/iterate - Ralph Iterate Pattern (v3.0)

Execute tasks iteratively with automatic quality validation until VERIFIED_DONE signal.

v2.88 Key Changes (MODEL-AGNOSTIC)

• Model-agnostic: Uses model configured in ~/.claude/settings.json or CLI/env vars
• No flags required: Iterations use the configured default model
• Flexible: Works with GLM-5, Claude, Minimax, or any configured model
• Settings-driven: Model selection via ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_*_MODEL env vars

v2.87 Key Changes (UNIFIED SKILLS MODEL)

• Skills/Commands unification: All commands now use SKILL.md format
• Single source of truth: Skills live in repo, symlinked globally
• Version alignment: All skills updated to v2.87.0
• Documentation consolidated: Architecture docs in docs/architecture/

Overview

The Ralph Loop is a continuous execution pattern that iterates through EXECUTE -> VALIDATE -> QUALITY CHECK cycles until the task passes all quality gates or reaches the iteration limit.

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    RALPH LOOP PATTERN                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                   |
|   +----------+    +--------------+    +-----------------+         |
|   | EXECUTE  |--->|   VALIDATE   |--->| Quality Passed? |         |
|   |   Task   |    | (hooks/gates)|    +--------+--------+         |
|   +----------+    +--------------+             |                  |
|                                          NO <--+--> YES           |
|                                           |         |             |
|                          +----------------+         |             |
|                          v                          v             |
|                   +------------+          +---------------+       |
|                   |  ITERATE   |          | VERIFIED_DONE |       |
|                   | (max 15/30)|          |   (output)    |       |
|                   +-----+------+          +---------------+       |
|                         |                                         |
|                         +----------> Back to EXECUTE              |
|                                                                   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

When to Use

Use /iterate when:

1. Iterative refinement needed - Code requires multiple passes to meet quality standards
2. Quality gates must pass - TypeScript, ESLint, tests, linting must all pass
3. Automated validation - Let the loop handle retries automatically
4. Complex implementations - Multi-file changes that need coordination
5. Research tasks - Gathering information until complete

DO NOT use for:

• Simple one-shot tasks (use direct claude call)
• Tasks already in orchestration flow (redundant)
• Spec refinement workflows (use /adversarial)

Iteration Limits

Model Selection

Default Mode (Claude)

ralph iterate "implement OAuth2 authentication"

Uses Claude Sonnet with 15 iteration limit:

• Best for: Complex features, security-critical code, architectural changes
• Cost: Standard Claude pricing
• Quality: 85%+ SWE-bench accuracy

GLM-5 Mode (--with-glm5 flag)

ralph iterate "implement OAuth2 authentication" --with-glm5

Uses GLM-5 with 30 iteration limit:

• Best for: Standard features, refactoring, testing, documentation
• Cost: ~10% of Claude cost
• Quality: 80%+ SWE-bench accuracy

MiniMax Mode (--mmc flag)

ralph iterate --mmc "implement OAuth2 authentication"

Uses MiniMax M2.1 with 30 iteration limit:

• Best for: Non-critical features, exploratory research
• Cost: ~8% of Claude cost
• Quality: 74% SWE-bench accuracy

CLI Execution

# Claude mode (15 iterations)
ralph iterate "implement user authentication with JWT"

# GLM-5 mode (30 iterations)
ralph iterate "refactor database queries" --with-glm5

# MiniMax mode (30 iterations)
ralph iterate --mmc "refactor database queries to use TypeORM"

# Complex task with specific requirements
ralph iterate "add rate limiting to API endpoints with Redis"

Task Tool Invocation (Swarm Mode)

IMPORTANT: /iterate uses swarm mode by default with full multi-agent coordination.

Task:
  subagent_type: "general-purpose"
  model: "sonnet"
  run_in_background: true
  max_iterations: 15
  description: "Loop execution with swarm mode"
  team_name: "iterate-execution-team"
  name: "iterate-lead"
  mode: "delegate"
  prompt: |
    Execute the following task iteratively until VERIFIED_DONE:

    Task: $ARGUMENTS

    Ralph Loop pattern:
    1. EXECUTE - Implement the task
    2. VALIDATE - Run quality gates (tsc, eslint, tests)
    3. CHECK - Did all gates pass?
       - YES -> VERIFIED_DONE
       - NO -> ITERATE (max 15)

    Output: Final implementation + quality report

Agent Teams Integration (v2.88)

Optimal Scenario: Integrated (Agent Teams + Custom Subagents)

This skill uses the INTEGRATED approach combining Agent Teams coordination with Custom Subagent specialization.

