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

Source: Dev.to

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]"
}

Step 1: Check progress.txt

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

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

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

Step 3: Check CC Session Logs

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

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

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:

• Check the append‑mode log (progress.txt) first.
• Treat state‑management files (prd.json) as reference only.
• Review the control script (ralph.sh) for enforcement rules.