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+# Ralph Circuit Breaker — Model Rate Limit Fallback
+
+> Classic circuit breaker pattern (Hystrix / Polly / Resilience4j) applied to Copilot model selection.
+> When the preferred model hits rate limits, Ralph automatically degrades to free-tier models, then self-heals.
+
+## Problem
+
+When running multiple Ralph instances across repos, Copilot model rate limits cause cascading failures.
+All Ralphs fail simultaneously when the preferred model (e.g., `claude-sonnet-4.6`) hits quota.
+
+Premium models burn quota fast:
+| Model | Multiplier | Risk |
+|-------|-----------|------|
+| `claude-sonnet-4.6` | 1x | Moderate with many Ralphs |
+| `claude-opus-4.6` | 10x | High |
+| `gpt-5.4` | 50x | Very high |
+| `gpt-5.4-mini` | **0x** | **Free — unlimited** |
+| `gpt-5-mini` | **0x** | **Free — unlimited** |
+| `gpt-4.1` | **0x** | **Free — unlimited** |
+
+## Circuit Breaker States
+
+```
+┌─────────┐   rate limit error    ┌────────┐
+│ CLOSED  │ ───────────────────►  │  OPEN  │
+│ (normal)│                       │(fallback)│
+└────┬────┘   ◄──────────────── └────┬────┘
+     │        2 consecutive          │
+     │        successes              │ cooldown expires
+     │                               ▼
+     │                          ┌──────────┐
+     └───── success ◄────────  │HALF-OPEN │
+             (close)            │ (testing) │
+                                └──────────┘
+```
+
+### CLOSED (normal operation)
+- Use preferred model from config
+- Every successful response confirms circuit stays closed
+- On rate limit error → transition to OPEN
+
+### OPEN (rate limited — fallback active)
+- Fall back through the free-tier model chain:
+  1. `gpt-5.4-mini`
+  2. `gpt-5-mini`
+  3. `gpt-4.1`
+- Start cooldown timer (default: 10 minutes)
+- When cooldown expires → transition to HALF-OPEN
+
+### HALF-OPEN (testing recovery)
+- Try preferred model again
+- If 2 consecutive successes → transition to CLOSED
+- If rate limit error → back to OPEN, reset cooldown
+
+## State File: `.squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json`
+
+```json
+{
+  "state": "closed",
+  "preferredModel": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
+  "fallbackChain": ["gpt-5.4-mini", "gpt-5-mini", "gpt-4.1"],
+  "currentFallbackIndex": 0,
+  "cooldownMinutes": 10,
+  "openedAt": null,
+  "halfOpenSuccesses": 0,
+  "consecutiveFailures": 0,
+  "metrics": {
+    "totalFallbacks": 0,
+    "totalRecoveries": 0,
+    "lastFallbackAt": null,
+    "lastRecoveryAt": null
+  }
+}
+```
+
+## PowerShell Functions
+
+Paste these into your `ralph-watch.ps1` or source them from a shared module.
+
+### `Get-CircuitBreakerState`
+
+```powershell
+function Get-CircuitBreakerState {
+    param([string]$StateFile = ".squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json")
+
+    if (-not (Test-Path $StateFile)) {
+        $default = @{
+            state              = "closed"
+            preferredModel     = "claude-sonnet-4.6"
+            fallbackChain      = @("gpt-5.4-mini", "gpt-5-mini", "gpt-4.1")
+            currentFallbackIndex = 0
+            cooldownMinutes    = 10
+            openedAt           = $null
+            halfOpenSuccesses  = 0
+            consecutiveFailures = 0
+            metrics            = @{
+                totalFallbacks  = 0
+                totalRecoveries = 0
+                lastFallbackAt  = $null
+                lastRecoveryAt  = $null
+            }
+        }
+        $default | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 | Set-Content $StateFile
+        return $default
+    }
+
+    return (Get-Content $StateFile -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+}
+```
+
+### `Save-CircuitBreakerState`
+
+```powershell
+function Save-CircuitBreakerState {
+    param(
+        [object]$State,
+        [string]$StateFile = ".squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json"
+    )
+
+    $State | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 3 | Set-Content $StateFile
+}
+```
+
+### `Get-CurrentModel`
+
+Returns the model Ralph should use right now, based on circuit state.
+
+```powershell
+function Get-CurrentModel {
+    param([string]$StateFile = ".squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json")
+
+    $cb = Get-CircuitBreakerState -StateFile $StateFile
+
+    switch ($cb.state) {
+        "closed" {
+            return $cb.preferredModel
+        }
+        "open" {
+            # Check if cooldown has expired
+            if ($cb.openedAt) {
+                $opened = [DateTime]::Parse($cb.openedAt)
+                $elapsed = (Get-Date) - $opened
+                if ($elapsed.TotalMinutes -ge $cb.cooldownMinutes) {
+                    # Transition to half-open
+                    $cb.state = "half-open"
+                    $cb.halfOpenSuccesses = 0
+                    Save-CircuitBreakerState -State $cb -StateFile $StateFile
+                    Write-Host "  [circuit-breaker] Cooldown expired. Testing preferred model..." -ForegroundColor Yellow
+                    return $cb.preferredModel
+                }
+            }
+            # Still in cooldown — use fallback
+            $idx = [Math]::Min($cb.currentFallbackIndex, $cb.fallbackChain.Count - 1)
+            return $cb.fallbackChain[$idx]
+        }
+        "half-open" {
+            return $cb.preferredModel
+        }
+        default {
+            return $cb.preferredModel
+        }
+    }
+}
+```
+
+### `Update-CircuitBreakerOnSuccess`
+
+Call after every successful model response.
