wiki-bootstrap

wiki-bootstrap

One-shot skill that sets up a new LLM Wiki vault in the current working directory. After bootstrap, the generated CLAUDE.md plus the wiki-ingest / wiki-query / wiki-lint skills drive all ongoing operations.

Pattern reference

The pattern you are applying is the LLM Wiki. Background is bundled with this plugin (read only if needed):

• origin/llm-wiki.md — the original pattern (three layers: raw, wiki, schema; three operations: ingest, query, lint).
• origin/llm-wiki-v2.md — scaling extensions (confidence, lifecycle, graph, automation).
• origin/obsidian-conventions.md — frontmatter, wikilinks, mermaid rules.

You do not need to explain the pattern to the user during bootstrap. Apply it.

Step 1 — Pre-flight: inspect the directory

Before writing anything, enumerate current state. Run ls -la in the working directory and classify:

• VCS/meta: .git/, LICENSE, README.md, .gitignore, .editorconfig
• Existing Obsidian vault: .obsidian/
• Existing wiki: CLAUDE.md, wiki/, raw/
• Markdown notes: loose .md files that are not the files above
• Other content: code, configs, anything else

Step 2 — Decide placement

Match the directory state to one of these cases and confirm with the user:

Directory state	Action
Empty, or only .git / LICENSE / README.md	Proceed in-place after confirming the use case.
Already has wiki/ + CLAUDE.md that looks like a bootstrapped vault	Stop. Tell the user this vault is already bootstrapped. Offer: augment (do not re-bootstrap), re-bootstrap anyway (warn: destructive), or pick a different directory.
Has markdown notes but no wiki structure	Offer three paths: (a) bootstrap in-place and move existing notes into raw/, (b) bootstrap in a subdirectory (e.g. ./wiki-vault/), (c) pick a different directory.
Has unrelated files (code, configs)	Offer: (a) bootstrap in a subdirectory, (b) pick a different directory. Do not mix a wiki into an unrelated project in-place.

Never overwrite an existing file silently. If a file you plan to create already exists, ask.

Step 3 — Interview the user

Ask these in one concise message (not one question at a time). Accept free-form answers.

1. Use case. Shortlist: personal (goals, journal, self-improvement), research (topic deep-dive), book companion (reading a specific book), course notes, business/team knowledge, competitive analysis, trip planning, other.
2. Domain specifics. What kinds of entities will dominate? People, papers, companies, characters, tools, concepts?
3. Source types. Primarily articles? PDFs? meeting notes? podcast transcripts? web clippings? transcripts?
4. Scale expectation. Handful of sources, dozens, or hundreds+?

Keep it tight. The schema can refine after the first few ingests.

Step 4 — Present the plan

Before writing any files, list exactly what you will create. Example:

I will create:
  raw/                               (empty, with .gitkeep)
  raw/assets/                        (empty, with .gitkeep)
  wiki/index.md
  wiki/log.md
  wiki/overview.md
  wiki/entities/                     (empty, with .gitkeep)
  wiki/concepts/                     (empty, with .gitkeep)
  wiki/sources/                      (empty, with .gitkeep)
  wiki/analysis/                     (empty, with .gitkeep)
  CLAUDE.md                          (tailored to your use case)
  .obsidian/app.json                 (sets attachment folder to raw/assets/)

Proceed?

Get explicit confirmation before writing.

Step 5 — Write the files

Use the templates in skills/wiki-bootstrap/templates/ as the baseline. Fill in variables from the interview:

• {{USE_CASE}} — short label (e.g. personal, research on distributed systems, book: The Power Broker).
• {{PURPOSE}} — one-paragraph mission statement you draft from the interview answers.
• {{ENTITY_TYPES}} — the dominant entity types the user named (comma-separated).
• {{SOURCE_TYPES}} — the source types the user named (comma-separated).
• {{DATE}} — today's date in YYYY-MM-DD.

Templates to render:

Template	Destination
templates/claude-md.template.md	CLAUDE.md
templates/index.template.md	wiki/index.md
templates/log.template.md	wiki/log.md
templates/overview.template.md	wiki/overview.md
templates/obsidian-app.template.json	.obsidian/app.json

Also create empty .gitkeep files in raw/, raw/assets/, wiki/entities/, wiki/concepts/, wiki/sources/, wiki/analysis/.

If the user chose to move existing .md notes into raw/ (Step 2), move them now, preserving filenames.

Step 6 — Report and hand off

After writing, report concisely:

• Files created (list).
• Entry appended to wiki/log.md: ## [{{DATE}}] bootstrap | Wiki initialized for {{USE_CASE}}.
• Next steps for the user:
  1. Open the directory as an Obsidian vault (Open folder as vault).
  2. Drop a first source into raw/.
  3. Ask to ingest it — the wiki-ingest skill will take over.
  4. Ask questions — wiki-query answers from the vault.
  5. Periodically ask to lint the wiki — wiki-lint keeps it healthy.

Stop there. Do not proactively continue into an ingest in the same turn.

Non-goals

• Do not install Obsidian plugins programmatically.
• Do not fetch sources from the web during bootstrap.
• Do not pre-populate entity or concept pages. Let them emerge from actual sources.
• Do not commit to git. Let the user decide when.