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/<epic-name>/
• 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.
4. 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
5. Persist .epic-state.json with each spec, its status, and dependencies.
6. Set specs/.current-epic to the active epic name.
7. 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.