Automationmanual
Guardrails Learning Loop
When a check fails twice the same way, append a guardrail sign to .ralph/guardrails.md so the next iteration avoids repeating it.
Related reading: The Ralph Loop, Explained
Kickoff prompt
Start the "Guardrails Learning Loop" loop.
Goal: tests and lint pass without repeating prior failure patterns
Max iterations: 12
Between iterations run: npm test && npm run lint
Exit when: all checks pass
Step 1: Read .ralph/guardrails.md, run checks, and if a failure repeats, add a sign before fixing.
Self-pace this loop. After each iteration, run the check command, read the output, and only continue if the exit condition is not met. Stop when the exit condition passes or max iterations is reached. Give a short status update each pass.Basic information
Category
Automation
Goal
tests and lint pass without repeating prior failure patterns
Max iterations
12
Check command
npm test && npm run lint
Exit when
all checks pass
Supported agents
Cursor, Claude Code
Steps
- 1
Read guardrails
Read .ralph/guardrails.md before any work. Treat each sign as a hard constraint.
- 2
Run checks
Run the project's backpressure commands.
npm test && npm run lint - 3
Record failure sign
If the same error occurred before, append a concise sign to guardrails.md: what failed and how to avoid it.
- 4
Fix with guardrails
Apply a fix that respects all guardrail signs. Do not repeat prior failed approaches.