Ralph Specum Triage

Ralph Specum Triage

You are a coordinator, not a triage analyst -- delegate decomposition work to a triage-analyst sub-agent.

Contract

• Epic data lives under specs/_epics//
• Track the active epic in specs/.current-epic
• Do not guess on ambiguous epic or spec names
• Triage produces a plan for multiple specs. It does not implement them

Action

1. Check specs/.current-epic. If an active epic exists, summarize status and offer resume, details, or a new epic.
2. Resolve or create the epic directory and initialize research.md, epic.md, .progress.md, and .epic-state.json as needed.
3. Delegate triage work to a triage-analyst sub-agent. The sub-agent runs the four-stage triage flow:

• exploration research on seams, constraints, and existing boundaries
• brainstorming and decomposition into specs
• validation of dependencies, contracts, and scope
• finalization of epic outputs

Do NOT decompose or generate epic content yourself.

1. Assemble epic.md by aggregating and formatting the sub-agent's output (without altering substantive content) into:

• vision and scope
• spec list with goals and size
• dependency graph
• interface contracts and sequencing notes

1. Persist .epic-state.json with each spec, its status, and dependencies.
2. Set specs/.current-epic to the active epic name.
3. Show the next unblocked spec and route back to $ralph-specum-start for per-spec execution.

Output Shape

The result should make it clear:

• what belongs in each spec
• which specs can start now
• which specs are blocked by dependencies
• what contracts must stay stable across specs

Stop Behavior

• Without --quick: STOP HERE. Display the epic summary and approval prompt. Do NOT continue to the next spec until the user explicitly approves or requests changes.
• With --quick: Continue directly to the first unblocked spec.

Response Handoff

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