ralph (Ouroboros) — Specification-First AI Development

Stop prompting. Start specifying.

"The beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning." The serpent doesn't repeat — it evolves.

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When to use this skill

• Before writing any code — expose hidden assumptions with Socratic interviewing
• Long-running tasks that need autonomous iteration until verified
• Vague requirements — crystallize them into an immutable spec (Ambiguity ≤ 0.2)
• Tasks requiring guaranteed completion — loop until verification passes
• When stuck — 5 lateral thinking personas break through stagnation
• Drift detection — measure how far execution has deviated from original spec

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Core Architecture: The Loop

    Interview → Seed → Execute → Evaluate
        ↑                           ↓
        └──── Evolutionary Loop ────┘

Each cycle evolves, not repeats. Evaluation output feeds back as input for the next generation until the system converges.

Double Diamond

    ◇ Wonder          ◇ Design
   ╱  (diverge)      ╱  (diverge)
  ╱    explore      ╱    create
 ╱                 ╱
◆ ──────────── ◆ ──────────── ◆
 ╲                 ╲
  ╲    define       ╲    deliver
   ╲  (converge)     ╲  (converge)
    ◇ Ontology        ◇ Evaluation

The first diamond is Socratic: diverge into questions, converge into ontological clarity. The second diamond is pragmatic: diverge into design options, converge into verified delivery.

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1. Commands (Full Reference)

Command	Trigger Keywords	What It Does
ooo interview	ooo interview, interview me, clarify requirements, socratic questioning	Socratic questioning → expose hidden assumptions
ooo seed	ooo seed, crystallize, generate seed, freeze requirements	Crystallize interview into immutable spec (Ambiguity ≤ 0.2)
ooo run	ooo run, execute seed, ouroboros run	Execute via Double Diamond decomposition
ooo evaluate	ooo evaluate, 3-stage check, evaluate this, verify execution	3-stage gate: Mechanical → Semantic → Multi-Model Consensus
ooo evolve	ooo evolve, evolutionary loop, iterate until converged	Evolutionary loop until ontology converges (similarity ≥ 0.95)
ooo unstuck	ooo unstuck, I'm stuck, think sideways, lateral thinking	5 lateral thinking personas when stuck
ooo status	ooo status, am I drifting?, drift check, session status	Drift detection + session tracking
ooo ralph	ooo ralph, ralph, don't stop, must complete, keep going	Persistent loop until verified — The boulder never stops
ooo setup	ooo setup	Register MCP server (one-time)
ooo help	ooo help	Full reference

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2. Interview → Specification Flow

Philosophy: From Wonder to Ontology

Wonder → "How should I live?" → "What IS 'live'?" → Ontology — Socrates

   Wonder                          Ontology
     💡                               🔬
"What do I want?"    →    "What IS the thing I want?"
"Build a task CLI"   →    "What IS a task? What IS priority?"
"Fix the auth bug"   →    "Is this the root cause, or a symptom?"

Step 1: Interview (expose hidden assumptions)

ooo interview "I want to build a task management CLI"

The Socratic Interviewer asks questions until Ambiguity ≤ 0.2.

Ambiguity formula:

Ambiguity = 1 − Σ(clarityᵢ × weightᵢ)

Greenfield: Goal(40%) + Constraint(30%) + Success(30%)
Brownfield: Goal(35%) + Constraint(25%) + Success(25%) + Context(15%)

Threshold: Ambiguity ≤ 0.2 → ready for Seed

Example scoring:

Goal:       0.9 × 0.4 = 0.36
Constraint: 0.8 × 0.3 = 0.24
Success:    0.7 × 0.3 = 0.21
                        ──────
Clarity             = 0.81
Ambiguity = 1 − 0.81 = 0.19 ≤ 0.2 → ✓ Ready for Seed

Step 2: Seed (crystallize into immutable spec)

ooo seed

Generates YAML specification:

goal: Build a CLI task management tool
constraints:
  - Python 3.14+
  - No external database
  - SQLite for persistence
acceptance_criteria:
  - Tasks can be created
  - Tasks can be listed
  - Tasks can be marked complete
ontology_schema:
  name: TaskManager
  fields:
    - name: tasks
      type: array
    - name: title
      type: string

Step 3: Run (execute via Double Diamond)

ooo run seed.yaml
ooo run  # uses seed from conversation context

Step 4: Evaluate (3-stage verification)

ooo evaluate <session_id>

Stage	Cost	What It Checks
Mechanical	$0	Lint, build, tests, coverage
Semantic	Standard	AC compliance, goal alignment, drift score
Consensus	Frontier (optional)	Multi-model vote, majority ratio

Drift thresholds:

• 0.0 – 0.15 — Excellent: on track
• 0.15 – 0.30 — Acceptable: monitor closely
• 0.30+ — Exceeded: course correction needed

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3. Ralph — Persistent Loop Until Verified

ooo ralph "fix all failing tests"
/ouroboros:ralph "fix all failing tests"

"The boulder never stops." Each failure is data for the next attempt. Only complete success or max iterations stops it.

