show

pnpm dlx @smplcty/ralph show <subcommand> [options]
# or
npx @smplcty/ralph show <subcommand> [options]

Display the effective prompt content that ralph sends to the agent. Shows both built-in content and any user extensions merged together.

Subcommands

system-prompt

ralph show system-prompt

Display the effective system prompt — ralph’s built-in TDD methodology, tool rules, quality gates, and role definitions, plus any content from docs/prompts/system.md.

boot-prompt

ralph show boot-prompt

Display the effective boot prompt template — ralph’s built-in task/config/scoping sections, plus any content from docs/prompts/boot.md. Template variables (e.g., {{task.id}}) are shown as placeholders.

roles

ralph show roles

Display all active roles with source annotations. Each role shows:

• Name and focus area
• Responsibility description
• Participation phases (Boot, Red, Green, Verify)
• Source — [built-in], [overridden], [added], or [disabled]

methodology

ralph show methodology

Display the Ralph Methodology reference — the full built-in methodology content, plus any additions from docs/prompts/methodology.md.

rules

ralph show rules

Display the project-specific rules from docs/prompts/rules.md. Rules are injected into the prompt via {{project.rules}}.

task

ralph show task T-NNN

Display what the agent will receive for a specific task:

• Task body — the content injected as {{task.description}}
• Hints — content injected as {{task.hints}}
• Excluded sections — sections not sent to the agent (Hints, Produces, Completion Notes, Blocked)
• Active roles — which roles participate for this task, with source annotations

Options

Flag	Description
--json	Output as JSON with structured fields
--built-in-only	Show only built-in content, ignoring user extensions

Examples

# See what the agent gets as its system prompt
ralph show system-prompt

# Check roles including your customizations
ralph show roles

# Verify a task's effective content before running the loop
ralph show task T-042

# Get machine-readable output
ralph show roles --json

# See only ralph's built-in system prompt, without extensions
ralph show system-prompt --built-in-only