Wiki init

Skill: Wiki Init

First-time setup for a new wiki. Creates the folder structure, schema files, and configures Alexandria to manage the wiki.

Trigger

Manual only — user invokes /wiki-init. Not auto-triggered.

Prerequisites

• User must confirm they want to create a new wiki (not migrate an existing one)
• Target directory must be empty or user confirms overwrite

Flow

1. User Preferences Gathering (LLM)

The LLM asks the user for:

1. Wiki location: Absolute path on disk (e.g., /Path/To/Wiki)
2. Wiki purpose: 1-2 sentence description of what the wiki is for
3. Naming preference: How to name the wiki (user provides a name)

2. Preferences Validation

LLM confirms the details back to the user before proceeding:

I'll create a wiki called "[Name]" at [path] with the following structure:
- raw/ (source material intake)
  - assets/ (for images, PDFs, etc.)
- wiki/ (wiki pages)
- index.md
- log.md
- [AGENTS/CLAUDE].md (Alexandria schema)

Ready to proceed? (yes/no)

3. Scaffold Execution (Tool: mcp__alexandria__scaffold)

Tool receives: { path: string, name: string, purpose?: string}

Tool creates:

wiki-root/
├── raw/
│   └── assets/
├── wiki/
├── index.md
├── log.md
├── CLAUDE.md
└── AGENTS.md

4. Schema Generation (LLM + Tool)

LLM generates the CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md schema tailored to the user's answers, then writes it via the host agent's file write capability.

Schema includes:

• Folder structure documentation
• Source/raw conventions (immutable intake, frontmatter requirements)
• Wiki page conventions (frontmatter, wikilinks, tags)
• Index conventions
• Log conventions
• Workflows (ingest, query, lint)

5. Initial Files

Tool creates:

• index.md with header and "General" section for unorganized pages
• log.md with header and first entry: ## [YYYY-MM-DD] init | Wiki created: [name]

6. Alexandria Config

Tool creates .alexandria.json in the wiki root:

{
  "wikiPath": "/absolute/path/to/wiki",
  "wikiName": "Name",
  "created": "YYYY-MM-DD",
  "version": "1.0"
}

Note: Focus folders (like wiki/agents/) are created later, as topics emerge and grow deep enough to warrant their own folder. They are lightweight organizational aids, not a rigid structure.

7. Awareness and Extraction

• Session-start awareness comes from Alexandria's MCP instructions field.
• If the host does not surface those instructions reliably, add explicit project instructions manually in AGENTS.md.
• End-of-session filing is available manually through the mcp__alexandria__extract_session MCP tool.

Output Format

✓ Wiki "[Name]" initialized at [path]
✓ Folder structure created
✓ Schema written to CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md
✓ Index and log created
✓ Alexandria config written to .alexandria.json

Next steps:
1. Drop source material into raw/ to start building your wiki
2. Use /wiki-ingest to process sources into wiki pages
3. Alexandria will automatically retrieve relevant context in new sessions

Edge Cases

• Directory not empty: Ask user to confirm overwrite or choose different path
• Permission denied: Report error with the specific path that failed
• Host doesn't surface MCP instructions: Tell the user to add the AGENTS template manually