Let Claude Build Your Whole App Overnight, Task by Task, Until Every Box Is Checked
Ralph for Claude Code is a free, open-source loop that turns your feature list into a checklist and keeps Claude building until it's done. How to install it, start your first overnight run, and keep it safe
Ralph for Claude Code is a free, open-source tool, past 9,000 GitHub stars. You describe your app in one document, it turns that into a checklist, and Claude Code works through the list on a loop, one task after another, until every box is checked and Claude itself says the project is done.
Here's how it works, how to set it up, and the limits you should know first.
How it works
- Plan: your requirements doc (Markdown, text, JSON, Word or PDF) becomes .ralph/PROMPT.md (the goals) and .ralph/fix_plan.md (the checklist).
- Build: each loop runs Claude Code on the next task, then updates the checklist and the logs.
- Finish line: it keeps looping until every unchecked box is done (items under an Optional or Future heading don't block it), and only stops when Claude also signals it's finished.
- Usage limit: when you hit Claude's 5-hour limit, unattended runs wait for the reset and carry on.
- Safety: a rate limit (100 calls an hour by default) and a circuit breaker that stops a loop stuck on the same error.
- Undo: run it with --backup to save a git branch you can roll back to with --rollback.
Free, for your email
Get the full setup steps + the copy-paste setup prompt
The rest of this guide (5 more sections, 1 copy-paste prompt) opens right here. The setup prompt, one paste into Claude that sets it all up, comes by email only. Use your real address.
Unlocks: Step 1: install it once · Step 2: start your overnight run · Already have a project? · The catch · Sources
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