# Obsidian Starter Kit - System - LLM Wiki System
🏠 [[Obsidian Starter Kit - User Guide|User Guide]] / [[Obsidian Starter Kit - Systems|Systems]] / **LLM Wiki System**
The LLM Wiki System is the OSK's framework for building **persistent, AI-maintained knowledge bases**. Inspired by Andrej Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Base pattern (April 2026), it lets you collect raw sources on any topic and have an LLM compile, cross-reference, and maintain a structured wiki. The human curates sources and asks questions; the LLM handles the bookkeeping.
Part of the [[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - AI Assistant System|AI Assistant System]].
#### TL;DR
- Three-layer architecture: Raw Sources (immutable) -> Wiki (LLM-maintained) -> Schema (shared conventions)
- Nine core operations: create, ingest, explore, query, lint, list, deepen, graduate, absorb
- Note type: `type/ai_wiki` with wiki-specific tags `ai_wiki/<wiki-slug>`
- Naming convention: `AI Wiki - <Wiki Name> - <Article>.md` prevents clashes
- Each article tracks: wiki_name, wiki_role, explored status, confidence level, maturity, sources, graduated_notes
- Index.md catalogs all articles; Log.md records all operations chronologically
- Speculative links (red links) allowed; they signal future exploration targets
- Dedicated agent (OSK Wiki Curator) and review panel (osk-panel-wiki-review)
## 🎯 Philosophy
The bottleneck in traditional knowledge management is human attention: cross-references rot, indexes go stale, contradictions go unnoticed.
The LLM Wiki approach moves the mechanical bookkeeping — writing summaries, maintaining cross-references, updating indexes, flagging contradictions — to the LLM. The human focuses on source curation and strategic questioning.
Key insight from Karpathy: "The tedious part of maintaining a knowledge base is not the reading or the thinking. It's the bookkeeping." LLMs excel at exactly this.
This creates:
- **Compounding knowledge**. Every ingestion and query enriches the wiki
- **Source provenance**. Every claim traces back to a source with confidence levels
- **Living structure**. Cross-references stay current automatically
- **Low maintenance**. The LLM does the tedious work; you do the thinking
## 🏗️ Architecture
### Three Layers
| Layer | Contents | Who Maintains | Rules |
|-------|----------|---------------|-------|
| Raw Sources (`raw/`) | Articles, papers, PDFs, images, data | Human curates | Immutable. LLM reads, never modifies |
| The Wiki | Markdown articles, Index, Log | LLM maintains | LLM owns: creates, updates, cross-links |
| The Schema | `osk-wiki-shared` skill | Co-evolved | Defines structure, naming, workflows |
### Directory Structure
```
10 Meta/99 AI Assistant/Wikis/
<Wiki Name>/
AI Wiki - <Wiki Name> - Index.md # Catalog of all articles
AI Wiki - <Wiki Name> - Log.md # Chronological operation record
AI Wiki - <Wiki Name> - <Article>.md # Wiki articles
raw/ # Source documents
```
### Note Type: AI Wiki Articles
Tag: `type/ai_wiki`
Wiki-specific tag: `ai_wiki/<wiki-slug>` (e.g., `ai_wiki/machine-learning`)
Template: `TPL AI Wiki Article.md`
Folder: `10 Meta/99 AI Assistant/Wikis/<Wiki Name>/`
Properties:
| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|----------|------|----------|-------------|
| wiki_name | text | yes | Name of the wiki |
| wiki_role | select | yes | article, index, log, or source_summary |
| explored | boolean | yes | Whether topic is fully developed |
| ai_generated | boolean | yes | Always true for wiki articles |
| confidence | select | no | high, medium, low, or uncertain |
| maturity | select | no | stub, draft, substantial, or mature. Computed from content metrics |
| sources | list | no | Source material references |
| graduated_notes | list | no | Permanent notes extracted during graduation |
### Special Files
**Index.md**: The entry point for both humans and LLMs. Contains:
- Wiki description and scope
- Statistics (article count, explored ratio)
- Categorized article links with one-line summaries
- Unexplored topics list
**Log.md**: Append-only chronological record of all operations:
```markdown
## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] ingest | Article Title
Ingested: URL/file/note reference
- Files created: list
- Files updated: list
```
## 📝 Core Operations
### Create (`osk-wiki-create`)
Scaffold a new wiki: directory, Index, Log, optional seed articles. Can seed from a topic description or existing vault notes.
### Ingest (`osk-wiki-ingest`)
Process a source (URL, file, vault note) into the wiki:
1. Fetch/read the source
2. Create source summary article
3. Update existing concept articles with new info
4. Create stub articles for new concepts
5. Update Index and Log
A single source typically touches 5-15 wiki articles.
### Explore (`osk-wiki-explore`)
Deeper exploration of topics. Three depth levels:
- **Shallow**: Stubs with key points
- **Medium**: Substantial articles (default)
- **Deep**: Full coverage with web research
For 3+ independent topics, uses parallel agents for speed.
