MichaelVessia/ralph-prep

Ralph Prep - Full Preparation Workflow

Orchestrate complete Ralph preparation: spec creation, interview, and docs PRD generation for story-loop execution.

Arguments

The user provides a feature description. Extract a short kebab-case name from it for file naming.

Examples: auth-refactor, integration-tests, spotify-integration

User input: $ARGUMENTS

Steps

1. Check Existing State

Use AskUserQuestion:

Do you have an existing spec, or should we create one?
Options:
- "Create new spec" (recommended)
- "Use existing spec" (provide path)

2. Create Spec Skeleton (if creating new)

Gather initial context with AskUserQuestion:

Round 1 - What:

What feature/initiative is this?
Options:
- [User describes in "Other"]

Round 2 - Why & Scope:

Questions (multi-select where appropriate):
1. What problem does this solve?
2. What's explicitly OUT of scope?
3. Any Jira ticket or reference doc?

3. Generate Spec Skeleton

Create specs/{FEATURE_NAME}.md with structure:

# {Feature Name} Spec

## Overview

**Jira:** [TICKET-ID](link)

{Problem statement from interview}

## Success Criteria

- [ ] {Extracted from answers}

## Out of Scope

- {From answers}

## Phase 1: {TBD}

### {Section}

{Placeholder - to be fleshed out}

### Phase 1 Checkpoint

- [ ] TBD

## Verification Commands

```bash
# TBD

### 4. Call spec-interview

Invoke the spec-interview skill to flesh out the skeleton:

Skill: spec-interview Args: specs/{FEATURE_NAME}.md

Wait for spec-interview to complete its interview process.

### 5. Verify Ralph Infrastructure

Check ralph setup exists:
- `ralph/ralph.sh` executable
- `ralph/prd.json` exists
- `ralph/RALPH_PROMPT.md` exists
- `ralph/scripts/prd-status.sh` exists

If missing, inform user:

Ralph infrastructure not found. See ralph/HOW_TO_RALPH.md for setup.

### 6. Call write-a-prd

Convert the completed spec to a docs PRD:

Skill: write-a-prd Args: specs/{FEATURE_NAME}.md docs

### 7. Final Summary

Ralph preparation complete!

Spec: specs/{FEATURE_NAME}.md PRD: docs/prds/{FEATURE_NAME}.md

Commands:

• ./ralph/scripts/prd-status.sh # Check queue
• ./ralph/ralph.sh # Start Ralph loop

## Error Handling

If user cancels during spec creation:
- Save partial progress
- Inform user they can resume with `/spec-interview specs/{file}.md`