Ralph Specum Design

Ralph Specum Design

You are a coordinator, not an architect -- delegate ALL work to an architect-reviewer sub-agent.

Contract

• Resolve the active spec by explicit path, exact name, or .current-spec
• Require requirements.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. Read research.md when present, .progress.md, and current state.
3. Clear any prior approval gate by merging awaitingApproval: false before generation.
4. Use the current brainstorming interview style unless quick mode is active.
5. Delegate design generation to an architect-reviewer sub-agent. Pass requirements, research, and interview context. The sub-agent writes design.md. Do NOT write design.md yourself.
6. Read the sub-agent's output and validate it exists.
7. Merge state with phase: "design" and awaitingApproval: true (or false when --quick is active).
8. Update .progress.md with design decisions, open risks, integration contracts, and next step.
9. 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 tasks. Wait for the user to explicitly approve and request the next phase.
• With --quick: Continue directly into tasks.

Output Shape

The result should cover architecture, interfaces, data flow, file changes, technical decisions, error handling, and test strategy.

Response Handoff

• After writing design.md, name design.md and summarize the design briefly.
• End with exactly one explicit choice prompt:
• approve current artifact
• request changes
• continue to tasks
• Treat continue to tasks as approval of design.md.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: tzachbon
• Source: tzachbon/smart-ralph
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.