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User Guide

Practical guides for using Ralph Orchestrator effectively.

In This Section

Guide Description
Configuration Full configuration reference
Presets Pre-configured workflows
CLI Reference Command-line interface
Backends Supported AI backends
Writing Prompts Prompt engineering tips
Cost Management Controlling API costs
Telegram Integration Human-in-the-loop via Telegram

Getting Started

  • Initialize a project: ralph init --backend claude
  • Run with a preset: ralph init --preset tdd-red-green
  • List presets: ralph init --list-presets

Running Ralph

  • Basic run: ralph run
  • With inline prompt: ralph run -p "Implement feature X"
  • Headless mode: ralph run --no-tui
  • Resume session: ralph run --continue

Monitoring

  • View event history: ralph events
  • Check memories: ralph tools memory list
  • Check tasks: ralph tools task list

Choosing a Workflow

Your Situation Recommended Approach
Simple task Traditional mode (no hats)
Test-first development --preset tdd-red-green
Spec-driven work --preset spec-driven
Bug investigation --preset debug
Code review --preset review
Documentation --preset docs

Common Tasks

Start a New Feature

ralph init --preset feature
# Edit PROMPT.md with your feature spec
ralph run

Debug an Issue

ralph init --preset debug
ralph run -p "Investigate why user authentication fails on mobile"

Run TDD Workflow

ralph init --preset tdd-red-green
ralph run -p "Add email validation to user registration"

Review Code

ralph init --preset review
ralph run -p "Review the changes in src/api/"

Next Steps

Start with Configuration to understand all options.