/help

Ralph Plan Help

Please explain the following to the user:

What is Ralph Plan?

Ralph Plan is a guided brainstorming and planning workflow that takes a vague idea and transforms it into a concrete implementation plan — then hands it off to Ralph Loop for execution.

Where it fits:

You have an idea → /ralph-plan → Structured plan → /ralph-loop → Working code

Ralph Plan is the entry point for users who don't have a plan yet. If you already have a plan file, skip straight to /ralph-loop.

The 8 Phases

Phase	Name	What happens
1	Discover	Scans your project — tech stack, structure, conventions, git history
2	Clarify	Asks focused questions one at a time to understand requirements
3	Propose	Presents 2-3 approaches with trade-offs, you pick one
4	Design	Walks through architecture, data flow, file changes, error handling, testing — one section at a time
5	Blueprint	Breaks the design into ordered implementation steps with verification commands
6	Review	Stress-tests the blueprint from 4 perspectives (Skeptic, Architect, User Advocate, Pragmatist)
7	Finalize	Saves the plan file, derives Ralph Loop parameters
8	Launch	Invokes /ralph-loop with the plan and completion promise

Every phase has a hard gate — you approve before it moves on. All gates use clickable options so you can tap to continue.

Built-in Safeguards

• Re-anchoring: From Phase 3 onward, the model silently re-reads your original task, your answers, and the chosen approach before each phase to prevent drift.
• Multi-perspective review: Phase 6 critiques the plan from four angles before you commit to it.
• Hard gates: No phase advances without your explicit approval.
• Claude Codes (agent teams): At any gate, you can deploy Claude Code agent teams for deeper analysis. They run in parallel, report findings, and recommend actions — but never modify files or advance phases. You decide what to incorporate.

Commands

/ralph-plan <task description>

Start the full 8-phase planning flow.

Examples:

/ralph-plan Add user authentication with JWT
/ralph-plan Refactor the cache layer to use Redis
/ralph-plan Build a CLI tool for database migrations

/claude-codes <phase>

Deploy Claude Code agent teams into a specific phase for deeper analysis. Usually invoked from within a running Ralph Plan session via the "Deploy Claude Codes" gate option.

Available teams by phase:

Phase	Team	Focus
1	Codebase Recon	Stack, patterns, git history
2	Requirements Research	Feasibility, prior art
3	Approach Viability	Hidden costs, codebase fit
4	Architecture Validation	Interfaces, dependencies
5	Verification Pre-Check	Command validity, ordering
6	Deep Stress-Test	Edge cases, regression, security
7	Plan Quality	Coverage, testability

Agent teams are report and recommend only — they never modify files or advance the flow.

Related Commands (from Ralph Loop plugin)

• /ralph-loop <prompt> [options] — Start an execution loop (use after planning, or standalone)
• /cancel-ralph — Cancel an active Ralph Loop

When to Use Ralph Plan vs Ralph Loop Directly

Situation	Use
Vague idea, no plan yet	/ralph-plan
Clear task, well-defined steps	/ralph-loop directly
Existing plan file in docs/plans/	/ralph-loop with the plan
Need to explore approaches first	/ralph-plan
Simple bug fix or small change	Neither — just do it

How It Works With Ralph Loop

Ralph Plan's final phase automatically invokes /ralph-loop with:

• The saved plan file path
• A completion promise derived from your success criteria
• A max iteration count based on the number of steps

You don't need to configure Ralph Loop manually — Ralph Plan does it for you.