Skills, writing, and the wiki — study lane and rulings
Skills, writing, and the wiki — study lane and rulings
This is the work list for the lane that opened today. You already have a working wiki. You do not need a new religion. You need to decide, piece by piece, what Grok should load, what stays in the vault as law, and what we never install. Intro-paragraph writing sits under skills, because the failure was “the agent did not have a small, loadable job for the first paragraph of a report.”
Walk it in order. Each stage is study, then a ruling, then a build only if you said yes. Do not build during study.
Two Grok windows cannot talk. They share this file and /Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-21-two-window-board.md. Orchestrator updates Current + Rulings. Pieces window writes Findings only. You carry messages between windows.
Source pack for the day (read these, not the internet again):
- This file
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-skills-writing-x-research.md/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-writing-normally.md/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-report-intro-paragraph.md/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Research/Report Intro Paragraph Bank.md/Users/n1/.grok/docs/user-guide/08-skills.md/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Systems/AI & Agentic Systems/LLM Knowledge Systems.md- Karpathy gist (unchanged idea file): https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Writing Craft/Opening Doors.md(the inventory fault)
Stage 0 — What you already have
Study. Confirm you are not missing a new Karpathy foundation. You are not. May 2, 2026 aligned this vault to his three layers: immutable raw/, compiled wiki/, schema in AGENTS.md, plus notes/index.md and log.md. The gist is still that idea file. He did not ship a v2.
What grew around it, not in it
| Piece | Status here | Ruling tomorrow |
|---|---|---|
| Three layers + ingest / query / lint | You have this | No rebuild |
| “LLM writes the wiki, human never writes” | You rejected this | Keep rejecting |
index.md enough at ~100 sources / a few hundred pages | Wiki is past that | Stage 4 |
| File good answers back | outputs/, journal | Stage 4: what may be filed |
| Lint / health | You have wiki health work | Stage 4: contradiction stays a report to you, not a fact the model writes |
| Search for agents | Humans have Pagefind; agents grep | Stage 4: qmd or similar, later |
| Next session must read yesterday’s ruling | Journal exists; next run still has to be pointed at it | Stage 5 |
Rule
- Karpathy foundations: unchanged / we already have them / do not re-implement from a 2026 tutorial
- We keep human custody of wiki prose (yes)
Stage 1 — Grok, as it actually works on this Mac
Study. Skills are not the only lever. Run grok inspect once and look at what it already sees.
| Lever | When it fires | Use for |
|---|---|---|
Rules / AGENTS.md / Writing Standards | Always | Law that must hold on every turn |
Skill (SKILL.md) | Slash /name, or auto if description matches | One repeatable job, too long to retype, too specific for always-on |
| Plan mode | You ask to plan | Shape before edits |
| Subagents | Parallel research or isolated work | Lanes, not prose voice |
| Workflows | Named multi-agent runs | Bounded fan-out you already use |
| Memory | Across sessions | Facts, not craft |
| Hooks / plugins / MCP | Events and integrations | Later, not this lane |
Locations, in priority: ./.grok/skills/ → repo .grok/skills/ → ~/.grok/skills/ → Claude/Cursor skill folders. Docs: /Users/n1/.grok/docs/user-guide/08-skills.md. Make a new one with /create-skill.
Rule
- Always-on law stays in Writing Standards /
AGENTS.md, not in a skill - A skill is allowed only when it is one job with a loud trigger
- Cap the active set (suggested: start at 3–5 of ours, hard ceiling 12)
- Stranger skill packs (Hassid 26, marketplace “Find Skills”) : out / later / inspect one by one
Do, after the rulings
-
grok inspectand keep a one-page list of what is live - Disable or ignore noise if Claude/Cursor skills are flooding the list (
[compat.claude]/[skills] disabledin~/.grok/config.toml)
Stage 2 — Skills to write, keep, or refuse
This is the main ruling block. Intro paragraphs live here.
2a. How a skill is supposed to work (X + Grok)
One skill, one job. The description is the switch. Keep SKILL.md lean. Put examples and long notes in references/. Read a stranger’s scripts before install. Add a skill only when the current set cannot do the job.