### Query (`osk-wiki-query`)
Ask complex questions against the wiki:
1. Read Index to find relevant articles
2. Search and gather from multiple articles
3. Synthesize answer with wikilink citations
4. Optionally file the answer back as a new article (compounding!)
### Lint (`osk-wiki-lint`)
Health check with 9 checks:
- Frontmatter completeness
- Index consistency
- Orphan detection
- Red link analysis
- Contradiction detection
- Confidence assessment
- Exploration gaps
- Cross-link density
- Naming convention compliance
### List (`osk-wiki-list`)
Show all wikis with stats: article count, word count, explored ratio, confidence distribution, last activity.
## 🤖 Agent and Panels
**OSK Wiki Curator** agent: Light agent that owns wiki quality, maturity assessment, graduation, and vault bridging. Accumulates knowledge about what works. Always loads `osk-wiki-shared`.
**osk-panel-wiki-review** panel: reviews wiki articles from multiple angles:
- Wiki Curator (structure) + Researcher (accuracy) + Skeptic (claims) + Beginner (accessibility) + Editor (prose)
**osk-panel-wiki-graduate** panel: quality-gates graduation candidates:
- Wiki Curator (decomposition quality) + Skeptic (claim strength) + Editor (standalone clarity) + Power User (depth/value)
## 🔄 Workflow Examples
### Knowledge Maturation Pipeline
1. Deepen: `osk-wiki-deepen` to take draft articles to substantial/mature
2. Lint: `osk-wiki-lint` check #10 validates maturity matches content
3. Graduate: `osk-wiki-graduate` proposes atomic notes from mature articles
4. Panel: `osk-panel-wiki-graduate` reviews candidates before creation
5. Absorb: `osk-wiki-absorb` bridges vault notes back into wiki articles
6. Repeat: Each cycle moves knowledge from AI-maintained wiki to human-owned Zettelkasten
### Building a Research Wiki
1. Create: `osk-wiki-create` with name "Quantum Computing" and seed topics
2. Ingest: Drop papers and articles into raw/, run `osk-wiki-ingest` for each
3. Explore: `osk-wiki-explore` to fill gaps and expand stubs
4. Query: Ask questions, file valuable answers back as articles
5. Lint: Periodic health checks to maintain quality
6. Repeat: Each cycle compounds knowledge
### Personal Knowledge Wiki
1. Create wiki from existing vault notes on a topic
2. The LLM extracts concepts, creates cross-referenced articles
3. New learning gets ingested; wiki grows organically
4. Becomes a queryable personal knowledge base
## 🔧 Integration with Other Systems
- **[[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - AI Assistant System|AI Assistant System]]**: Wikis are a subsystem; the Wiki Curator agent lives in the agent framework
- **[[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Learning System|Learning System]]**: Wiki articles complement literature notes; ingest from Readwise highlights
- **[[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Zettelkasten System|Zettelkasten System]]**: Wiki articles are NOT permanent notes, but mature articles can be graduated into atomic permanent notes via `osk-wiki-graduate`. The `graduated_notes` property tracks provenance
- **[[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Maintenance System|Maintenance System]]**: Wiki lint integrates with vault health checks
## 🎨 Best Practices
1. **One wiki per topic domain**. Don't mix unrelated subjects
2. **Ingest high-quality sources**. Garbage in, garbage out; curate your raw/ folder
3. **Review confidence levels**. Articles with `confidence: low` need more sources
4. **Run lint monthly**. Catch contradictions and orphans before they accumulate
5. **File query answers back**. This is what makes the wiki compound
6. **Use the Index as your entry point**. Don't navigate the file system randomly
7. **Let red links guide exploration**. They show you where the wiki wants to grow
8. **Don't manually edit wiki articles**. Let the LLM maintain them; add your insights as sources
## 🚧 Common Challenges
- **Wiki too broad**: Keep scope focused; one wiki per research domain
- **Stale content**: Run lint to detect; re-ingest updated sources
- **Low confidence everywhere**: Need more diverse sources; prioritize high-quality ingestion
- **Too many red links**: Normal for young wikis; use explore to fill the most-referenced ones first
- **Context window limits**: Large wikis (400K+ words) may need vector search; the Index helps navigate
## 🚀 Next Steps
- **Start small**: Create a wiki on a topic you're actively researching
- **Seed from vault**: Use existing permanent and literature notes as starting material
- **Ingest 5-10 sources**: Get enough material for meaningful cross-references
- **Ask 3 questions**: Test the query workflow; file valuable answers back
- **Run lint once**: See how the health check works and what it catches
- **Expand gradually**: Let the wiki grow organically through research and ingestion
## 🔗 Related Documentation
**OSK Systems**:
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - AI Assistant System]]
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Learning System]]
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Zettelkasten System]]
**OSK Reference**:
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - Reference - Note Types#AI Wiki Articles|AI Wiki Articles note type]]
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - Reference - Templates#TPL AI Wiki Article|AI Wiki Article template]]
**Concepts and Architecture**:
- [[AI Assistant Architecture]]
- [[LLM Wiki]]
- [[Andrej Karpathy]]
- [[Farzapedia]]
**Tutorials**:
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - Tutorial - Creating Your First LLM Wiki]]
- [[Obsidian Starter Kit - Tutorial - Using LLM Wikis]]