just-ralph-it 0.5.0

Easily define your own software project idea and then build entirely by just clicking a button.

Just Ralph It (a.k.a. Ralfealo)

Overview

Just Ralph It is a software system that aims to help you easily define your software project idea and then build entirely by just clicking a button. To know more about it, read the concept document.

Feature Roadmap

• Terminal UI
• Interviewer
  • Exploration
  • Note taking
  • Topic-based context management
• Project implementation
• Remote execution
• Web UI
  • Notes graph visualization
• Hosted platform

Getting Started

0. Prerrequisites

• Python >=3.13 or uv
• API key from any OpenAI-compatible LLM inference provider or a ChatGPT subscription

1. Installation

pip install just-ralph-it
# or
uv tool install just-ralph-it

2. Authentication

You can create a .env file at the root of your project or home directory. You can also export the variables in your shell or pass them as CLI arguments (see jri --help).

Using an API key

# .env

# To use OpenAI as the provider, just set your OpenAI key here
JRI_LLM_API_KEY=...

# To use any OpenAI-compatible provider, provide its base URL too
JRI_LLM_PROVIDER=https://provider.example/v1
JRI_LLM_API_KEY=...

Using a ChatGPT subscription

For this, you need to have Codex installed and configure it to store credentials in a file:

# ~/.codex/config.toml
cli_auth_credentials_store = "file"

Then run:

codex login

Finally, configure it as the provider:

# .env

JRI_LLM_PROVIDER=openai-codex

Optional: Brave Search

To support web search, provide a Brave Search API key:

# .env

JRI_BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=...

3. Model selection

For now, there are no built-in model defaults, so you have to set them yourself:

# .env

# Recommended OpenAI preset
JRI_INTERVIEWER_MODEL=gpt-5.6-sol
JRI_EXPLORER_MODEL=gpt-5.6-terra

# Recommended cheap Chinese alternative (e.g. works with OpenRouter)
JRI_INTERVIEWER_MODEL=z-ai/glm-5.2
JRI_EXPLORER_MODEL=qwen/qwen3.5-9b

Note that there are default reasoning levels when available for the models:

• Interviewer: high
• Explorer: low

4. Usage

# Run the TUI and start chatting!
jri

# Visualize the notes graph
jri view

[!TIP] Given that JRI doesn't feature project implementation yet, you can hand the generated .jri/project.yaml file to your favorite coding agent as a starting point for implementation.

Upgrading

pip install --upgrade just-ralph-it
# or
uv tool upgrade just-ralph-it

[!WARNING] Until JRI reaches a stable version (>=1.0.0), anything could break from one version to another.

Uninstalling

# Uninstall JRI and its dependencies
pip uninstall just-ralph-it
# or
uv tool uninstall just-ralph-it

# Remove JRI from a repo
rm -fr /path/to/your-project/.jri

Contributing

Please refer to AGENTS.md.