| name | manage-a-knowledge-base |
| description | Run a personal knowledge base or second brain as a system, not a junk drawer. Use for any stage of a notes collection: "process my inbox / triage my captures", "find contradictions across my notes", "synthesize / weave these notes together", "prune / clean up my ideas list", "archive stale notes / decay scan", "check my notes for broken links or missing metadata", "manage my vault / zettelkasten / second brain". Produces filed notes, collision logs, synthesis notes, a pruned idea list, archive decisions, and an integrity report, depending on the phase invoked. |
Manage a Knowledge Base
A notes collection has a lifecycle. Captures come in raw, get sorted, get connected, get synthesized, and eventually decay, and the whole thing drifts into broken links and duplicates unless something maintains it. This kit is the six maintenance moves, each a self-contained workflow in reference/.
Pick the phase that matches what the collection needs right now. You don't run all six every time.
The lifecycle
CAPTURE → TRIAGE → CONNECT → SYNTHESIZE → CURATE → DECAY
↑
INTEGRITY (periodic cross-check)
- Triage: turn a pile of raw captures into filed, structured notes. →
reference/triage-captures.md
- Connect: find where notes contradict, reinforce, or unexpectedly bridge. →
reference/find-collisions.md
- Synthesize: knit several notes into one integrated piece aimed at a question. →
reference/synthesize-notes.md
- Curate: prune the idea backlog; graduate the clusters that earned it. →
reference/curate-ideas.md
- Decay: score notes by use and age; archive the cold, promote the proven. →
reference/decay-and-archive.md
- Integrity: audit metadata, links, and contradictions across the whole base. →
reference/audit-integrity.md
Which phase do I need?
| The user says… | Phase | Reference |
|---|
| "process my inbox", "I have a pile of unsorted captures" | Triage | reference/triage-captures.md |
| "what contradicts what", "find connections across my notes" | Connect | reference/find-collisions.md |
| "synthesize these", "knit these threads", "the bigger picture" | Synthesize | reference/synthesize-notes.md |
| "clean up my ideas", "which ideas are worth keeping" | Curate | reference/curate-ideas.md |
| "archive stale notes", "my base is bloated", "decay scan" | Decay | reference/decay-and-archive.md |
| "broken links", "missing metadata", "integrity check" | Integrity | reference/audit-integrity.md |
Principles that hold across every phase
- Batch the judgment moments, never auto-promote. The value of a note system is the human deciding what's worth keeping. Surface decisions in small batches; don't let the assistant silently file or delete.
- Recurrence beats excitement. A pattern, idea, or cluster graduates only when it shows up across multiple independent sessions. One enthusiastic capture is not a trend.
- Confidence threshold over volume. One strong, real finding beats ten maybes. False positives erode trust in the whole system faster than missed ones.
- Protect the evergreen. Anything marked durable is never auto-archived, however old or untouched.
Output
Each phase produces its own artifact: filed notes, a dated collision log, a synthesis note, a pruned idea file, archive/promotion decisions, or an integrity report with a pass rate. Open the matching reference for the exact steps and output format.
