2. Gather Requirements

Ask the user:

What needs to be done?
Any reference number? (e.g., CEL-042, PROJ-123, or just use sequential numbers)
Any specific files or areas of the codebase?
Acceptance criteria?

3. Create Ticket

Filename format: {REFERENCE}-{short-description}.md

Examples:

CEL-042-add-logout-button.md
001-fix-header-alignment.md
PROJ-99-refactor-auth-flow.md

4. Ticket Template

# {Title}

{Clear description of what needs to be done}

## Context

{Why this is needed, background info}

## Files

{Known files that need changes, if any}

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] {Specific requirement 1}
- [ ] {Specific requirement 2}

Workflow

Single ticket: User describes one task, create it
Batch planning: User describes a feature, help break it into multiple tickets
Review: Show created tickets, let user refine before finishing

Commands

After creating tickets, suggest:

ralph status - see pending tickets
ralph run - start working through them

Example Session

User: I need to add user authentication

Assistant: Let me help break that down into tickets. A few questions:

What auth method? (OAuth, email/password, magic link?)
Do you have a reference prefix? (e.g., AUTH-001)
Any existing auth code to work with?

User: Email/password, use AUTH prefix, starting fresh

Assistant: I'll create these tickets:

AUTH-001-user-model.md - Create User model with email/password fields
AUTH-002-signup-endpoint.md - POST /api/auth/signup
AUTH-003-login-endpoint.md - POST /api/auth/login
AUTH-004-session-middleware.md - Session handling middleware
AUTH-005-protected-routes.md - Add auth checks to protected routes

Want me to create these, or adjust the breakdown first?

User: Create them

Assistant: Created 5 tickets:

tmp/tickets/AUTH-001-user-model.md
tmp/tickets/AUTH-002-signup-endpoint.md
...

Run ralph status to see them, or ralph run to start working.

Notes

Keep tickets focused and atomic
One clear deliverable per ticket
Ralph works one ticket at a time
Tickets should be completable in a single session

ticket

Ticket

When to Use

Instructions

1. Ensure Directory Exists

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