autoCommit config option appears to be ignored

[clancywist]

Bug Report

Environment

ralph-tui: 0.10.0
runtime: bun 1.2.22
os: darwin 25.2.0 (arm64)
agent: claude v2.1.50
tracker: beads
global-config: no
project-config: no
templates: default.hbs, json.hbs, beads.hbs, beads-bv.hbs
bundled-skills: 4
skills-installed: claude:67, opencode:9, droid:12, gemini:9, codex:9, kiro:12, cursor:11, github-copilot:9, kimi:0

Steps to reproduce

1. Set autoCommit = false (or autoCommit = true) in project config
2. Run ralph-tui run
3. Observe that the autoCommit setting has no effect — the behavior is the same regardless of the value

Expected behavior

• When autoCommit = false: changes should be left uncommitted for manual review
• When autoCommit = true: the engine should automatically commit changes after task completion

Actual behavior

The autoCommit config option seems to be ignored in all cases.

[subsy]

@clancywist can you let me know if you're setting this in the config file or via the TUI settings panel?
The behaviour of changing the option in the TUI settings panel was that it would only be picked up on engine restart - I'm changing that but want to know if this is what youre seeing.
Also, would you be able to test if you get the same behaviour with bun 1.3.x (ideally 1.3.6 or higher as that's where all my testing has been done and my autoCommit settings from engine start are adhered to through runs)

[clancywist]

Hey @subsy, thanks for the quick response!

I was setting autoCommit via the TUI settings panel, not the config file directly. So that likely matches the behavior you described (only picked up on engine restart).

I've also upgraded from Bun 1.2.22 to 1.3.9 as suggested — will retest and report back.

[subsy]

@clancywist did it work out OK?

[clancywist]

Still reproducing the issue.

ralph-tui: 0.10.0
runtime: bun 1.3.9
agent: claude v2.1.56

[subsy]

@clancywist thanks - one more question....you mentioned:

Set autoCommit = false (or autoCommit = true) in project config
Run ralph-tui run
Observe that the autoCommit setting has no effect — the behavior is the same regardless of the value

What is the actual behaviour you're seeing ?

a) Always commits regardless of setting, or
b) Never commits regardless of setting

?

[clancywist]

Always commits regardless of setting

[subsy]

@clancywist thanks

Two more follow ups:

1. Are you running ralph-tui in parallel mode or serial? For parallel mode autoCommit cant be disabled because commits are necessary for merging the changes from the isolated worktrees.

2. Do you have any templates in either of the following locations:

   In the project repo: .ralph-tui/templates/
   Global: ~/.config/ralph-tui/templates/

? (If so, check if they contain instructions for the model to commit)

[clancywist]

Hey @subsy,

I'm running serial — just ralph-tui run --prd ./tasks/prd.json, no --parallel flag.

No custom templates either. But looking at the default json.hbs, step 5 literally tells the agent to commit in Conventional Commits format. Wondering if that's what's stomping on autoCommit=false.

[subsy]

@clancywist yes, that was my hunch and I think whats the problem gere - but the default template hasn't had that line since I changed autoCommit to be something executed deterministically in code.

Try running ralph-tui template init --global --force

[clancywist]

@subsy that did the trick! After ralph-tui template init --global --force, autoCommit = false is now properly respected. Thanks for walking me through it!

[subsy]

@clancywist awesome, and no worries - glad you're all set