persistence

Persistence Skill

Goal

Enable Claude/Gemini to work persistently on a task until it's truly complete, with automatic verification, retry logic, and alternative approaches when blocked.

Activation Triggers

This skill should be activated when:

• User includes "ralph", "persistent", or "don't give up" in their request
• A task has failed and needs retry with a different approach
• Complex multi-step work requires sustained focus

Core Behavior

Never Give Up Philosophy

When this skill is active, you must:

1. Set a clear, measurable goal from the user's request
2. Work iteratively toward that goal
3. Verify progress after each significant action
4. Try alternatives when an approach fails
5. Only stop when: goal achieved, user interrupts, or truly impossible

Retry Protocol

On failure:

1. Analyze the failure - What specifically went wrong?
2. Identify alternatives - What other approaches exist?
3. Try the next approach - Don't repeat the same mistake
4. Track attempts - After 5 consecutive failures on the same sub-problem, escalate

Verification Protocol

After each significant action, verify:

For code changes:

# Check syntax/compilation
npm run typecheck 2>&1 | tail -20 || tsc --noEmit 2>&1 | tail -20

# Check tests
npm test 2>&1 | tail -30

# Check lint
npm run lint 2>&1 | tail -20

For file creation:

# Verify file exists and has content
ls -la [filepath] && wc -l [filepath]

# Check file can be parsed (for JSON, etc.)
cat [filepath] | head -20

For features:

# If there's a dev server, check it's running
curl -s http://localhost:3000/health 2>/dev/null || echo "Server not running"

# Check for runtime errors in logs
tail -20 *.log 2>/dev/null || echo "No logs"

State Tracking

Maintain mental state during persistence:

## Persistence State

### Goal
[Clear statement of what success looks like]

### Progress
- [x] Step 1: [Description] ✓
- [x] Step 2: [Description] ✓
- [ ] Step 3: [Current step]
- [ ] Step 4: [Remaining]

### Attempts on Current Step
1. [Approach 1] - Failed: [reason]
2. [Approach 2] - In progress...

### Blockers
- [Any identified blockers]

### Alternative Approaches Available
1. [Alternative 1]
2. [Alternative 2]