@limulus/delto

@limulus/delto

Delto keeps a human-readable backlog — a BACKLOG.md — alongside your code, plus a journal of completed work (by default under docs/journal/). Every item carries an immutable three-character ID — a "deltoid" like ∆u2o — that travels with it from the backlog into its journal entry. Delto comes in two parts: the /delto skill, which teaches a coding agent how to keep the backlog, and the delto CLI, the deterministic pieces the skill leans on — minting collision-free IDs, finding eligible work, claiming, and completing.

Getting started

npx skills add limulus/delto
npx @limulus/delto@1 bootstrap

bootstrap materializes the starter files into a project that has no BACKLOG.md yet: the backlog itself, the journal README, and a .gitignore entry for delto's local claim ledger.

Working with delto

Drive delto through the skill, usually as /delto <action>:

• /delto add — capture new work. Describe it conversationally and the skill mints a fresh deltoid, writes a well-formed item, and places it in the backlog.
• /delto plan — start on a piece of work. Name an item, or let the skill surface an eligible one (nothing blocked or already claimed), claim it for you, and plan it.
• /delto complete — accept finished work. The skill writes the item's journal entry, then removes it from BACKLOG.md, fitting whatever commit workflow you use.

Each step maps to a deterministic CLI subcommand (bootstrap, mint, surface, claim, release, complete) — run any with --help, or read the skill, for the specifics.

The backlog

A delto BACKLOG.md is plain Markdown. The spec's only hard rules: each item carries a deltoid, and a trailing ; needs: ∆aaa marks a hard dependency. The rest is up to you — the skill's examples group items under initiative and epic headings, but that's a convention, not a requirement.

The ∆ sigil

Using a non-ASCII character to prefix an ID may seem like a pain to type. However, on macOS, it can be typed with option-J. For other systems and voice to text, the skill informs the agent that either “delto” or “delta” followed by three characters is a deltoid.

Requirements

Node.js 20 or newer.