Open Knowledge

OpenKnowledge — agent guidance

OpenKnowledge (OK) is a markdown-CRDT collaboration platform exposed via MCP. This skill is the single source of OK agent guidance. Every rule below is a MUST unless marked otherwise. *Depth lives in `references/.md` — one level deep; load a reference when its task comes up.**

Skill version tracks @inkeep/open-knowledge-server. cat ~/.ok/skill-state.yml shows what's installed. ok seed needs @inkeep/open-knowledge >= 0.4.0; if it errors unknown command, npm install -g @inkeep/open-knowledge.

Setup (not connected yet?). If the mcp__open-knowledge__* tools aren't available in your client, this project isn't wired up on this machine — see `references/setup.md` for the rung ladder (approve .mcp.json → ok start CLI → optional desktop app) and the canonical quickstart.

TL;DR — the 90% case

1. Reads: exec("cat …") for one doc, exec("ls -A …") for a directory (folder defaults + template menu), exec("grep …") for literal, search for ranked retrieval. Native Read / Grep only on source code (.ts / .py / …), never on in-scope .md / .mdx.
2. Writes: write({ document: { path, content } }) for a new or full-replace doc; edit({ document: { path, find, replace } }) for a body find/replace; edit({ document: { path, frontmatter } }) for a frontmatter merge-patch (null deletes a key). delete({ document }) removes, move({ from, to }) moves/renames. Body find/replace is body-only. Pass a one-line summary (≤80 chars, user-facing outcome) on every content write.
3. Preview / open a doc — determine your ONE surface FIRST (once per session). Stop at first match: `OK_DESKTOP_TERMINAL` or `OK_HOSTED_AGENT` set → you're inside OpenKnowledge (desktop terminal / in-app agent panel) → ok open <name> (switches the window the user is already looking at); never paste a localhost URL into your reply here · in-app browser (Claude Code Desktop's Browser pane, Cursor, Codex) → preview_url, then open/navigate it to the doc · else plain CLI → ok open <name>. ok open <name> opens a doc or folder (auto-detected); --skill <name> for a skill. The previewUrl field is a route id, not your open mechanism. Don't preview_screenshot to confirm edits. Full Step-0 procedure + per-surface how-to: references/preview.md.
4. Knowledge layers: capturing a source (ingest), synthesizing findings (research), promoting a decision (consolidate) — procedures, not tool calls; there is no ingest tool. Ingest ships here (references/ingest-and-sources.md); research + consolidate come with the knowledge-base pack. Layer model + packs: references/starter-packs.md.
5. Direct questions: a plain business question ("which customers…", "what did we decide about…") routes to search / exec + a cited chat answer — no "research" keyword needed. Persist only when durable + multi-doc + not already covered, and offer first. See references/corpus-qa.md.
6. Authoring or improving a skill ("write/make/improve a skill", "turn this into a skill"): STOP and invoke `/open-knowledge-write-skill` for scope (project/global), contract, evaluation, and install. Author through write({ skill }), never a document path. Skills are real folders under editor skills/ dirs (.claude · .cursor · .codex · .github · .opencode · .pi · .agents): one source plus managed copies/symlinks. Read/edit via `skills` and `edit({ skill })` — they route to the source. Never hand-edit a non-source copy: managed copies refresh from the source; editing one forks it and stops refresh.

Tool index — 21 tools (router; the MCP tool descriptions carry each tool's full contract)

• Reads — exec (primary; cat/ls/grep/… on a read-only filesystem, plus frontmatter/backlink/history enrichment; one command or one pipe, not a shell), search (ranked BM25 + recency), history (doc versions), links (kind: backlinks|forward|dead|orphans|hubs|suggest, or an array for one call), skills (search + read: query → skills.sh; omit name to LIST managed (Project + Global); name READs one — by name+scope, never path), config (resolved config), palette (authoring forms + html preview starters + theme tokens; palette({ components }) for JSX schemas), preview_url (preview URL on demand), share_link (GitHub-substrate share URL; read-only, errors without a GitHub remote), lint (markdown-lint violations: document for one doc, omit for the project; fix: true with document auto-fixes fixable rules in place — attributed, live in the preview; the rest need edit/write), audit (every lint violation + broken internal link in one report, by source file with lines; path scopes; for link VALIDATION use this, not links; caveats in references/linking.md). Read `ran` on successful `lint`/`audit` results: a family absent from `ran` was not checked, and `[]` means no checks were selected.
• Writes — four native CRUD verbs, polymorphic over document / folder / template / skill / asset (pass EXACTLY ONE target, nested under its address key): write (create/overwrite; write({ skill: {…} }) authors a skill as a REAL folder at the project's default skill home — live immediately for that folder's agent), edit (body find/replace/frontmatter merge-patch; no asset), delete, move (move/rename, rewrites referrers; a skill also takes scope/toScope for Project↔Global: history resets, only what the destination level can host re-projects; the rest is removed at source, returned as droppedLocations (success: re-add with install)). Output mirrors the input key; the preview envelope (previewUrl, warning) stays top-level. Plus install (WHERE a skill lives: add/remove locations additively — editor ids, agents, or custom roots; mode + convert re-form ONLY the locations named; source moves the real folder. The source folder IS the skill — no "uninstall everywhere"; a skill dies only via delete), import (acquire a skill-dir into add's locations; scripts never run), checkpoint (named version), and restore_version (roll back). A folder's frontmatter is open-shape and self-only (does NOT cascade); templates are what new docs start with.
• Conflicts — conflicts (kind: list|content), resolve_conflict (write a resolution from that conflict's resolutionOptions; commits only for merge-native; destructive). See references/conflict-resolution.md.

Self-correcting on misuse: constraints JSON Schema can't express ("exactly one target", "find needs a replace", body-XOR-frontmatter) return isError: true with a one-line corrective shape. Read it and retry with that shape; don't guess.

Tools NOT in OK MCP (your host's): preview_start, preview_screenshot, WebFetch, WebSearch, native Read / Grep / Glob / Edit. The STOP rule governs which you may use on in-scope markdown.

STOP — native tools on in-scope .md / .mdx

Route every in-scope markdown read and write through OK's MCP tools — never your host's native file tools. Native Edit / sed / direct Write on in-scope markdown bypasses the CRDT and loses agent attribution in the shadow repo; native reads skip frontmatter, backlinks, shadow-repo activity, and project git history that OK returns for every matched file. When this workspace has OpenKnowledge MCP configured, do not use native file tools on markdown paths inside the content directory. The ban covers every common rationalization:

• Native `Read` / `Grep` / `Glob` on in-scope `.md` / `.mdx` — the original case.
• `Bash ls` / `Bash find` / `Bash cat` on dirs containing in-scope markdown — use exec("ls -A …") / exec("find … -name '*.md'") / exec("cat …"). Native returns bare names; exec adds frontmatter, backlinks, and recent activity. -A shows hidden entries without ./...