ralph-loop
Continuous self-referential AI loops for interactive iterative development, implementing the Ralph Wiggum technique. Run Claude in a while-true loop with the same prompt until task completion.
Installation
/plugin marketplace add giginet/claude-plugins-official
/plugin install ralph-loop@claude-plugins-official
claude plugin marketplace add giginet/claude-plugins-official
claude plugin install ralph-loop@claude-plugins-official
Commands
| Name | Description | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cancel-ralph |
Cancel active Ralph Loop | |||||||
Cancel RalphTo cancel the Ralph loop:
|
||||||||
help |
Explain Ralph Loop plugin and available commands | |||||||
Ralph Loop Plugin HelpPlease explain the following to the user: What is Ralph Loop?Ralph Loop implements the Ralph Wiggum technique - an iterative development methodology based on continuous AI loops, pioneered by Geoffrey Huntley. Core concept:
The same prompt is fed to Claude repeatedly. The "self-referential" aspect comes from Claude seeing its own previous work in the files and git history, not from feeding output back as input. Each iteration: 1. Claude receives the SAME prompt 2. Works on the task, modifying files 3. Tries to exit 4. Stop hook intercepts and feeds the same prompt again 5. Claude sees its previous work in the files 6. Iteratively improves until completion The technique is described as "deterministically bad in an undeterministic world" - failures are predictable, enabling systematic improvement through prompt tuning. Available Commands/ralph-loop
|
||||||||
ralph-loop |
Start Ralph Loop in current session | |||||||
Ralph Loop CommandExecute the setup script to initialize the Ralph loop:
Please work on the task. When you try to exit, the Ralph loop will feed the SAME PROMPT back to you for the next iteration. You'll see your previous work in files and git history, allowing you to iterate and improve. CRITICAL RULE: If a completion promise is set, you may ONLY output it when the statement is completely and unequivocally TRUE. Do not output false promises to escape the loop, even if you think you're stuck or should exit for other reasons. The loop is designed to continue until genuine completion. |
||||||||
Hooks
| Event | Matcher | Type |
|---|---|---|
Stop |
command |
README
Ralph Loop Plugin
Implementation of the Ralph Wiggum technique for iterative, self-referential AI development loops in Claude Code.
What is Ralph Loop?
Ralph Loop is a development methodology based on continuous AI agent loops. As Geoffrey Huntley describes it: "Ralph is a Bash loop" - a simple while true that repeatedly feeds an AI agent a prompt file, allowing it to iteratively improve its work until completion.
This technique is inspired by the Ralph Wiggum coding technique (named after the character from The Simpsons), embodying the philosophy of persistent iteration despite setbacks.
Core Concept
This plugin implements Ralph using a Stop hook that intercepts Claude's exit attempts:
# You run ONCE:
/ralph-loop "Your task description" --completion-promise "DONE"
# Then Claude Code automatically:
# 1. Works on the task
# 2. Tries to exit
# 3. Stop hook blocks exit
# 4. Stop hook feeds the SAME prompt back
# 5. Repeat until completion
The loop happens inside your current session - you don't need external bash loops. The Stop hook in hooks/stop-hook.sh creates the self-referential feedback loop by blocking normal session exit.
This creates a self-referential feedback loop where: - The prompt never changes between iterations - Claude's previous work persists in files - Each iteration sees modified files and git history - Claude autonomously improves by reading its own past work in files
Quick Start
/ralph-loop "Build a REST API for todos. Requirements: CRUD operations, input validation, tests. Output <promise>COMPLETE</promise> when done." --completion-promise "COMPLETE" --max-iterations 50
Claude will: - Implement the API iteratively - Run tests and see failures - Fix bugs based on test output - Iterate until all requirements met - Output the completion promise when done
Commands
/ralph-loop
Start a Ralph loop in your current session.
Usage:
/ralph-loop "<prompt>" --max-iterations <n> --completion-promise "<text>"
Options:
- --max-iterations <n> - Stop after N iterations (default: unlimited)
- --completion-promise <text> - Phrase that signals completion
/cancel-ralph
Cancel the active Ralph loop.
Usage:
/cancel-ralph
Prompt Writing Best Practices
1. Clear Completion Criteria
❌ Bad: "Build a todo API and make it good."