Why Scenario C for This Skill

• Iterative execution requires tight coordination between implementation and validation phases
• Quality gates (TeammateIdle, TaskCompleted) are essential for VERIFIED_DONE guarantee on each iteration
• Specialized ralph-coder agents for implementation, ralph-tester for validation
• Shared task list tracks iteration progress and blockers
• Multi-phase iteration (EXECUTE -> VALIDATE -> CHECK) benefits from team coordination

Configuration

1. TeamCreate: Create team "iterate-{task-hash}" on iterate invocation
2. TaskCreate: Create iteration tasks for each iterate cycle
3. Spawn: Use ralph-coder for implementation, ralph-tester for validation
4. Hooks: TeammateIdle + TaskCompleted for quality validation on each iteration
5. Coordination: Shared task list at ~/.claude/tasks/{team}/

Workflow Pattern

TeamCreate(team_name, description)
  → TaskCreate(iteration_n, "Implement iteration {n}")
  → Task(subagent_type="ralph-coder", team_name) for implementation
  → Task(subagent_type="ralph-tester", team_name) for validation
  → TaskUpdate(status="completed") when iteration passes gates
  → Hooks validate quality before marking complete
  → VERIFIED_DONE when all iterations pass

Team Creation Pattern

When /iterate is invoked, it automatically creates a dedicated team for the iteration:

# Automatic team creation
TeamCreate(
  team_name: "iterate-{task-hash}",
  description: "Iterative execution: {task}"
)

# Spawn implementation teammate
Task(
  subagent_type: "ralph-coder",
  team_name: "iterate-{task-hash}"
)

# Spawn validation teammate
Task(
  subagent_type: "ralph-tester",
  team_name: "iterate-{task-hash}"
)

Iteration Execution Flow

Each iteration follows this pattern:

1. Phase 1: Implementation

   • Spawn ralph-coder teammate
   • Execute task implementation
   • Teammate reports progress via TaskUpdate

2. Phase 2: Validation

   • Spawn ralph-tester teammate
   • Run quality gates
   • Collect validation results

3. Phase 3: Hook Verification

   • TeammateIdle hook triggers quality checks
   • task-completed-quality-gate.sh validates before completion
   • Exit 2 from hook = keep working with feedback
   • Exit 0 = proceed to next phase

4. Phase 4: Decision

   • All gates pass → VERIFIED_DONE
   • Any gate fails → Iterate (max 15/30)

Hook Integration Points

Team Composition

When /iterate is invoked, it automatically spawns:

Total: 3 agents working in parallel (1 leader + 2 teammates)

Task Coordination

# Leader creates iteration task
TaskCreate(
  subject: "Implement iteration {n}",
  description: "{task requirements}",
  activeForm: "Implementing iteration {n}"
)

# Assign to coder
TaskUpdate(
  taskId: "{id}",
  owner: "ralph-coder",
  status: "in_progress"
)

# Coder completes work
TaskUpdate(
  taskId: "{id}",
  status: "completed"
)

# Leader validates, then marks VERIFIED_DONE or iterates

VERIFIED_DONE Guarantee

The Agent Teams system ensures VERIFIED_DONE through:

1. TeammateIdle Hook: Validates work quality before any teammate goes idle
2. TaskCompleted Hook: Final validation gate before task completion
3. Exit 2 Feedback: Hooks return exit 2 to request fixes with specific feedback
4. Task Coordination: TaskUpdate system tracks progress and blockers

This creates a quality feedback loop that prevents completion until all standards are met.

