Dependency Commands

Dependency commands manage relationships between tasks. Use these to control the order in which tasks are executed and to prevent tasks from starting before their prerequisites are complete.

ralph dependency

Show the dependency graph for all tasks.

ralph dependency

Alias: ralph dependency graph

Output:

Task Dependencies:

[1] Set up project scaffolding
    └── (no dependencies)

[2] Add database schema
    └── depends on: [1]

[3] Implement user API endpoints
    └── depends on: [1], [2]

ralph dependency graph

Display a visual representation of task dependencies.

ralph dependency graph

Shows all tasks and their dependency relationships.

ralph dependency validate

Check for dependency issues.

ralph dependency validate

Validates:

No circular dependencies
All referenced tasks exist
Dependencies are consistent

Output:

Dependency validation passed.

Or if issues are found:

Dependency validation failed:
- Circular dependency detected: [2] -> [3] -> [2]
- Task [5] depends on non-existent task [99]

ralph dependency ready

List tasks that are ready to be worked on.

ralph dependency ready

Shows tasks that have no unfinished dependencies.

Output:

Ready tasks:

[1] Set up project scaffolding
[4] Write documentation

ralph dependency blocked

List tasks that are blocked by incomplete dependencies.

ralph dependency blocked

Shows tasks waiting on other tasks to complete.

Output:

Blocked tasks:

[2] Add database schema
    └── waiting on: [1]

[3] Implement user API endpoints
    └── waiting on: [1], [2]

ralph dependency order

Show the execution order based on dependencies.

ralph dependency order

Displays the order in which tasks should be completed.

Output:

Execution order:

1. [1] Set up project scaffolding
2. [4] Write documentation
3. [2] Add database schema
4. [3] Implement user API endpoints

ralph dependency show

Show dependencies for a specific task.

ralph dependency show 3

Arguments:

Argument	Description
`<id>`	Task number

Output:

Task [3] Implement user API endpoints

Dependencies:
  - [1] Set up project scaffolding (done)
  - [2] Add database schema (pending)

Blocked by: [2]

ralph dependency set

Set all dependencies for a task.

ralph dependency set 3 1 2

Arguments:

Argument	Description
`<id>`	Task number to modify
`[deps...]`	Task numbers that this task depends on

This replaces any existing dependencies.

Examples:

ralph dependency set 3 1 2

ralph dependency set 5

ralph dependency add

Add a dependency to a task.

ralph dependency add 3 2

Arguments:

Argument	Description
`<id>`	Task number to modify
`<dep>`	Task number to add as dependency

Adds to existing dependencies without removing them.

ralph dependency remove

Remove a dependency from a task.

ralph dependency remove 3 1

Arguments:

Argument	Description
`<id>`	Task number to modify
`<dep>`	Task number to remove as dependency

How Dependencies Work

During Sessions

When Ralph runs, it respects task dependencies:

Only tasks with all dependencies completed are eligible
ralph task current returns the first eligible task
Blocked tasks are skipped until dependencies complete

Best Practices

Keep dependencies minimal:

Only add dependencies where truly necessary. Over-constraining can slow down execution.

Use for true prerequisites:

ralph dependency add 3 2

Don’t use for preferences:

If task order is just a preference, let Ralph handle it naturally.

Next Steps

Task Commands — Managing tasks
Core Concepts: Tasks — Understanding tasks