diff --git a/flowchart/src/App.tsx b/flowchart/src/App.tsx
index 4b4276cf..7862ac14 100644
--- a/flowchart/src/App.tsx
+++ b/flowchart/src/App.tsx
@@ -241,8 +241,9 @@ function App() {
   };
 
   const initialNodes = getNodes(1);
-  const initialEdges = edgeConnections.map((conn, index) =>
-    createEdge(conn, index < 0)
+  // All edges start invisible - they appear as user steps through the flowchart
+  const initialEdges = edgeConnections.map((conn) =>
+    createEdge(conn, false)
   );
 
   const [nodes, setNodes] = useNodesState(initialNodes);
@@ -319,7 +320,7 @@ function App() {
     setVisibleCount(1);
     nodePositions.current = { ...positions };
     setNodes(getNodes(1));
-    setEdges(edgeConnections.map((conn, index) => createEdge(conn, index < 0)));
+    setEdges(edgeConnections.map((conn) => createEdge(conn, false)));
   }, [setNodes, setEdges]);
 
   return (
diff --git a/ralph.sh b/ralph.sh
index baff052a..21dd8878 100755
--- a/ralph.sh
+++ b/ralph.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # Usage: ./ralph.sh [--tool amp|claude] [max_iterations]
 
 set -e
+set -o pipefail
 
 # Parse arguments
 TOOL="amp"  # Default to amp for backwards compatibility
@@ -33,11 +34,12 @@ if [[ "$TOOL" != "amp" && "$TOOL" != "claude" ]]; then
   echo "Error: Invalid tool '$TOOL'. Must be 'amp' or 'claude'."
   exit 1
 fi
-SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)" || { echo "Error: Cannot determine script directory"; exit 1; }
 PRD_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/prd.json"
 PROGRESS_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/progress.txt"
 ARCHIVE_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/archive"
 LAST_BRANCH_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/.last-branch"
+HINTS_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/.ralph-hints.txt"
 
 # Archive previous run if branch changed
 if [ -f "$PRD_FILE" ] && [ -f "$LAST_BRANCH_FILE" ]; then
@@ -48,13 +50,16 @@ if [ -f "$PRD_FILE" ] && [ -f "$LAST_BRANCH_FILE" ]; then
     # Archive the previous run
     DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
     # Strip "ralph/" prefix from branch name for folder
-    FOLDER_NAME=$(echo "$LAST_BRANCH" | sed 's|^ralph/||')
+    FOLDER_NAME="${LAST_BRANCH#ralph/}"
     ARCHIVE_FOLDER="$ARCHIVE_DIR/$DATE-$FOLDER_NAME"
     
     echo "Archiving previous run: $LAST_BRANCH"
-    mkdir -p "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER"
-    [ -f "$PRD_FILE" ] && cp "$PRD_FILE" "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER/"
-    [ -f "$PROGRESS_FILE" ] && cp "$PROGRESS_FILE" "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER/"
+    if ! mkdir -p "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER"; then
+      echo "Error: Failed to create archive folder: $ARCHIVE_FOLDER"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    [ -f "$PRD_FILE" ] && { cp "$PRD_FILE" "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER/" || echo "Warning: Failed to archive prd.json"; }
+    [ -f "$PROGRESS_FILE" ] && { cp "$PROGRESS_FILE" "$ARCHIVE_FOLDER/" || echo "Warning: Failed to archive progress.txt"; }
     echo "   Archived to: $ARCHIVE_FOLDER"
     
     # Reset progress file for new run
@@ -68,41 +73,115 @@ fi
 if [ -f "$PRD_FILE" ]; then
   CURRENT_BRANCH=$(jq -r '.branchName // empty' "$PRD_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
   if [ -n "$CURRENT_BRANCH" ]; then
-    echo "$CURRENT_BRANCH" > "$LAST_BRANCH_FILE"
+    if ! echo "$CURRENT_BRANCH" > "$LAST_BRANCH_FILE"; then
+      echo "Warning: Failed to write branch tracking file"
+    fi
   fi
 fi
 
 # Initialize progress file if it doesn't exist
 if [ ! -f "$PROGRESS_FILE" ]; then
-  echo "# Ralph Progress Log" > "$PROGRESS_FILE"
-  echo "Started: $(date)" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
-  echo "---" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
+  if ! { echo "# Ralph Progress Log" && echo "Started: $(date)" && echo "---"; } > "$PROGRESS_FILE"; then
+    echo "Error: Failed to initialize progress file"
+    exit 1
+  fi
 fi
 
 echo "Starting Ralph - Tool: $TOOL - Max iterations: $MAX_ITERATIONS"
 
