ralphex-farm

name: ralphex-farm description: > Work with ralphex-farm: an autonomous executor that polls Linear, picks up Todo issues whose description carries a <!-- ralphex-farm --> YAML block (repo + plan + branch, optional mode), runs ralphex against the named plan inside Docker, and opens a PR. Invoke whenever the user wants to: create a Linear ticket for a plan ("create a ralphex farm task", "add task for plan", "queue plan to the farm"), re-run or recover a failed task ("re-run", "recover", "review only", "move back to Todo"), add a new repository to the farm, trigger an immediate sync, debug why a ticket was not picked up, or answer questions about how the farm works. Also trigger on any mention of the <!-- ralphex-farm --> metadata block, repos.yaml in the farm context, /var/ralphex/... host paths, the farm's /api/sync or /api/repos endpoints, or Claude plugin provisioning in the farm. allowed-tools: - Bash(git add:) - Bash(git commit:) - Bash(git push:*) metadata: version: "0.2.2"

ralphex-farm

Operator skill for the ralphex-farm runner (https://github.com/pkarpovich/ralphex-farm).

What the farm does

Polls one Linear team every N minutes (default 5m). For each issue in Todo whose description contains a valid <!-- ralphex-farm --> metadata block, it runs ralphex inside a Docker container against the named plan in the named repo, on the branch named in the block, then pushes that feature branch, opens a GitHub PR, comments the PR URL back on the Linear issue, and moves the issue to In Review. On any failure the issue moves to Error with a comment. On a transient Claude rate-limit/overload it waits and retries instead of dying (RALPHEX_WAIT_ON_LIMIT, default 30m).

The farm is stateless - Linear is the source of truth. Repo clones live at <repos-root>/<name> on the host (the operator picks the root, conventionally /var/ralphex/repos).

The metadata block

The farm matches this block with a strict regex and requires repo, plan, and branch. Omit any one (or get a value wrong) and the issue is silently skipped - the one failure that surfaces no error anywhere, so it is worth getting right.

<!-- ralphex-farm
repo: <linear_slug>
plan: <repo-relative-path-to-plan-md>
branch: <feature-branch-name>
mode: review
-->

Rules:

• <!-- and --> markers each on their own line.
• repo matches a linear_slug (or repo key) in the operator's repos.yaml.
• plan is repo-relative; the file must exist on the repo's default branch (the farm does git fetch && reset --hard origin/<default> before checking).
• branch is the feature branch name, and the single source of truth: the farm passes it to ralphex via --branch so both sides use the exact same name (this replaced the old derive-from-filename logic that caused push failures). It must differ from the repo's default branch.
• mode is optional. Only review or empty are valid (any other value rejects the block and the issue is skipped). mode: review = review-only recovery (Workflow C); omit it for a normal full run.
• The first matching block wins; the rest of the description is free-form.

Workflow A: Create a Linear ticket for a plan

Use this when the user has a plan and wants the farm to execute it.

Step 1 - confirm the repo and its default branch (GET /api/repos)

Hit the farm's repos endpoint first to see which repos it actually serves and each one's default branch - so you use a valid repo: slug and know whether the default branch is main or master (needed for the plan-push step below, the gh api check, and the plan link). No SSH needed:

curl -s https://ralphex-farm.pkarpovich.space/api/repos
# -> [{"slug":"turtle-hub","default_branch":"main"},{"slug":"ovq","default_branch":"master"}, ...]

If the target repo is not in the list, the farm does not serve it - run Workflow B (add a repository) first. Otherwise use the returned slug for repo: and the returned default_branch everywhere a default branch is referenced below.

Step 2 - put the plan on the default branch first

The farm runs git reset --hard origin/<default> and reads the plan from there, so the plan file must exist on the repo's default branch (main/master) before the ticket is picked up - this is the most common reason a ticket never runs.

So if the plan was just created and is not yet on the default branch, commit and push the plan file to master/main, then create the ticket - in that order.

