Ralph / task-file agent loop

principleactivereported

slug

ralph-task-file-loop

claim

A Ralph loop repeatedly invokes an agent while unchecked tasks remain in a durable task file, pushing against early stopping. reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic]

mechanism

reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic] Canonical sketch: while grep finds unchecked boxes in TASKS.md, invoke the agent with a fixed prompt. Anthropic surface: /ralph-loop. Mapping to Memory–Goal–State: Memory = repo + scratchpad; Goal = checkboxes driven to zero (plus any oracles those tasks encode); State = the task file itself. Purpose: counteract RL-trained early stopping. The loop externalizes continuation pressure into the filesystem so compaction and new sessions still see unfinished work. Variants include per-surface boards (e.g. firmware vs mobile) and status markers beyond [ ]/[x].

limits

Without verifiable task completion criteria, checkbox closure itself becomes a reward-hackable signal. Human triage still required for high-cost tasks.

relations

topics

agentic-engineering Agentic engineering

sources

vidal2026serious-agentic — Ralph / task-file loops; Anthropic /ralph-loop mention

json

{
  "slug": "ralph-task-file-loop",
  "href": "/entries/ralph-task-file-loop",
  "api": "/api/v1/entries/ralph-task-file-loop",
  "title": "Ralph / task-file agent loop",
  "type": "principle",
  "status": "active",
  "certainty": "reported",
  "claim": "A Ralph loop repeatedly invokes an agent while unchecked tasks remain in a durable task file, pushing against early stopping. reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic]",
  "mechanism": "reported [@vidal2026serious-agentic] Canonical sketch: while grep finds unchecked boxes in TASKS.md, invoke the agent with a fixed prompt. Anthropic surface: /ralph-loop.\n\nMapping to Memory–Goal–State: Memory = repo + scratchpad; Goal = checkboxes driven to zero (plus any oracles those tasks encode); State = the task file itself.\n\nPurpose: counteract RL-trained early stopping. The loop externalizes continuation pressure into the filesystem so compaction and new sessions still see unfinished work.\n\nVariants include per-surface boards (e.g. firmware vs mobile) and status markers beyond [ ]/[x].",
  "quantities": [],
  "limits": "Without verifiable task completion criteria, checkbox closure itself becomes a reward-hackable signal. Human triage still required for high-cost tasks.",
  "inventor_note": "",
  "sources": [
    {
      "key": "vidal2026serious-agentic",
      "note": "Ralph / task-file loops; Anthropic /ralph-loop mention"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    "memory-goal-state-loop",
    "scratchpad-durable-memory",
    "agentic-alignment-problem"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "slug": "memory-goal-state-loop",
      "rel": "related"
    },
    {
      "slug": "scratchpad-durable-memory",
      "rel": "related"
    },
    {
      "slug": "agentic-alignment-problem",
      "rel": "related"
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "agentic-engineering",
      "title": "Agentic engineering"
    }
  ],
  "created_at": "2026-10-01T18:51:07.176Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-01T18:51:07.176Z"
}