Allium is a formal language for capturing software behaviour at the domain level. It sits between informal feature descriptions and implementation, providing a precise way to specify what software does without prescribing how it's built.

What this is

This repository ports Allium's AI skills from the Claude Code plugin format to pi.dev skills, while keeping upstream content referenced by symlink rather than copied. The goal: stay in sync with upstream Allium without maintaining a full fork.

Skills

Skill	Invocation	Purpose
allium	`/skill:allium`	Root skill — routing table and language reference
elicit	`/skill:elicit`	Elicit requirements and design decisions from stakeholders
distill	`/skill:distill`	Extract a `.allium` spec from existing code
propagate	`/skill:propagate`	Generate test obligations from a `.allium` spec
tend	`/skill:tend`	Maintain and evolve `.allium` specs (ported from Claude agent)
weed	`/skill:weed`	Check spec-code alignment (ported from Claude agent)

Directory layout

pi-allium-port/
├── allium-main/            ← git clone of juxt/allium (upstream)
├── .pi/
│   └── skills/
│       ├── allium/
│       │   ├── SKILL.md    ← adapted frontmatter + upstream content
│       │   └── references/ → ../../../allium-main/references/
│       ├── elicit/
│       │   ├── SKILL.md
│       │   └── references/ → symlinks to allium-main/
│       ├── distill/
│       │   ├── SKILL.md
│       │   └── references/ → symlinks to allium-main/
│       ├── propagate/
│       │   ├── SKILL.md
│       │   └── references/ → symlinks to allium-main/
│       ├── tend/
│       │   ├── SKILL.md
│       │   └── references/ → symlinks to allium-main/
│       └── weed/
│           ├── SKILL.md
│           └── references/ → symlinks to allium-main/
├── turn-limit/             ← test target (pi-turn-limit extension)
└── README.md               ← this file

Symlink strategy

Each skill's references/ directory contains symlinks pointing into allium-main/. This means:

Upstream updates propagate automatically — when allium-main is updated (e.g., git pull), all referenced content is current.
No content duplication — the port maintains only the SKILL.md frontmatter adapters, not copies of reference documents.
Relative paths — symlinks use relative paths so the structure is portable (as long as allium-main/ stays in the same relative position).

Staying in sync

cd allium-main
git pull origin main

That's it. The symlinks ensure all skills see the updated content immediately.

Prerequisites

pi.dev installed and configured
Allium CLI installed (for allium check validation)
Clone this repository with allium-main/ present

Usage

Open pi in this directory: pi -p
Invoke skills with /skill:allium, /skill:elicit, /skill:distill, /skill:propagate, /skill:tend, /skill:weed
Skills guide the model through Allium workflows

Known limitations vs Claude Code version

Feature	Claude Code	Pi.dev port	Notes
Model selection	Agents run on specific models (e.g., Opus for tend/weed)	Runs on default model	Pi has no native agent model selection
Tool restrictions	Agents have scoped tool permissions	No tool scoping	Skills can use any tool the model has
Auto-trigger	`auto_trigger` activates skills on file patterns/keywords	Manual invocation only	Pi uses `disable-model-invocation` instead
Post-write hooks	`allium-check.mjs` runs automatically after Edit/Write	Manual `allium check` instruction in skills	Skills instruct the model to run validation, but it's not automatic
Rules	`.claude/rules/` with glob-based activation	Content folded into SKILL.md or references	No glob-based rule activation in pi
Syntax rules	Dedicated rules file with anti-patterns	Symlinked into `references/allium-rules.md`	Same content, different delivery mechanism

Tested against

The pi-turn-limit extension served as the test target:

Distill: Extracted .allium spec from existing code
Propagate: Generated 30+ test obligations from the spec
Elicit: Explored "disable turn limit" feature requirements
TDD cycle: Red → Green using propagate-generated tests

License

This port adapts the Allium skills for pi.dev. The upstream Allium content (reference documents, skill methodologies) remains the intellectual property of JUXT Ltd under the MIT License. The port adapter files (SKILL.md frontmatter) are also released under MIT.

See LICENSE for full terms.

Attribution

Allium: juxt/allium by JUXT Ltd
Allium documentation: juxt.github.io/allium
Pi.dev: pi.dev

Contributing

If you find issues with the port or have improvements, please open an issue or pull request. For Allium language questions, refer to the upstream repository.