Homebrew and GitHub release installs missing builtin skills

[suryaiyer95]

Problem

When altimate-code is installed via Homebrew (brew install altimate/tap/altimate-code) or from GitHub release archives, builtin skills are never copied to ~/.altimate/builtin/. This means users get zero builtin skills — a significantly degraded experience compared to npm installs.

How skills get installed today

The npm install path works correctly:

1. publish.ts:32 copies skills into the published wrapper package: cp -r ../../.opencode/skills ./dist/${pkg.name}/skills
2. postinstall.mjs:136-149 (copySkillsToAltimate()) copies them to ~/.altimate/builtin/ on every install/upgrade
3. At runtime, skill.ts:111-121 scans ~/.altimate/builtin/ and loads all builtin skills

What Homebrew/GitHub release archives contain

The Homebrew formula (publish.ts:191-244) only installs the bare binary:

def install
  bin.install "altimate"
  bin.install_symlink "altimate" => "altimate-code"
end

The GitHub release archives (build.ts:278-282) are created from dist/${key}/bin/ — just the compiled binary:

// Linux
await $`tar -czf ${archivePath}.tar.gz *`.cwd(`dist/${key}/bin`)
// macOS/Windows  
await $`zip -r ${archivePath}.zip *`.cwd(`dist/${key}/bin`)

Neither path includes the skills/ directory or runs postinstall.mjs.

Impact

Install method	Skills copied to ~/.altimate/builtin/?	Skills available?
npm install -g altimate-code	Yes (via postinstall.mjs)	Yes
npm install -g @altimateai/altimate-code	Yes (via postinstall.mjs)	Yes
brew install altimate/tap/altimate-code	No	No
Download from GitHub releases	No	No

Users who install via Homebrew (common on macOS) or download release binaries get no builtin skills — they only get project-local skills from .opencode/skills/ if they happen to be in a project that has them.

Root cause

The builtin skills distribution is coupled to npm's postinstall lifecycle hook. Homebrew and direct binary installs bypass npm entirely, so the skill copy never happens.

Proposed solutions

Option A: Bundle skills into the compiled binary (recommended)

Embed the skills directory into the Bun binary at build time using Bun.file() or a define/import:

• Skills are just markdown files (SKILL.md) — small enough to embed
• No filesystem dependency — works for all install methods
• At startup, extract to ~/.altimate/builtin/ if missing or outdated (check version marker)

Option B: Include skills in release archives + Homebrew formula

1. Release archives: Include skills/ alongside the binary in tar/zip:

   // Copy skills into dist bin directory before archiving
   await $`cp -r ../../.opencode/skills dist/${key}/bin/skills`
   await $`tar -czf ${archivePath}.tar.gz *`.cwd(`dist/${key}/bin`)

2. Homebrew formula: Install skills directory and add a post_install step:

   def install
     bin.install "altimate"
     bin.install_symlink "altimate" => "altimate-code"
     (share/"altimate-code/skills").install Dir["skills/*"]
   end
   
   def post_install
     builtin_dir = Pathname.new(Dir.home) / ".altimate" / "builtin"
     builtin_dir.rmtree if builtin_dir.exist?
     cp_r (share/"altimate-code/skills").to_s, builtin_dir.to_s
   end

3. Binary first-run: Have the binary itself check on startup if ~/.altimate/builtin/ exists, and if not, extract embedded skills or warn the user.

Option C: First-run self-install

Have the binary detect missing skills on first run and copy them from a known location (e.g., adjacent skills/ directory or embedded resource). This is the most resilient approach since it works regardless of install method.

Relevant files

File	Role
packages/opencode/script/publish.ts:32	Copies skills into npm package
packages/opencode/script/publish.ts:191-244	Generates Homebrew formula — no skills
packages/opencode/script/build.ts:278-282	Creates release archives — no skills
packages/opencode/script/postinstall.mjs:136-149	Copies skills to ~/.altimate/builtin/ (npm only)
packages/opencode/src/skill/skill.ts:107-121	Loads builtin skills from ~/.altimate/builtin/
.opencode/skills/	Source of truth for builtin skills