+# Validate required tools are available
+if ! command -v jq &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Error: jq is required but not installed."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$TOOL" == "amp" ]] && ! command -v amp &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Error: amp is required but not installed."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$TOOL" == "claude" ]] && ! command -v claude &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "Error: claude is required but not installed."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Track consecutive errors
+ERROR_COUNT=0
+MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS=3
+
 for i in $(seq 1 $MAX_ITERATIONS); do
   echo ""
   echo "==============================================================="
   echo "  Ralph Iteration $i of $MAX_ITERATIONS ($TOOL)"
   echo "==============================================================="
 
+  # Check for user hints file and prepend to prompt if present
+  HINTS=""
+  if [ -f "$HINTS_FILE" ]; then
+    # Atomic read-and-delete: rename first, then read
+    HINTS_CONSUMED="${HINTS_FILE}.consumed"
+    if mv "$HINTS_FILE" "$HINTS_CONSUMED" 2>/dev/null; then
+      HINTS=$(cat "$HINTS_CONSUMED")
+      rm -f "$HINTS_CONSUMED"
+      echo "📌 Applying user hints to this iteration"
+    fi
+  fi
+
   # Run the selected tool with the ralph prompt
+  TOOL_EXIT_CODE=0
   if [[ "$TOOL" == "amp" ]]; then
-    OUTPUT=$(cat "$SCRIPT_DIR/prompt.md" | amp --dangerously-allow-all 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || true
+    if [ -n "$HINTS" ]; then
+      # Prepend hints to prompt for amp
+      OUTPUT=$( (printf '%s\n' "$HINTS"; echo ""; cat "$SCRIPT_DIR/prompt.md") | amp --dangerously-allow-all 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || TOOL_EXIT_CODE=$?
+    else
+      OUTPUT=$(cat "$SCRIPT_DIR/prompt.md" | amp --dangerously-allow-all 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || TOOL_EXIT_CODE=$?
+    fi
   else
     # Claude Code: use --dangerously-skip-permissions for autonomous operation, --print for output
-    OUTPUT=$(claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --print < "$SCRIPT_DIR/CLAUDE.md" 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || true
+    if [ -n "$HINTS" ]; then
+      # Prepend hints to CLAUDE.md for this iteration
+      OUTPUT=$( (printf '%s\n' "$HINTS"; echo ""; echo "---"; echo ""; cat "$SCRIPT_DIR/CLAUDE.md") | claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --print 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || TOOL_EXIT_CODE=$?
+    else
+      OUTPUT=$(claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --print < "$SCRIPT_DIR/CLAUDE.md" 2>&1 | tee /dev/stderr) || TOOL_EXIT_CODE=$?
+    fi
   fi
-  
+
+  # Check for tool errors
+  if [ "$TOOL_EXIT_CODE" -ne 0 ]; then
+    ERROR_COUNT=$((ERROR_COUNT + 1))
+    echo "⚠️  Warning: $TOOL exited with code $TOOL_EXIT_CODE (error $ERROR_COUNT of $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS)"
+    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - Iteration $i: $TOOL error (exit code $TOOL_EXIT_CODE)" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
+
+    if [ "$ERROR_COUNT" -ge "$MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS" ]; then
+      echo "❌ Error: $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS consecutive tool failures. Stopping."
+      echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - STOPPED: $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS consecutive failures" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  elif [ -z "$OUTPUT" ] || [ "${#OUTPUT}" -lt 50 ]; then
+    # Tool succeeded but output suspiciously short
+    ERROR_COUNT=$((ERROR_COUNT + 1))
+    echo "⚠️  Warning: $TOOL returned minimal output (error $ERROR_COUNT of $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS)"
+    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - Iteration $i: minimal output warning" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
+
+    if [ "$ERROR_COUNT" -ge "$MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS" ]; then
+      echo "❌ Error: $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS consecutive minimal outputs. Stopping."
+      echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - STOPPED: $MAX_CONSECUTIVE_ERRORS minimal outputs" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  else
+    # Success - reset error count
+    ERROR_COUNT=0
+  fi
+
   # Check for completion signal
   if echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -q "<promise>COMPLETE</promise>"; then
     echo ""
-    echo "Ralph completed all tasks!"
+    echo "✅ Ralph completed all tasks!"
     echo "Completed at iteration $i of $MAX_ITERATIONS"
+    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - COMPLETED at iteration $i" >> "$PROGRESS_FILE"
     exit 0
   fi
-  
+
   echo "Iteration $i complete. Continuing..."
   sleep 2
 done