compounding-intelligence/knowledge/SCHEMA.md

Knowledge File Format Specification

Version: 1 Issue: #10 Status: Draft

---

Overview

The knowledge system has two layers:

1. index.json — Machine-readable fact index. Fast lookups by ID, category, repo, tags.
2. Knowledge files (YAML) — Human-readable, editable facts organized by domain.

The harvester writes to both. The bootstrapper reads from index.json. Humans edit the YAML files directly.

---

index.json Schema

{
  "version": 1,
  "last_updated": "ISO-8601 timestamp",
  "total_facts": 0,
  "facts": []
}

Fact Object

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	string	yes	Unique identifier: {domain}:{category}:{sequence}
fact	string	yes	One-sentence description of the knowledge
category	enum	yes	One of: fact, pitfall, pattern, tool-quirk, question
domain	string	yes	Where this applies: repo name, global, or agent name
confidence	float	yes	0.0–1.0. How certain is this knowledge?
tags	string[]	no	Searchable labels: ["git", "auth", "gitea"]
source_count	int	no	How many sessions confirmed this fact
first_seen	date	no	ISO-8601 date first extracted
last_confirmed	date	no	ISO-8601 date last seen in a session
expires	date	no	Optional. After this date, fact is stale
related	string[]	no	IDs of related facts

ID Format

{domain}:{category}:{sequence}

• domain — repo name, global, or agent type
• category — one of the 5 categories
• sequence — zero-padded 3-digit number: 001, 002, ...

Examples:

• the-nexus:pitfall:001
• global:tool-quirk:012
• hermes-agent:pattern:003

Categories

Category	Definition	Example
fact	Concrete, verifiable information	"Gitea API requires token auth at /api/v1"
pitfall	Errors, wrong assumptions, time-wasters	"Assumed env var GITEA_TOKEN; actual path is ~/.config/gitea/token"
pattern	Successful sequences of actions	"To deploy: test → build → push → webhook"
tool-quirk	Environment-specific behaviors	"URL format requires trailing slash on macOS"
question	Identified but unanswered	"Need optimal batch size for harvesting"

Confidence Scoring

Range	Meaning
0.9–1.0	Explicitly stated and verified
0.7–0.8	Clearly implied by multiple data points
0.5–0.6	Suggested but not fully verified
0.3–0.4	Inferred from limited data
0.1–0.2	Speculative or uncertain

---

Knowledge Files (YAML)

Human-readable files stored in knowledge/ subdirectories.

Directory Structure

knowledge/
├── index.json                  # Machine-readable fact index
├── SCHEMA.md                   # This file
├── global/                     # Cross-repo knowledge
│   ├── pitfalls.yaml           # Pitfalls that span multiple repos
│   ├── patterns.yaml           # Proven workflows
│   └── tool-quirks.yaml        # Environment behaviors
├── repos/                      # Per-repo knowledge
│   ├── the-nexus.yaml
│   ├── hermes-agent.yaml
│   └── ...
└── agents/                     # Agent-type knowledge
    ├── mimo-sprint.yaml
    └── ...

YAML File Format

---
domain: global                    # or repo name or agent name
category: tool-quirk              # fact, pitfall, pattern, tool-quirk, question
version: 1
last_updated: "2026-04-13"
---

# Tool Quirks (Global)

Cross-environment behaviors that bite you if you don't know them.

## Authentication

- id: global:tool-quirk:001
  fact: "Gitea token stored at ~/.config/gitea/token, not env var"
  confidence: 0.95
  tags: [git, auth, gitea]
  source_count: 23
  first_seen: "2026-03-27"
  last_confirmed: "2026-04-13"
  related: [global:pitfall:003]

- id: global:tool-quirk:002
  fact: "Gitea API uses 'token' header format: Authorization: token TOKEN"
  confidence: 0.9
  tags: [git, api, gitea]
  source_count: 8
  first_seen: "2026-03-28"

Rules

1. One file per domain per category. repos/the-nexus.yaml holds all the-nexus facts. Don't mix categories across files.
2. Markdown sections for humans. The YAML items live under markdown headers. This makes the files readable in Gitea's UI.
3. ID is the link. The id field connects YAML facts to index.json entries. Same ID = same fact.
4. Harvester writes, humans edit. The harvester appends new facts. Humans can correct confidence, add tags, or mark expired.

---

Sync Rules

1. Harvester → YAML: Appends new facts to the appropriate YAML file.
2. Harvester → index.json: Adds/updates fact entries.
3. Human edits YAML: Changes propagate to index.json on next harvester run.
4. Confidence decay: Facts not confirmed in 30+ sessions get confidence *= 0.9.
5. Expiration: Facts with expires date past current date are marked stale in index.json.

---

Validation

Facts must pass these checks before entering the index:

1. id matches format {domain}:{category}:{sequence}
2. category is one of the 5 allowed values
3. confidence is between 0.0 and 1.0
4. fact is non-empty string, max 280 characters
5. domain is non-empty string
6. tags are lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens
7. No duplicate IDs in index.json

Validation script: scripts/validate_knowledge.py