+
+```powershell
+function Update-CircuitBreakerOnSuccess {
+    param([string]$StateFile = ".squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json")
+
+    $cb = Get-CircuitBreakerState -StateFile $StateFile
+    $cb.consecutiveFailures = 0
+
+    if ($cb.state -eq "half-open") {
+        $cb.halfOpenSuccesses++
+        if ($cb.halfOpenSuccesses -ge 2) {
+            # Recovery! Close the circuit
+            $cb.state = "closed"
+            $cb.openedAt = $null
+            $cb.halfOpenSuccesses = 0
+            $cb.currentFallbackIndex = 0
+            $cb.metrics.totalRecoveries++
+            $cb.metrics.lastRecoveryAt = (Get-Date).ToString("o")
+            Save-CircuitBreakerState -State $cb -StateFile $StateFile
+            Write-Host "  [circuit-breaker] RECOVERED — back to preferred model ($($cb.preferredModel))" -ForegroundColor Green
+            return
+        }
+        Save-CircuitBreakerState -State $cb -StateFile $StateFile
+        Write-Host "  [circuit-breaker] Half-open success $($cb.halfOpenSuccesses)/2" -ForegroundColor Yellow
+        return
+    }
+
+    # closed state — nothing to do
+}
+```
+
+### `Update-CircuitBreakerOnRateLimit`
+
+Call when a model response indicates rate limiting (HTTP 429 or error message containing "rate limit").
+
+```powershell
+function Update-CircuitBreakerOnRateLimit {
+    param([string]$StateFile = ".squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json")
+
+    $cb = Get-CircuitBreakerState -StateFile $StateFile
+    $cb.consecutiveFailures++
+
+    if ($cb.state -eq "closed" -or $cb.state -eq "half-open") {
+        # Open the circuit
+        $cb.state = "open"
+        $cb.openedAt = (Get-Date).ToString("o")
+        $cb.halfOpenSuccesses = 0
+        $cb.currentFallbackIndex = 0
+        $cb.metrics.totalFallbacks++
+        $cb.metrics.lastFallbackAt = (Get-Date).ToString("o")
+        Save-CircuitBreakerState -State $cb -StateFile $StateFile
+
+        $fallbackModel = $cb.fallbackChain[0]
+        Write-Host "  [circuit-breaker] RATE LIMITED — falling back to $fallbackModel (cooldown: $($cb.cooldownMinutes)m)" -ForegroundColor Red
+        return
+    }
+
+    if ($cb.state -eq "open") {
+        # Already open — try next fallback in chain if current one also fails
+        if ($cb.currentFallbackIndex -lt ($cb.fallbackChain.Count - 1)) {
+            $cb.currentFallbackIndex++
+            $nextModel = $cb.fallbackChain[$cb.currentFallbackIndex]
+            Write-Host "  [circuit-breaker] Fallback also limited — trying $nextModel" -ForegroundColor Red
+        }
+        # Reset cooldown timer
+        $cb.openedAt = (Get-Date).ToString("o")
+        Save-CircuitBreakerState -State $cb -StateFile $StateFile
+    }
+}
+```
+
+## Integration with ralph-watch.ps1
+
+In your Ralph polling loop, wrap the model selection:
+
+```powershell
+# At the top of your polling loop
+$model = Get-CurrentModel
+
+# When invoking copilot CLI
+$result = copilot-cli --model $model ...
+
+# After the call
+if ($result -match "rate.?limit" -or $LASTEXITCODE -eq 429) {
+    Update-CircuitBreakerOnRateLimit
+} else {
+    Update-CircuitBreakerOnSuccess
+}
+```
+
+### Full integration example
+
+```powershell
+# Source the circuit breaker functions
+. .squad-templates/ralph-circuit-breaker-functions.ps1
+
+while ($true) {
+    $model = Get-CurrentModel
+    Write-Host "Polling with model: $model"
+
+    try {
+        # Your existing Ralph logic here, but pass $model
+        $response = Invoke-RalphCycle -Model $model
+
+        # Success path
+        Update-CircuitBreakerOnSuccess
+    }
+    catch {
+        if ($_.Exception.Message -match "rate.?limit|429|quota|Too Many Requests") {
+            Update-CircuitBreakerOnRateLimit
+            # Retry immediately with fallback model
+            continue
+        }
+        # Other errors — handle normally
+        throw
+    }
+
+    Start-Sleep -Seconds $pollInterval
+}
+```
+
+## Configuration
+
+Override defaults by editing `.squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json`:
+
+| Field | Default | Description |
+|-------|---------|-------------|
+| `preferredModel` | `claude-sonnet-4.6` | Model to use when circuit is closed |
+| `fallbackChain` | `["gpt-5.4-mini", "gpt-5-mini", "gpt-4.1"]` | Ordered fallback models (all free-tier) |
+| `cooldownMinutes` | `10` | How long to wait before testing recovery |
+
+## Metrics
+
+The state file tracks operational metrics:
+
+- **totalFallbacks** — How many times the circuit opened
+- **totalRecoveries** — How many times it recovered to preferred model
+- **lastFallbackAt** — ISO timestamp of last rate limit event
+- **lastRecoveryAt** — ISO timestamp of last successful recovery
+
+Query metrics with:
+```powershell
+$cb = Get-Content .squad/ralph-circuit-breaker.json | ConvertFrom-Json
+Write-Host "Fallbacks: $($cb.metrics.totalFallbacks) | Recoveries: $($cb.metrics.totalRecoveries)"
+```