✅ Good:
Build a REST API for todos.
When complete:
- All CRUD endpoints working
- Input validation in place
- Tests passing (coverage > 80%)
- README with API docs
- Output: <promise>COMPLETE</promise>
2. Incremental Goals
❌ Bad: "Create a complete e-commerce platform."
✅ Good:
Phase 1: User authentication (JWT, tests)
Phase 2: Product catalog (list/search, tests)
Phase 3: Shopping cart (add/remove, tests)
Output <promise>COMPLETE</promise> when all phases done.
3. Self-Correction
❌ Bad: "Write code for feature X."
✅ Good:
Implement feature X following TDD:
1. Write failing tests
2. Implement feature
3. Run tests
4. If any fail, debug and fix
5. Refactor if needed
6. Repeat until all green
7. Output: <promise>COMPLETE</promise>
4. Escape Hatches
Always use --max-iterations as a safety net to prevent infinite loops on impossible tasks:
# Recommended: Always set a reasonable iteration limit
/ralph-loop "Try to implement feature X" --max-iterations 20
# In your prompt, include what to do if stuck:
# "After 15 iterations, if not complete:
# - Document what's blocking progress
# - List what was attempted
# - Suggest alternative approaches"
Note: The --completion-promise uses exact string matching, so you cannot use it for multiple completion conditions (like "SUCCESS" vs "BLOCKED"). Always rely on --max-iterations as your primary safety mechanism.
Philosophy
Ralph embodies several key principles:
1. Iteration > Perfection
Don't aim for perfect on first try. Let the loop refine the work.
2. Failures Are Data
"Deterministically bad" means failures are predictable and informative. Use them to tune prompts.
3. Operator Skill Matters
Success depends on writing good prompts, not just having a good model.
4. Persistence Wins
Keep trying until success. The loop handles retry logic automatically.
When to Use Ralph
Good for: - Well-defined tasks with clear success criteria - Tasks requiring iteration and refinement (e.g., getting tests to pass) - Greenfield projects where you can walk away - Tasks with automatic verification (tests, linters)
Not good for: - Tasks requiring human judgment or design decisions - One-shot operations - Tasks with unclear success criteria - Production debugging (use targeted debugging instead)
Real-World Results
- Successfully generated 6 repositories overnight in Y Combinator hackathon testing
- One $50k contract completed for $297 in API costs
- Created entire programming language ("cursed") over 3 months using this approach
Windows Compatibility
The stop hook uses a bash script that requires Git for Windows to run properly.
Issue: On Windows, the bash command may resolve to WSL bash (often misconfigured) instead of Git Bash, causing the hook to fail with errors like:
- wsl: Unknown key 'automount.crossDistro'
- execvpe(/bin/bash) failed: No such file or directory
Workaround: Edit the cached plugin's hooks/hooks.json to use Git Bash explicitly:
"command": "\"C:/Program Files/Git/bin/bash.exe\" ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/stop-hook.sh"
Location: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/claude-plugins-official/ralph-wiggum/<hash>/hooks/hooks.json
Note: Use Git/bin/bash.exe (the wrapper with proper PATH), not Git/usr/bin/bash.exe (raw MinGW bash without utilities in PATH).
Learn More
- Original technique: https://ghuntley.com/ralph/
- Ralph Orchestrator: https://github.com/mikeyobrien/ralph-orchestrator
For Help
Run /help in Claude Code for detailed command reference and examples.
License
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
http://www.apache.org/licenses/
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
1. Definitions.
"License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
"Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
the copyright owner that is granting the License.
"Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
"control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
"You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
exercising permissions granted by this License.
"Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
including but not limited to software source code, documentation
source, and configuration files.
"Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
and conversions to other media types.
"Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
(an example is provided in the Appendix below).
"Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
"Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
"Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
subsequently incorporated within the Work.
2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
(except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
as of the date such litigation is filed.
4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
meet the following conditions:
(a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
(b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that You changed the files; and
(c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
the Derivative Works; and
(d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
as modifying the License.
You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
the conditions stated in this License.
5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
the brackets!) The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
identification within third-party archives.
Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
claude-plugins-official