Distillation guide

This guide covers extracting Allium specifications from existing codebases. The core challenge is the same as forward elicitation: finding the right level of abstraction. In elicitation you filter out implementation ideas as they arise. In distillation you filter out implementation details that already exist. Both require the same judgement about what matters at the domain level.

Code tells you how something works. A specification captures what it does and why it matters. The skill is asking "why does the stakeholder care about this?" and "could this be different while still being the same system?"

Scoping the distillation effort

Before diving into code, establish what you are trying to specify. Not every line of code deserves a place in the spec.

Questions to ask first

1. "What subset of this codebase are we specifying?" Mono repos often contain multiple distinct systems. You may only need a spec for one service or domain. Clarify boundaries explicitly before starting.