Invoking this skill right after a plan was created is itself the user's authorization to land that plan on the default branch: stage only the plan file, commit it (conventional message), and git push origin <default> directly - proceed without stopping to ask for push permission or offering PR/manual alternatives (the allowed-tools in this skill's frontmatter pre-approve these git commands). Commit the plan file alone; never sweep other working-tree changes into a default-branch push.

• If the plan is uncommitted in the target repo's working tree: stage just the plan file, commit it (conventional message), git push origin <default>.
• If the plan sits on a feature branch only: cherry-pick / open a tiny PR with just the plan file and merge it (plans are documents - merging them alone is safe), or push it straight to the default branch if direct pushes are allowed.
• If the plan lives in a different repo than the one running it (e.g. a smoke plan authored into a playground repo), push it to that repo's default branch.

Verify it landed before continuing:

gh api "repos/<owner>/<repo>/contents/<plan-path>?ref=<default-branch>" --jq .path

If 404, get the plan onto the default branch before creating the ticket.

Step 3 - decide the branch name

For a fresh task, pick a clear new feature-branch name (ralphex creates it). For a re-run, reuse the existing branch name (Workflow C). It must differ from the repo's default branch.

Step 4 - find the Linear team

The farm runs against one team (LINEAR_TEAM_ID in the operator's .env). Discover at runtime:

mcp__claude_ai_Linear__list_teams

If only one team fits the farm naming convention (often contains "ralphex" or "farm"), use it; otherwise present the list and ask. Cache the choice.

Step 5 - create the issue

Use mcp__claude_ai_Linear__save_issue (Linear MCP must be authenticated; if not, tell the user to run /mcp). Fields:

• team: the team ID from above.
• title: short, action-oriented (use the plan's intent, not the filename).
• state: Todo. Anything else and the poller skips it.
• description: metadata block first (so the regex catches it), then a human summary, then a link to the plan on the default branch.

Description template:

<!-- ralphex-farm
repo: <linear_slug>
plan: <repo-relative-plan-path>
branch: <feature-branch-name>
-->

<one-paragraph summary of what the plan does - pull from the plan/commit, or ask>

Plan: [<relative-path>](<https-url-to-plan-on-default-branch>)

Pass the description as raw markdown with literal newlines, which the Linear MCP requires (escaped \n will not render).

Step 6 - after creation

Report the issue identifier and URL. The farm picks it up on the next poll (POLL_INTERVAL, default 5m - confirm it if timing matters). To run it now instead of waiting, hit the sync endpoint:

curl -s -X POST https://ralphex-farm.pkarpovich.space/api/sync   # -> {"status":"triggered"}

(Or docker compose restart farm on the host, but /api/sync is cheaper.)

Workflow B: Add a new repository to the farm

Use this when repo: names a slug not yet in repos.yaml. All steps run on the host running the farm (a home server reachable over SSH).

1. Clone the repo

sudo mkdir -p /var/ralphex/repos
cd /var/ralphex/repos
sudo git clone <clone-url> <name>
sudo chown -R <app-uid>:<app-uid> <name>

<app-uid> must match the uid owning the OTHER repos here (commonly 1000). The farm auto-detects it from the directory owner and passes it as APP_UID. Mixed ownership breaks write-back. For private repos use SSH (git@github.com:...); the farm container mounts ~/.ssh.

2. Add to repos.yaml

Edit the file at REPOS_CONFIG_PATH in the farm's .env (mounted into the container at /etc/farm/repos.yaml).

<key>:
  clone_url: <https-or-git@-url>
  local_path: /var/ralphex/repos/<name>   # absolute, must match step 1
  default_branch: <main|master|...>       # gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef
  # linear_slug: <slug>                   # defaults to <key>
  # image: <registry>/ralphex-mise:latest # only to override RALPHEX_IMAGE

Rules (from pkg/config/config.go::LoadRepos): clone_url, local_path, default_branch required; local_path absolute; linear_slug unique.

