| name | kb |
| description | Personal knowledge base conventions and session workflow for ~/Projects/kb |
Personal Knowledge Base (KB)
Framework for working with the Obsidian knowledge base at ~/Projects/kb. Full conventions are in ~/Projects/kb/AGENTS.md — read it at the start of any KB session.
Structure
| Location | Purpose |
|---|
inbox/inbox.md | Raw capture buffer — drop anything here |
notes/<topic>.md | Atomic zettelkasten notes (flat, title-based) |
mocs/<area>.md | Maps of Content — curated entry points into notes |
projects/<name>/ | Project overview, progress, and session files |
reference/<topic>.md | Stable lookup facts |
people/<name>.md | One file per person |
codebases/<name>/ | Codebase orientation notes |
File Types
| Type | Schema |
|---|
note | Atomic zettelkasten note — one idea, densely linked |
moc | Map of Content — navigable entry point into a topic cluster |
project | Project overview — goals, status, people, todos |
progress | Current state snapshot — read first, update last |
session | What happened in a work session |
reference | Stable lookup facts |
person | Who someone is |
Session Workflow
Starting
- Read
projects/<project>/progress.md — current phase, in-flight, next up, blockers
- Read 1-2 recent session files if more context needed
- State your understanding before doing any work
During
- Track decisions as they happen
- Note blockers and open questions immediately
Ending
- Update
projects/<project>/progress.md — reflect actual current state
- Create
projects/<project>/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD.md
- Commit:
jj describe -m "<brief description>" && jj new
Frontmatter
All files have YAML frontmatter with alphabetized fields. Key fields:
type: categorizes the note (note, moc, project, progress, session, reference, person)
updated: ISO 8601 date, updated whenever the file changes
project: wikilink to project overview, e.g. "[[projects/mvcp/mvcp]]"
Internal Links
Use Obsidian wikilinks with full vault-root paths:
[[notes/active-passive-design]]
[[mocs/atlas-control-plane]]
[[projects/mvcp/progress|progress]]
[[people/craig-wilson|Craig Wilson]]
[[reference/mongodb/fiscal-calendar]]
Reference Guide
Load detailed guidance based on context:
| Topic | Reference | Load When |
|---|
| Zettelkasten | references/zettelkasten.md | Creating or linking notes, unsure what belongs in notes/ vs elsewhere |
| Research | references/research.md | Conducting research, creating new notes from investigation |
| Project management | references/project-management.md | Starting, continuing, or completing a project |
| Inbox processing | references/process-inbox.md | Processing inbox, synthesizing captures, clearing inbox items |
Anti-Patterns
❌ Creating a note without first checking if one already exists
❌ Ending a session without updating progress.md
❌ Using git instead of jj
❌ Putting atomic knowledge in projects/ instead of notes/
❌ Creating a MOC with fewer than 3 linked notes