KB Init

One-time setup, migration, and repair for the review-gated workflow.

Quick Start

For a fresh vault, the happy path is four steps:

1. Init — run kb-init to create the support layer (raw/, wiki/, outputs/, AGENTS.md)
2. Ingest — run kb-ingest to register raw sources into raw/_manifest.yaml
3. Compile — run kb-compile to build reviewable drafts
4. Review — run kb-review to approve drafts into the permanent wiki under wiki/live/

After that, use kb-query to ask questions, kb-render to generate deterministic outward artifacts, and kb-review maintenance mode to audit drift.

This mirrors Karpathy's LLM Wiki pattern: raw sources are immutable evidence, the LLM compiles and maintains the wiki, and you curate by sourcing documents and asking the right questions.

If the user arrives with the simpler raw/wiki/output language from Chinese-LLM-Wiki, keep that as onboarding vocabulary only. The implementation still lands on the review-gated support layer.

Read before writing

Read these shared references first:

• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/scripts/skill-contract-registry.json
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/file-model.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/lifecycle-matrix.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/chinese-llm-wiki-compat.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/index-home-template.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/source-manifest-contract.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/memory-lifecycle.md

Treat skill-contract-registry.json as the canonical source for role, baseline command, required references, and expected write surfaces.

If onkb is available, use these commands first:

• onkb --json status <vault-root> to distinguish setup, repair, and needs-migration
• onkb --json init <vault-root> ... for fresh setup and non-destructive repair scaffolding
• onkb --json migrate <vault-root> ... for legacy single-layer vault migration
• onkb --json review governance <vault-root> --write when optional governance scaffolding should be materialized

If onkb is missing, follow the install fallback in ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/lifecycle-matrix.md, then rerun the same command.

Load on demand

Load these only when the trigger applies:

• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/schema-template.md — when vault-wide frontmatter fields beyond this skill's core schema need checking
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/summary-template.md — when creating or repairing draft source summaries
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/review-template.md — when repairing outputs/reviews/** records
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/briefing-template.md — when rebuilding or repairing wiki/briefings/**
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/activity-log-template.md — when appending an entry to wiki/log.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/questions-template.md — when scaffolding or repairing wiki/live/indices/QUESTIONS.md
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/provenance-and-alias-policy.md — when alias overlap, duplicate candidates, or provenance drift surfaces
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/query-writeback-lifecycle.md — when writeback candidates, writeback_status, or archive backlog work is involved
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/taxonomy-and-hubs.md — when repairing the topics layer or curated hubs
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/graph-contract.md — when graph exports, related edges, or relationship candidates are involved
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/topic-template.md — when shaping or promoting browse-layer topic pages
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/profile-contract.md — when account profiles or source_profile metadata is involved
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/automation-hooks.md — when wiring or invoking onkb review automation modes
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/procedure-template.md — when the durable delta is procedural (workflow or playbook)
• ../obsidian-notes-karpathy/references/episode-template.md — when outputs/episodes/** work is involved

Profile choice

Surface the operating profile during init or repair:

• governed-team for the strictest default governance
• standard for lighter maintenance noise without widening truth
• fast-personal for solo use where briefings can stay out of default query scope

Persist the chosen profile in scaffolded starter files so later lifecycle and query tooling can see it deterministically.

MEMORY.md is recommended collaboration scaffolding but not a blocking requirement. Solo / fast-personal vaults can skip it by running onkb --json init <vault-root> --skip-memory. The rest of the support layer still lands.

Create or repair the canonical structure

Create the required support layer:

raw/human/{articles,papers,podcasts,repos,assets}
raw/human/data
raw/agents/{role}/
raw/_manifest.yaml
wiki/drafts/{summaries,topics,concepts,entities,procedures,overviews,comparisons,indices}
wiki/live/{summaries,topics,concepts,entities,procedures,overviews,comparisons,indices}
wiki/briefings/
wiki/index.md
wiki/log.md
outputs/reviews/
AGENTS.md
CLAUDE.md

Create downstream output directories such as outputs/qa/, outputs/health/, outputs/reports/, outputs/slides/, outputs/charts/, and outputs/content/** only when the user wants full scaffolding or the later stages need them.

Treat MEMORY.md as recommended collaboration scaffolding. It should hold preferences, editorial priorities, and coordination context, not source-grounded topic knowledge.

Optional governance scaffolding may include:

• wiki/live/indices/QUESTIONS.md
• wiki/live/indices/GAPS.md
• wiki/live/indices/ALIASES.md
• wiki/live/indices/ENTITIES.md
• wiki/live/indices/RELATIONSHIPS.md

Optional latest-capability scaffolding may include:

• outputs/episodes/
• outputs/audit/operations.jsonl
• outputs/health/graph-snapshot.json

Migration posture

For legacy-layout vaults:

• preserve legacy content
• explain that direct wiki/summaries/ / wiki/concepts/ pages must move into wiki/live/
• scaffold the review-gated directories first
• treat migration as a repair step, not as a normal compile or query pass

Checkpoint

Before creating or repairing the support layer, confirm with the user:

• which operating profile to use (governed-team, standard, or fast-personal)
• whether optional governance scaffolding (QUESTIONS.md, GAPS.md, ALIASES.md) is wanted
• whether this is a fresh setup, a repair of an existing vault, or a legacy-layout migration

For a fresh vault with no existing content, proceed after profile selection without further confirmation.

Contract guarantees

• raw/ stays immutable
• kb-compile writes only to wiki/drafts/
• kb-review owns promotion into wiki/live/ and briefing refresh
• kb-query must not read drafts as truth
• AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md stay aligned on the review-gated file model
• downstream outputs beyond outputs/reviews/ are optional scaffolding, not minimum support-layer requirements

Starter files

Create:

• wiki/index.md
• wiki/log.md
• MEMORY.md
• raw/_manifest.yaml
• wiki/live/indices/INDEX.md
• wiki/live/indices/CONCEPTS.md
• wiki/live/indices/SOURCES.md
• wiki/live/indices/TOPICS.md
• wiki/live/indices/RECENT.md
• wiki/live/indices/EDITORIAL-PRIORITIES.md
• optional wiki/live/indices/QUESTIONS.md when the user wants governance scaffolding
• optional wiki/live/indices/ENTITIES.md and RELATIONSHIPS.md when the user wants graph-friendly navigation
• at least one example briefing or a placeholder in wiki/briefings/
• a review template example in outputs/reviews/ when the user wants a demonstrable starter

Output to the user

Report:

1. what was created or migrated
2. whether a legacy-layout / needs-migration state was detected
3. what existing content was preserved
4. the next recommended command, usually kb-compile or kb-review