From alive
Creates custom skills, rules, hooks, and plugins for ALIVE Context System. Checks compatibility, writes to user space with symlinks, validates, suggests repeated work as skills, hands off marketplace plugins.
npx claudepluginhub alivecontext/alive --plugin aliveThis skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
Build custom capabilities that integrate cleanly with the ALIVE Context System.
Creates Claude Code skills at project or global scope by prompting for specs, generating SKILL.md with trigger phrases and instructions, and writing to disk.
Create, improve, and test SKILL.md files to extend Claude Code with project-specific knowledge and reusable workflows.
Guides creation, improvement, and organization of skills for Claude Code plugins, including SKILL.md structure, frontmatter metadata, bundled resources, and best practices.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
Build custom capabilities that integrate cleanly with the ALIVE Context System.
Not about adjusting preferences or voice (that's alive:settings). Extend is about creating NEW things — skills, rules, hooks — that make the system do something it couldn't before.
| Type | What it is | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Repeatable workflow with instructions | .alive/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md |
| Rule | Behavioral constraint or guide | .alive/rules/{rule-name}.md |
| Hook | Automated trigger on system events | .alive/hooks/ (scripts + hooks.json) |
| Plugin | Distributable package of skills + rules + hooks | Hands off to contributor@alivecontext |
"I want to automatically tag emails by walnut" "Every time I save, it should update my project board" "I keep doing this manually every session — can we automate it?"
The squirrel determines: is this a skill (process), a rule (constraint), a hook (automation), or a combination?
╭─ squirrel that sounds like a hook — an automated trigger that fires on save.
│ Want me to build it?
│
│ It would:
│ - Fire after every alive:save
│ - Read the routed stash items
│ - Update your project board via API
│
│ > Build it / Tell me more / Not now
╰─
Before writing anything:
plugin.jsonNEVER write to the plugin cache. Plugin cache (~/.claude/plugins/) gets overwritten on update. Custom capabilities live in the human's own space:
.alive/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md.alive/rules/{rule-name}.md.alive/hooks/ (scripts + .claude/hooks.json additions)These persist across plugin updates. They're the human's own.
Claude Code only discovers skills in ~/.claude/skills/. After writing a custom skill to .alive/skills/, always create the symlink:
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}
ln -sf .alive/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md
The session-new hook auto-syncs these on every startup, but creating the symlink immediately means the skill is available in the current session without restart.
This is mandatory. A skill without its symlink is invisible to Claude Code.
After writing:
╭─ squirrel built: auto-tag-emails
│
│ Type: hook (PostToolUse)
│ Location: .alive/hooks/auto-tag-emails.sh
│ Fires: after every email capture via alive:capture-context
│ Does: reads email sender, matches against person walnuts, tags accordingly
│
│ Test it now?
╰─
The squirrel watches for repeated patterns across sessions. When it spots the human doing the same thing manually:
╭─ squirrel spotted
│ You've done this 3 sessions in a row. Should this be a skill?
│
│ > Make it a skill?
│ 1. Yeah, let's build it
│ 2. Not yet
│ 3. What would it look like?
╰─
Pattern detection looks for:
A custom skill follows the same format as core skills:
.alive/skills/{skill-name}/
SKILL.md # Instructions (same format as plugin skills)
heavy-revive.md # Optional sub-docs loaded on demand
templates/ # Optional templates used by the skill
The SKILL.md frontmatter:
---
name: {skill-name}
description: "What this skill does — one sentence"
user-invocable: true
---
---
type: rule
name: {rule-name}
version: 1.0
scope: world | walnut:{name} | session
---
# {Rule Name}
[What this rule constrains or guides, when it applies, what behavior it enforces]
Hook scripts in .alive/hooks/ with corresponding entries in .claude/hooks.json:
{
"hooks": [
{
"type": "PostToolUse",
"matcher": "Write|Edit",
"command": ".alive/hooks/my-custom-hook.sh"
}
]
}
When a custom skill is polished and battle-tested:
╭─ squirrel this skill could work for other builders
│ Want to package it for the marketplace?
│
│ > Next step?
│ 1. Package for marketplace (needs contributor plugin)
│ 2. Keep it personal
│ 3. Tell me more about the marketplace
╰─
Contributor plugin handoff: For marketplace packaging, PII stripping, testing, and publishing -> suggest installing contributor@alivecontext. This is a SEPARATE plugin, not part of the alive core. The extend skill's job ends at building working custom capabilities. The contributor plugin handles everything from packaging to publishing.
╭─ squirrel to publish this skill:
│
│ 1. Install the contributor plugin:
│ claude plugin install contributor@alivecontext
│
│ 2. Run: alive:contribute {skill-name}
│ It handles: PII check, packaging, testing, submission
│
│ > Install contributor plugin now?
╰─
alive:settings — tune adjusts preferences and config. Extend creates new capabilities.Tune adjusts the dials. Extend adds new dials.