CEO Ralph

I'm Claude, but you can call me CEO Ralph, now get coding Codex!

Spec-driven development for Claude Code. Task-by-task execution with fresh context per task.

Codex MCP + Spec-Driven Development = Sensational

Quick Start | Commands | How It Works | Troubleshooting

What is this?

CEO Ralph is a Claude Code plugin that turns your vague feature ideas into structured specs, then executes them task-by-task. Like having a tiny product team in your terminal.

You: "Add user authentication"
Ralph: *creates research.md, requirements.md, design.md, tasks.md*
Ralph: *executes each task with fresh context*
Ralph: "I'm helping!"

Why "Ralph"?

Named after the Ralph agentic loop pattern and everyone's favorite Springfield student. Ralph doesn't overthink. Ralph just does the next task. Be like Ralph.

Requirements

Codex MCP is required for task execution. Configure it once:

/ceo-ralph:setup

Codex MCP provides the execution loop. CEO Ralph provides the spec-driven workflow on top.

Installation

From Marketplace

# Configure Codex MCP
/ceo-ralph:setup

# Add the marketplace
/plugin marketplace add DUTSTECH/ceoralph

# Install the plugin
/plugin install ceo-ralph@dutstech-ceoralph

# Restart Claude Code

From GitHub

# Configure Codex MCP
/ceo-ralph:setup

/plugin install https://github.com/DUTSTECH/ceoralph

Local Development

# Configure Codex MCP
/ceo-ralph:setup

git clone https://github.com/DUTSTECH/ceoralph.git
cd ceoralph
claude --plugin-dir $(pwd)

Quick Start

# The smart way (auto-detects resume or new)
/ceo-ralph:start user-auth Add JWT authentication

# Quick mode (skip spec phases, auto-generate everything)
/ceo-ralph:start "Add user auth" --quick

# The step-by-step way
/ceo-ralph:new user-auth Add JWT authentication
/ceo-ralph:requirements
/ceo-ralph:design
/ceo-ralph:tasks
/ceo-ralph:implement

Commands

Command	What it does
`/ceo-ralph:start [name] [goal]`	Smart entry: resume existing or create new
`/ceo-ralph:start [goal] --quick`	Quick mode: auto-generate all specs and execute
`/ceo-ralph:new <name> [goal]`	Create new spec, start research
`/ceo-ralph:research`	Run/re-run research phase
`/ceo-ralph:requirements`	Generate requirements from research
`/ceo-ralph:design`	Generate technical design
`/ceo-ralph:tasks`	Break design into executable tasks
`/ceo-ralph:implement`	Execute tasks one-by-one
`/ceo-ralph:status`	Show all specs and progress
`/ceo-ralph:switch <name>`	Change active spec
`/ceo-ralph:cancel`	Cancel loop, cleanup state
`/ceo-ralph:help`	Show help

How It Works

        "I want a feature!"
               |
               v
    +---------------------+
    |      Research       |  <- Analyzes codebase, searches web
    +---------------------+
               |
               v
    +---------------------+
    |    Requirements     |  <- User stories, acceptance criteria
    +---------------------+
               |
               v
    +---------------------+
    |       Design        |  <- Architecture, patterns, decisions
    +---------------------+
               |
               v
    +---------------------+
    |       Tasks         |  <- POC-first task breakdown
    +---------------------+
               |
               v
    +---------------------+
    |     Execution       |  <- Task-by-task with fresh context
    +---------------------+
               |
               v
          "I did it!"

The Agents

Each phase uses a specialized sub-agent:

Phase	Agent	Superpower
Research	`research-analyst`	Web search, codebase analysis, feasibility checks
Requirements	`product-manager`	User stories, acceptance criteria, business value
Design	`architect-reviewer`	Architecture patterns, technical trade-offs
Tasks	`task-planner`	POC-first breakdown, task sequencing
Execution	`spec-executor`	Autonomous implementation, quality gates

Task Execution Workflow

Tasks follow a 4-phase structure:

Make It Work - POC validation, skip tests initially
Refactoring - Clean up the code
Testing - Unit, integration, e2e tests
Quality Gates - Lint, types,

...

dutstech/ceoralph

README