Output Location

# Logs saved to ~/.ralph/logs/
ls ~/.ralph/logs/iterate-*.log

# View last iterate execution
tail -f ~/.ralph/logs/iterate-latest.log

Pattern Details

Loop Structure

iteration=0
max_iterations=15  # or 30 for GLM-5/MiniMax

while [[ $iteration -lt $max_iterations ]]; do
    # Step 1: EXECUTE
    implement_task

    # Step 2: VALIDATE
    run_quality_gates  # tsc, eslint, tests, semgrep

    # Step 3: CHECK
    if all_gates_passed; then
        echo "VERIFIED_DONE"
        exit 0
    fi

    # Step 4: ITERATE
    ((iteration++))
    analyze_failures
    apply_fixes
done

# Max iterations reached without VERIFIED_DONE
exit 1

Quality Gates Integration

Each iteration runs quality gates:

1. TypeScript: tsc --noEmit
2. ESLint: eslint .
3. Tests: npm test or pytest
4. Security: semgrep --config=auto
5. Custom: Project-specific gates

Stop Hook Integration

The loop integrates with the Stop hook:

# Initialize state
.claude/scripts/ralph-state.sh init "$SESSION_ID" iterate "$TASK"

# On VERIFIED_DONE
.claude/scripts/ralph-state.sh complete "$SESSION_ID" iterate

# On failure
.claude/scripts/ralph-state.sh fail "$SESSION_ID" iterate "$ERROR"

Anti-Patterns

• Never use infinite loops (always set max_iterations)
• Never skip quality gates (defeats the purpose)
• Never use for one-shot tasks (use direct execution)
• Never nest loops (causes exponential iterations)

Completion Criteria

VERIFIED_DONE requires ALL:

1. All quality gates passed
2. No TypeScript errors
3. No ESLint errors
4. Tests passing
5. Security scan clean (no P0/P1 findings)
6. Parallel execution used for independent work (Agent Teams for complexity >= 3)
7. At least 2 teammates spawned when task involves code + tests

Autoresearch Delegation (v2.95)

When /iterate detects a metric-based optimization task, it can delegate to /autoresearch for continuous autonomous experimentation instead of running its own quality-gate loop.

Detection Criteria

A task is a candidate for autoresearch delegation when it contains:

1. A measurable metric (bundle size, latency, accuracy, memory usage, score, etc.)
2. An eval command that produces a numeric result (npm run build, pytest --benchmark, time ./run.sh)

Delegation Pattern

How It Works

User: /iterate "reduce bundle size by 30%"

/iterate detects:
  - metric: "bundle size"
  - eval: inferred from package.json -> "npm run build"
  - target: src/

/iterate delegates:
  /autoresearch src/ "npm run build" --checkpoint=5

The delegation happens at the start of the loop, before the first iteration. If the task does not match the metric-detection heuristic, /iterate proceeds with its standard EXECUTE -> VALIDATE -> QUALITY CHECK cycle.

Clear Distinction

When NOT to Delegate

• Task has no measurable metric (pure correctness fix)
• Task is part of an /orchestrator pipeline (orchestrator manages flow)
• User explicitly requests /iterate behavior with --no-delegate flag

Related Skills

• /orchestrator - Full orchestration workflow
• /gates - Quality validation gates
• /autoresearch - Autonomous metric-driven experimentation
• /adversarial - Spec refinement
• /parallel - Parallel subagent execution
• /retrospective - Post-task analysis

Action Reporting (v2.93.0)

Esta skill genera reportes automáticos completos para trazabilidad:

Reporte Automático

Cuando esta skill completa, se genera automáticamente:

1. En la conversación de Claude: Resultados visibles
2. En el repositorio: docs/actions/iterate/{timestamp}.md
3. Metadatos JSON: .claude/metadata/actions/iterate/{timestamp}.json

Contenido del Reporte

Cada reporte incluye:

• ✅ Summary: Descripción de la tarea ejecutada
• ✅ Execution Details: Duración, iteraciones, archivos modificados
• ✅ Results: Errores encontrados, recomendaciones
• ✅ Next Steps: Próximas acciones sugeridas

Ver Reportes Anteriores

# Listar todos los reportes de esta skill
ls -lt docs/actions/iterate/

# Ver el reporte más reciente
cat $(ls -t docs/actions/iterate/*.md | head -1)

# Buscar reportes fallidos
grep -l "Status: FAILED" docs/actions/iterate/*.md

Generación Manual (Opcional)

source .claude/lib/action-report-lib.sh
start_action_report "iterate" "Task description"
# ... ejecución ...
complete_action_report "success" "Summary" "Recommendations"

Referencias del Sistema

• Action Reports System - Documentación completa

• action-report-lib.sh - Librería helper

• action-report-generator.sh - Generador

• Unified Architecture v2.88

• Skills/Commands Unification

• Claude Code Skills Documentation

Anti-Rationalization

See master table: docs/reference/anti-rationalization.md