Hat Collections¶

Built-in hat collections are now intentionally small. Ralph ships a core working set of defaults and documents broader workflow ideas as examples instead of treating every pattern as a supported builtin.

Quick Start¶

ralph init --backend claude
ralph init --list-presets

ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:code-assist -p "Add user authentication"

Supported Builtins¶

Collection	Hats	Best for	Notes
`code-assist`	`planner`, `builder`, `critic`, `finalizer`	Default implementation work	Recommended default; adds fresh-eyes review and a final completion gate
`debug`	`investigator`, `tester`, `fixer`, `verifier`	Root-cause debugging	Strong on repro and fix verification
`research`	`researcher`, `synthesizer`	Read-only analysis	No code changes
`review`	`reviewer`, `analyzer`	Adversarial code review	No code changes
`pdd-to-code-assist`	multi-stage design + build pipeline	Idea to code	Advanced and fun, but slower and less predictable

Internal Presets¶

Ralph also keeps a few internal/testing presets available without advertising them in the normal list:

merge-loop
hatless-baseline

Recommended Workflow¶

Use code-assist for most implementation tasks.
Use debug, research, or review when you need a specialized mode.
Use pdd-to-code-assist when you specifically want an end-to-end exploratory workflow and are comfortable paying for extra iterations.

Why The Builtin Set Is Small¶

Every builtin preset becomes product surface area:

It must be documented.
It must be tested and kept working.
It must appear coherent in API and CLI listings.

Ralph now prefers a small supported set plus documentation examples for more experimental or niche orchestration patterns.

Examples Instead Of Builtins¶

Historical workflow ideas such as spec-driven development, red-team review, mob programming, and fresh-eyes loops are now examples rather than shipped builtins. See:

Usage Examples¶

# Default implementation workflow
ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:code-assist -p "Add OAuth login"

# Debugging
ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:debug -p "Investigate why login fails on mobile"

# Research
ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:research -p "Map the authentication architecture"

# Review
ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:review -p "Review the changes in src/api/"

# Advanced/fun workflow
ralph run -c ralph.yml -H builtin:pdd-to-code-assist -p "Build a rate limiter"