How Ralph Works

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. EXECUTE (parallel)          │
│     Independent tasks           │
│     concurrent scheduling       │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  2. VERIFY                      │
│     Check completion            │
│     Validate tests pass         │
│     Measure drift vs seed       │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  3. LOOP (if failed)            │
│     Analyze failure             │
│     Fix identified issues       │
│     Repeat from step 1          │
├─────────────────────────────────┤
│  4. PERSIST (checkpoint)        │
│     .omc/state/ralph-state.json │
│     Resume after interruption   │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

State File

Create .omc/state/ralph-state.json on start:

{
  "mode": "ralph",
  "session_id": "<uuid>",
  "request": "<user request>",
  "status": "running",
  "iteration": 0,
  "max_iterations": 10,
  "last_checkpoint": null,
  "verification_history": []
}

Loop Logic

while iteration < max_iterations:
    result = execute_parallel(request, context)
    verification = verify_result(result, acceptance_criteria)
    state.verification_history.append({
        "iteration": iteration,
        "passed": verification.passed,
        "score": verification.score,
        "timestamp": <now>
    })
    if verification.passed:
        save_checkpoint("complete")
        break
    iteration += 1
    save_checkpoint("iteration_{iteration}")

Progress Report Format

[Ralph Iteration 1/10]
Executing in parallel...

Verification: FAILED
Score: 0.65
Issues:
- 3 tests still failing
- Type errors in src/api.py

The boulder never stops. Continuing...

[Ralph Iteration 3/10]
Executing in parallel...

Verification: PASSED
Score: 1.0

Ralph COMPLETE
==============
Request: Fix all failing tests
Duration: 8m 32s
Iterations: 3

Verification History:
- Iteration 1: FAILED (0.65)
- Iteration 2: FAILED (0.85)
- Iteration 3: PASSED (1.0)

Cancellation

Action	Command
Save checkpoint & exit	/ouroboros:cancel
Force clear all state	/ouroboros:cancel --force
Resume after interruption	ooo ralph continue or ralph continue

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4. Evolutionary Loop (Evolve)

ooo evolve "build a task management CLI"
ooo evolve "build a task management CLI" --no-execute  # ontology-only, fast mode

Flow

Gen 1: Interview → Seed(O₁) → Execute → Evaluate
Gen 2: Wonder → Reflect → Seed(O₂) → Execute → Evaluate
Gen 3: Wonder → Reflect → Seed(O₃) → Execute → Evaluate
...until ontology converges (similarity ≥ 0.95) or max 30 generations

Convergence Formula

Similarity = 0.5 × name_overlap + 0.3 × type_match + 0.2 × exact_match
Threshold: Similarity ≥ 0.95 → CONVERGED

Gen 1: {Task, Priority, Status}
Gen 2: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}  → similarity 0.78 → CONTINUE
Gen 3: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}  → similarity 1.00 → CONVERGED ✓

Stagnation Detection

Signal	Condition	Meaning
Stagnation	Similarity ≥ 0.95 for 3 consecutive gens	Ontology has stabilized
Oscillation	Gen N ≈ Gen N-2 (period-2 cycle)	Stuck bouncing between two designs
Repetitive feedback	≥ 70% question overlap across 3 gens	Wonder asking the same things
Hard cap	30 generations reached	Safety valve

Ralph in Evolve Mode

Ralph Cycle 1: evolve_step(lineage, seed) → Gen 1 → action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 2: evolve_step(lineage)       → Gen 2 → action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 3: evolve_step(lineage)       → Gen 3 → action=CONVERGED ✓
                                                └── Ralph stops.
                                                    The ontology has stabilized.

Rewind

ooo evolve --status <lineage_id>          # check lineage status
ooo evolve --rewind <lineage_id> <gen_N>  # roll back to generation N

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5. The Nine Minds (Agents)

Loaded on-demand — never preloaded:

Agent	Role	Core Question
Socratic Interviewer	Questions-only. Never builds.	"What are you assuming?"
Ontologist	Finds essence, not symptoms	"What IS this, really?"
Seed Architect	Crystallizes specs from dialogue	"Is this complete and unambiguous?"
Evaluator	3-stage verification	"Did we build the right thing?"
Contrarian	Challenges every assumption	"What if the opposite were true?"
Hacker	Finds unconventional paths	"What constraints are actually real?"
Simplifier	Removes complexity	"What's the simplest thing that could work?"
Researcher	Stops coding, starts investigating	"What evidence do we actually have?"
Architect	Identifies structural causes	"If we started over, would we build it this way?"

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6. Unstuck — Lateral Thinking

When blocked after repeated failures, choose a persona:

ooo unstuck                 # auto-select based on situation
ooo unstuck simplifier      # cut scope to MVP — "Start with exactly 2 tables"
ooo unstuck hacker          # make it work first, elegance later
ooo unstuck contrarian      # challenge all assumptions
ooo unstuck researcher      # stop coding, find missing information
ooo unstuck architect       # restructure the approach entirely

When to use each:

• Repeated similar failures → contrarian (challenge assumptions)
• Too many options → simplifier (reduce scope)
• Missing information → researcher (seek data)
• Analysis paralysis → hacker (just make it work)
• Structural issues → architect (redesign)

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7. Platform Installation & Usage

Claude Code (Native Plugin — Full Mode)

# Install
claude plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros
claude plugin install ouroboros@ouroboros

# One-time setup
ooo setup

# Use
ooo interview "I want to build a task CLI"
ooo seed
ooo run
ooo evaluate <session_id>
ooo ralph "fix all failing tests"

All ooo commands work natively. Hooks auto-activate:

• UserPromptSubmit → keyword-detector.mjs detects triggers
• PostToolUse(Write|Edit) → drift-monitor.mjs tracks deviation
• SessionStart → session initialization

Claude Code hooks.json (installed at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/hooks/hooks.json):

{
  "hooks": {
    "SessionStart": [