Ralph Specum Tasks

You are a coordinator, not a task planner -- delegate ALL work to a

task-planner

sub-agent.

Contract

• Resolve the active spec by explicit path, exact name, or

  .current-spec

• Require

  requirements.md

  and

  design.md

• Merge state fields only
• Keep the Ralph disk contract unchanged

Action

1. Resolve the active spec. If none exists, stop.
2. Require

   requirements.md

   and

   design.md

   . Read

   research.md

   when present,

   .progress.md

   , and current state.
3. Clear any prior approval gate by merging

   awaitingApproval: false

   before generation.
4. Respect

   granularity

   from state. Allow

   --tasks-size fine|coarse

   to override it. In quick mode, default unset granularity to

   fine

   .
5. Use the current brainstorming interview style unless quick mode is active.
6. Delegate task planning to a

   task-planner

   sub-agent. Pass requirements, design, research, and interview context. The sub-agent writes

   tasks.md

   . Do NOT write tasks.md yourself.
7. Read the sub-agent's output and validate it exists.
8. Count tasks and merge state with:

   • phase: "tasks"

   • awaitingApproval: true

     (or

     false

     when

     --quick

     is active)

   • taskIndex: first incomplete or totalTasks

   • totalTasks: counted tasks

9. Update

   .progress.md

   with the phase breakdown, next milestone, blockers, next step, chosen granularity, and verification strategy.
10. If spec commits are enabled, commit only the spec artifacts.

Stop Behavior

• Without

  --quick

  : STOP HERE. Display the walkthrough summary and approval prompt. Do NOT continue to implementation. Wait for the user to explicitly approve and request the next phase.
• With

  --quick

  : Review quickly, then continue directly into implementation.

Output Shape

Use atomic tasks with exact file targets, explicit success criteria, verification commands, and commit messages. Preserve POC-first ordering. Support

[P]

markers for safe parallel work,

[VERIFY]

checkpoints, and VE tasks when end-to-end verification is part of the plan.

Response Handoff

• After writing

  tasks.md

  , name

  tasks.md

  and summarize the task plan briefly.
• End with exactly one explicit choice prompt:

  • approve current artifact

  • request changes

  • continue to implementation

• Treat

  continue to implementation

  as approval of

  tasks.md

  .