feat: disable Ralph/Todo tracker auto-enable by default

Ralph tracker no longer auto-enables on pattern detection. It must be
explicitly enabled per-session (via API) or globally via the new
`ralphEnabled` AppConfig setting. Adds GET/PUT /api/config endpoints
for runtime configuration. Spawn agent ralph enable is unchanged.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/ralph-tracker.ts

@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ export class RalphTracker extends EventEmitter {
   private _loopUpdatePending: boolean = false;
 
   /** When true, prevents auto-enable on pattern detection */
-  private _autoEnableDisabled: boolean = false;
+  private _autoEnableDisabled: boolean = true;
 
   /** Maps task numbers from "✔ Task #N" format to their content for status updates */
   private _taskNumberToContent: Map<number, string> = new Map();

src/types.ts

@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ export interface AppConfig {
   respawn: RespawnConfig;
   /** Last used case name (for default selection) */
   lastUsedCase: string | null;
+  /** Whether Ralph/Todo tracker is globally enabled for all new sessions */
+  ralphEnabled: boolean;
 }
 
 // ========== Output Types ==========
@@ -564,6 +566,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_CONFIG: AppConfig = {
     sendInit: true,                // send /init after /clear
   },
   lastUsedCase: null,
+  ralphEnabled: false,
 };
 
 // ========== Inner Loop Tracking Types ==========

src/web/server.ts

@@ -213,6 +213,19 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
     // API Routes
     this.app.get('/api/status', async () => this.getFullState());
 
+    this.app.get('/api/config', async () => {
+      return { success: true, config: this.store.getConfig() };
+    });
+
+    this.app.put('/api/config', async (req) => {
+      const body = req.body as Record<string, unknown> | null;
+      if (!body || typeof body !== 'object') {
+        return createErrorResponse(ApiErrorCode.INVALID_INPUT, 'Request body must be a JSON object');
+      }
+      this.store.setConfig(body as Partial<ReturnType<typeof this.store.getConfig>>);
+      return { success: true, config: this.store.getConfig() };
+    });
+
     // Session management
     this.app.get('/api/sessions', async () => this.getSessionsState());
 
@@ -449,8 +462,13 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
       }
 
       try {
-        // Auto-detect completion phrase from CLAUDE.md BEFORE starting
-        autoConfigureRalph(session, session.workingDir, () => {});
+        // Auto-detect completion phrase from CLAUDE.md BEFORE starting (only if globally enabled)
+        if (this.store.getConfig().ralphEnabled) {
+          autoConfigureRalph(session, session.workingDir, () => {});
+          if (!session.ralphTracker.enabled) {
+            session.ralphTracker.enable();
+          }
+        }
 
         await session.startInteractive();
         this.broadcast('session:interactive', { id });
@@ -723,8 +741,13 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
       }
 
       try {
-        // Auto-detect completion phrase from CLAUDE.md BEFORE starting
-        autoConfigureRalph(session, session.workingDir, () => {});
+        // Auto-detect completion phrase from CLAUDE.md BEFORE starting (only if globally enabled)
+        if (this.store.getConfig().ralphEnabled) {
+          autoConfigureRalph(session, session.workingDir, () => {});
+          if (!session.ralphTracker.enabled) {
+            session.ralphTracker.enable();
+          }
+        }
 
         // Start interactive session
         await session.startInteractive();
@@ -1165,9 +1188,12 @@ export class WebServer extends EventEmitter {
       });
 
       // Auto-detect completion phrase from CLAUDE.md BEFORE broadcasting
-      // so the initial state already has the phrase configured
-      if (mode === 'claude') {
+      // so the initial state already has the phrase configured (only if globally enabled)
+      if (mode === 'claude' && this.store.getConfig().ralphEnabled) {
         autoConfigureRalph(session, casePath, () => {}); // no broadcast yet
+        if (!session.ralphTracker.enabled) {
+          session.ralphTracker.enable();
+        }
       }
 
       this.sessions.set(session.id, session);

test/ralph-tracker.test.ts

@@ -48,10 +48,40 @@ describe('RalphTracker', () => {
       expect(freshTracker.loopState.elapsedHours).toBeNull();
     });
 
-    it('should auto-enable on /ralph-loop:ralph-loop command', () => {
+    it('should not auto-enable by default (auto-enable disabled)', () => {
+      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.processTerminalData('/ralph-loop:ralph-loop\n');
+
+      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('should not auto-enable on completion phrase by default', () => {
+      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.processTerminalData('<promise>COMPLETE</promise>\n');
+
+      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('should not auto-enable on TodoWrite by default', () => {
+      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.processTerminalData('TodoWrite: Todos have been modified\n');
+
+      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('should not auto-enable on todo checkboxes by default', () => {
+      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.processTerminalData('- [ ] New task\n');
+
+      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(false);
+      expect(freshTracker.todos).toHaveLength(0);
+    });
+
+    it('should auto-enable when enableAutoEnable() is called', () => {
       const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
       const enableHandler = vi.fn();
       freshTracker.on('enabled', enableHandler);
+      freshTracker.enableAutoEnable();
 
       freshTracker.processTerminalData('/ralph-loop:ralph-loop\n');
 
@@ -59,37 +89,17 @@ describe('RalphTracker', () => {
       expect(enableHandler).toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
 
-    it('should auto-enable on completion phrase', () => {
-      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
-      freshTracker.processTerminalData('<promise>COMPLETE</promise>\n');
-
-      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
-    });
-
-    it('should auto-enable on TodoWrite detection', () => {
-      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
-      freshTracker.processTerminalData('TodoWrite: Todos have been modified\n');
-
-      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
-    });
-
-    it('should auto-enable on todo checkboxes', () => {
-      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
-      freshTracker.processTerminalData('- [ ] New task\n');
-
-      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
-      expect(freshTracker.todos).toHaveLength(1);
-    });
-
-    it('should auto-enable on iteration patterns', () => {
+    it('should auto-enable on iteration patterns when auto-enable allowed', () => {
       const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.enableAutoEnable();
       freshTracker.processTerminalData('Iteration 5/50\n');
 
       expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
     });
 
-    it('should auto-enable on loop start patterns', () => {
+    it('should auto-enable on loop start patterns when auto-enable allowed', () => {
       const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.enableAutoEnable();
       freshTracker.processTerminalData('Loop started at 2024-01-15\n');
 
       expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
@@ -378,10 +388,18 @@ describe('RalphTracker', () => {
       expect(todos.filter(t => t.status === 'completed')).toHaveLength(1);
     });
 
-    it('should auto-enable on native todo pattern', () => {
+    it('should not auto-enable on native todo pattern by default', () => {
       const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
       freshTracker.processTerminalData('☐ New task\n');
 
+      expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('should auto-enable on native todo pattern when auto-enable allowed', () => {
+      const freshTracker = new RalphTracker();
+      freshTracker.enableAutoEnable();
+      freshTracker.processTerminalData('☐ New task\n');
+
       expect(freshTracker.enabled).toBe(true);
     });
   });