

STEP 4: POST-IMPROVEMENT VERIFICATION

After implementing fixes:

4.1 Verify Each Skill Still Works

For each modified skill:

• YAML frontmatter is valid
• All sections render correctly
• Examples are syntactically correct
• No broken references

4.2 Check for Regressions

• No content accidentally deleted
• Cross-references still valid
• Templates still complete

4.3 Run Syntax Check

# Verify YAML frontmatter
for f in .claude/skills/ralph-prompt-*/SKILL.md; do
  head -20 "$f" | grep -E "^(name:|description:)"
done

---

STEP 5: UPDATE STATE

Update RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json:

If review was CLEAN (zero recommendations):

{
  "consecutive_clean_reviews": [previous + 1],
  "last_review_result": "CLEAN",
  "last_review_timestamp": "[timestamp]"
}

If review was NEEDS_WORK:

{
  "consecutive_clean_reviews": 0,
  "last_review_result": "NEEDS_WORK",
  "improvements_this_iteration": [count],
  "last_review_timestamp": "[timestamp]"
}

Update RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md:

## Iteration [N] - [timestamp]

### Review Result
[CLEAN/NEEDS_WORK]

### Issues Found
- [Issue 1]
- [Issue 2]

### Fixes Applied
- [Fix 1]
- [Fix 2]

### State After
- Consecutive clean reviews: [N]
- Total improvements to date: [N]

---

STEP 6: LOOP DECISION

Check Termination Condition

Read RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json:

cat RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json | jq '.consecutive_clean_reviews'

If consecutive_clean_reviews >= 2:

Skills have passed two consecutive reviews with zero recommendations.

Create RALPH_SKILLS_VALIDATION_COMPLETE.md:

# Ralph Skills Validation Complete

## Summary
- Total iterations: [N]
- Total improvements made: [count]
- Final state: All skills validated

## Skills Validated
1. ralph-prompt-builder - PASSED
2. ralph-prompt-single-task - PASSED
3. ralph-prompt-multi-task - PASSED
4. ralph-prompt-project - PASSED
5. ralph-prompt-research - PASSED

## Validation Criteria Met
All 16 review criteria passing for all 5 skills.

## Timestamp
[ISO timestamp]

Output: <promise>RALPH_SKILLS_PERFECTED</promise>

If consecutive_clean_reviews < 2:

Continue to next iteration (loop back to STEP 1)

---

REVIEW CRITERIA REFERENCE (Quick Check)

Ralph Technique Alignment

1. Clear completion criteria
2. Self-verification commands
3. TDD/iteration approach
4. "If Stuck" guidance
5. <promise> tags used correctly
6. Appropriate max-iterations recommendations
7. Deterministically bad philosophy

Skill Structure Quality

8. Complete YAML frontmatter
9. Progressive disclosure
10. Actionable Quick Start
11. Realistic examples
12. Best practices section
13. Ralph loop integration docs

Content Completeness

14. No placeholders
15. Matching examples
16. Real verification commands

---

ESCAPE HATCH

If stuck after 50 iterations without reaching 2 consecutive clean reviews:

1. Document the recurring issues in RALPH_REVIEW_BLOCKERS.md
2. List which criteria keep failing
3. Identify if criteria are too strict
4. Output: <promise>RALPH_REVIEW_BLOCKED</promise>

---

PROGRESS TRACKING

Every 5 iterations, summarize:

PROGRESS SUMMARY - Iteration [N]
================================
Started: [timestamp]
Current: [timestamp]
Consecutive clean reviews: [N]/2

Skills Status:
- ralph-prompt-builder: [X/16 criteria passing]
- ralph-prompt-single-task: [X/16 criteria passing]
- ralph-prompt-multi-task: [X/16 criteria passing]
- ralph-prompt-project: [X/16 criteria passing]
- ralph-prompt-research: [X/16 criteria passing]

Improvements made: [total count]
Remaining issues: [count]

---

COMPLETION CONDITIONS

Output <promise>RALPH_SKILLS_PERFECTED</promise> ONLY when:

• All 5 skills reviewed
• All 16 criteria checked per skill
• Zero recommendations in current review
• Zero recommendations in previous review
• consecutive_clean_reviews >= 2 in state file
• RALPH_SKILLS_VALIDATION_COMPLETE.md created
• All changes committed

---

SAFETY LIMITS

• Maximum iterations: 100
• Expected completion: 20-40 iterations
• Budget alert: If > 50 iterations, evaluate if criteria are too strict

---

## Usage Instructions

### 1. Initialize State Files

Before running, create the initial state:

```bash
# Create state file
cat > RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json << 'EOF'
{
  "current_iteration": 0,
  "consecutive_clean_reviews": 0,
  "skills_reviewed": [],
  "improvements_made": [],
  "last_review_timestamp": "",
  "status": "NOT_STARTED"
}
EOF

# Create log file
cat > RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md << 'EOF'
# Ralph Skills Review Log

## Overview
Self-improving review loop for Ralph Wiggum prompt generator skills.

## Target: Two consecutive clean reviews

---

## Iteration History

EOF

2. Run the Loop

/ralph-wiggum:ralph-loop "[THE PROMPT ABOVE]" \
  --completion-promise "RALPH_SKILLS_PERFECTED" \
  --max-iterations 100

3. Monitor Progress

# Check current state
cat RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json | jq '.'

# See recent activity
tail -30 RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md

# Check how many clean reviews
cat RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json | jq '.consecutive_clean_reviews'

4. After Completion

Review the outputs:

• RALPH_REVIEW_STATE.json

  - Final state

• RALPH_REVIEW_LOG.md

  - Complete history

• REVIEW_FINDINGS.md

  - Last review details

• RALPH_SKILLS_VALIDATION_COMPLETE.md

  - Success certificate
• Git log - All improvements committed

---

Why This Works

1. State Tracking: JSON state file persists across iterations
2. Clear Criteria: 16 specific, measurable review criteria
3. Self-Correction: Each iteration reads previous results and fixes issues
4. Termination Condition: Two consecutive clean reviews ensures stability
5. Evidence-Based: All findings documented, all fixes tracked
6. Git Integration: Every improvement committed for auditability

---

Expected Behavior

Iteration 1-5: Discovery phase

• Identify initial issues across all skills
• Begin fixing critical issues

Iteration 6-15: Improvement phase

• Systematic fixes
• Quality improvements
• Cross-consistency

Iteration 16-25: Stabilization phase

• Fewer issues found
• Polish and edge cases
• Approaching clean reviews

Iteration 26-40: Validation phase

• First clean review achieved
• Verify no regressions
• Second clean review achieved
• Completion

---

Customization

Stricter Review

Add more criteria to the review framework.

Faster Completion

Reduce to "one clean review" by changing:

consecutive_clean_reviews >= 1

Focus on Specific Skills

Modify the target skills list in the prompt.