3. Apply

cd /home/<user>/ralphex-farm   # the compose dir
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs --tail=50 farm

The farm validates repos.yaml at startup; a malformed file keeps the container down (clear error in the logs), so check the logs after restarting. Health check: curl http://localhost:7077/health. You can also confirm the loaded set via GET /api/repos.

Workflow C: Re-run or recover a task

The farm recovers on the branch (the durable unit), not the worktree.

• Resume a full run (e.g. a transient failure mid-task): move the issue Error -> Todo. Keep repo/plan/branch as they were; the farm fetches the existing branch and continues. (A fresh-from-scratch run uses a branch that does not exist yet; recovery reuses the one that does.)
• Review-only recovery (the task finished its code work and died during review, or you only want the review pipeline re-run): set mode: review in the block and move the issue to Todo. The farm checks out the existing branch and runs ralphex --review in place, then pushes + opens/updates the PR. mode: review needs the branch to already exist.

Either way: edit the block (add/confirm branch, optionally mode: review) via mcp__claude_ai_Linear__save_issue, set state: Todo, and the farm takes it on the next poll (or hit /api/sync).

Claude plugins / skills in the farm

The in-container claude (which ralphex drives) gets the operator's Claude Code plugins/skills from a host dir set by FARM_CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR (e.g. /var/ralphex/claude). The farm mounts it read-only into each task container and copies it on start to a writable CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=/home/app/.claude-farm. Empty FARM_CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = feature off.

Important - the paths must match the runtime location. Claude Code records absolute installPaths in plugins/installed_plugins.json and known_marketplaces.json; they have to match the path the container uses (/home/app/.claude-farm), or every plugin shows "failed to load". So build and update the config inside a container at that exact path:

docker run --rm \
  -e CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=/home/app/.claude-farm \
  -v /var/ralphex/claude:/home/app/.claude-farm \
  --env-file /home/<user>/ralphex-farm/.env \
  --entrypoint sh <RALPHEX_IMAGE> \
  -c 'claude plugin marketplace add <owner>/<repo> && claude plugin install <name>@<marketplace>'
# then: sudo chown -R <app-uid>:<app-uid> /var/ralphex/claude

Bootstrapping on a different path (a laptop /tmp, or the bare host dir) and copying it over leaves the recorded paths mismatched, so the plugins fail to load. Verify with claude plugin list run the same way (mount the dir, copy, list).

Gotchas (none surface as an obvious error)

These come from real failures.

1. Plan not on default branch. Farm resets to origin/<default> first; a plan only on a feature branch (or uncommitted) yields plan file not found. Push the plan to the default branch before creating the ticket (Workflow A step 2).
2. Missing branch field. The block needs repo + plan + branch; a repo+plan-only block is invalid and the issue is silently never picked up.
3. mode other than review. Any value besides empty or review rejects the block -> skipped.
4. branch equals the default branch. Rejected - work runs on a feature branch and merges via PR.
5. Wrong Linear team. The farm polls one team; tickets elsewhere are invisible.
6. Wrong state. Only Todo is picked up. Re-opening: move explicitly to Todo.
7. linear_slug mismatch. repo: must match linear_slug (or the map key) in repos.yaml.
8. local_path ownership. All repos owned by the same uid (commonly 1000).
9. Claude config path mismatch. See the Claude plugins section - build the config at /home/app/.claude-farm or plugins fail to load.

Discovering farm config (when hands-on)

Invocation triggers

Trigger on requests touching the farm (any phrasing, any language):

• "create a ralphex farm task for " / "queue this plan"
• "re-run " / "recover " / "review only" / "move back to Todo"
• "add to the farm" / "register "
• "sync the farm now" / "force a poll"
• "the farm is not picking up "
• "what slug for repos.yaml" / farm config questions
• Claude plugin provisioning in the farm (FARM_CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, plugins not loading)
• Any direct mention of <!-- ralphex-farm, repos.yaml in farm context, or paths under /var/ralphex/.