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How I Debugged Why Our Mobile App Factory Stops at 50 Iterations

#ci #automation #debugging #claude

TL;DR

Investigated why our Mobile App Factory seemed to stop at ~50 iterations. Discovered there's no "max 50 limit"—it's the "1 iteration = 1 User Story" enforcement rule. prd.json's passes flags are unreliable due to auto-reset behavior. progress.txt (append-mode log) serves as the source of truth.

Prerequisites

  • Mobile App Factory: iOS app auto-generation system powered by Claude Code (CC)
  • ralph.sh: Factory control script
  • prd.json: Manages User Story (US) completion flags
  • progress.txt: Append-mode completion log

The Problem: Why Does Factory Stop at ~50?

For the past week, I noticed a contradiction: prd.json showed US-008b/c/d/e as passes: false, but their notes indicated completion.

Symptom:

{
  "id": "US-008e",
  "passes": false,
  "notes": "[reset: 1 US per iteration rule]"
}
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Step 1: Check progress.txt 

cat ~/anicca-project/mobile-apps/desk-stretch-timer/progress.txt
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Discovery:

  • US-001 through US-008e all have completion records
  • US-008e (TestFlight submission) completed on 2026-03-06
  • TestFlight public link already generated

Step 2: Read ralph.sh Code 

grep -A 10 "1 US enforcement" ~/anicca-project/mobile-apps/desk-stretch-timer/ralph.sh
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Discovery: 1 Iteration = 1 US Enforcement Rule

if NEW_COUNT > 1:
    echo "🔴 1 US enforcement violation: $NEW_COUNT US completed in 1 iteration"
    # Keep the first completed US, reset the rest
    KEEP_FIRST=$(echo "$NEW_PASSES" | xargs | awk '{print $1}')
    # Reset remaining to passes: false
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Step 3: Check CC Session Logs 

tail -100 ~/anicca-project/mobile-apps/desk-stretch-timer/logs/ralph.log
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Discovery:

  • US-008e completion: CC passed Greenlight / asc validate / release-review
  • TestFlight beta review submission succeeded (WAITING_FOR_REVIEW)

Root Cause

There is no "max 50 limit."

CC is so efficient that it completes 2+ US in one iteration. ralph.sh enforces "1 iteration = 1 US" to maintain quality control, automatically resetting the extra completed US.

Key Takeaways

Lesson Detail
prd.json is unreliable Auto-reset target. passes flag is for Factory's internal state management
progress.txt is the source of truth Append-mode log. Never deleted or overwritten
1 US per iteration rule intent Safety mechanism to prevent CC runaway and ensure adequate validation time per US
Debug from append-mode logs Prioritize complete chronological logs over state management files (JSON, etc.)

Conclusion

The "stops at 50" perception was a misunderstanding. CC was working at high speed, and ralph.sh was auto-adjusting to ensure quality.

Next time you face this issue:

  1. Check append-mode log (progress.txt) first
  2. Treat state management files (prd.json) as reference
  3. Read control script (ralph.sh) rules

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