Rule
- We follow “one job, loud description, lean body, examples on the side”
- We do not paste Writing Standards into a skill
2b. Candidate: /how-i-write (user skill, ~/.grok/skills/)
What people actually run (Hassid, Peter Yang): voice, banned constructions, a few of your own sentences as samples, “use this unless I say otherwise.”
Study. /Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-writing-normally.md
Rule
- Build
/how-i-write: yes / no / later - Scope: user (every project) vs repo-only
- Auto-invoke vs slash-only (
disable-model-invocation) - What goes in: speakable sentences, no invented “you” scenes, no drumrolls, no object-as-person verbs. What stays out: the full standards file.
Do, if yes
-
/create-skill→how-i-write - Point the skill at the journal note; do not duplicate the law
- One session test: ask for a short report and see if it loads without being named
2c. Candidate: report intro (child of 2b, or its own skill)
This is the intro-paragraph item.
The job: first paragraph of a report, brief, or decision note answers the question. Sentence two continues sentence one. Dates, mechanisms, quotes wait for the body. Not a wiki opener. Not a personal-page intro. Not another test battery.
Study
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-report-intro-paragraph.md/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Research/Report Intro Paragraph Bank.md- Opening Doors, “The inventory”
- The current first paragraph of
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-fable-opus-degradation.md(the one that answers, then stops)
Rule
- Intro craft is a skill job (loads when writing a report) vs always-on law vs both (skill points at the journal; standards stay silent on report intros)
- Separate
/report-introvs a section inside/how-i-write - Suggested default to rule on: section inside
/how-i-write, triggered by “report,” “brief,” “decision note,” “write me an intro.” A second skill only if that trigger is too quiet. - We will not rebuild the nineteen-test Intro QA grind for reports
Do, if skill-yes
- Write the trigger phrases so a request like today’s “write me a thorough report” actually loads it
- Include one accepted specimen (the Fable-report first paragraph, once you are happy with it) and the struck class (inventory, drumroll, “you ask for Fable”)
- Practice: three report intros, you strike or keep, before we treat it as done
2d. Other skills people name — rule each
| Skill / pattern | What it is | Suggested ruling |
|---|---|---|
/grill-me | Questions before work | You already have PRD-first. Skip unless you want it as a slash for Grok. |
/write-a-prd | Idea → PRD | Later. You have a PRD habit. |
| Superpowers / TDD | Spec then tests then code | Code lane, not this lane. |
frontend-design | Stops default AI UI | Only if you are doing UI in Grok. |
skill-creator | Built in as /create-skill | Already have. |
/how-to, /about-me | Interview you, then plan | Skip. Overlap with profile + PRD. |
| Hook / newsletter / CTA packs | Creator content | Out. Wrong job. |
obsidian-skills | Agent reads/writes the vault | Out for now. Claude Code already lives in the vault. |
llm-wiki-skill / llm-wiki-cli | Starter Karpathy | Out. Downgrade. |
Rule (write yes / no / later next to each)
- grill-me
- write-a-prd
- Superpowers / TDD (park in a coding checklist, not here)
- frontend-design
- creator hook packs
- obsidian-skills / llm-wiki-skill
Stage 3 — How we use the model on writing
Not a skill. A work rule. Skills will fail if this is wrong.
Study. The X writers who keep a voice: research and outline with the model, mark weak sentences, never the first draft of the piece, never the angle. Opening line: you write it, or you reject theirs out loud.
Rule
- On reports and wiki pages, the model may draft; you keep the first paragraph if it fails the speakable test
- Or: you write sentence one, the model continues
- AI is allowed to: research, outline, find weak lines, propose three openings
- AI is not allowed to: ship a report whose first paragraph you have not read aloud
Do
- Put the allowed / not-allowed list in
/how-i-writeif that skill exists, else inwriting-normally.mdonly
Stage 4 — Karpathy deltas (only these)
Foundations did not change. Rule the optional extras.
| Delta | What it is | Suggested ruling |
|---|---|---|
| Agent search at wiki scale | qmd or similar; gist called this optional once the index is not enough | Later. Open when grep starts missing. |
| Contradiction as a human report | Model must not write “A contradicts B” as a wiki fact | Yes. Matches your eye-as-gate. |
| Do not file unpromoted answers as sources | One implementer built that loop and deleted it | Yes. Journal and outputs/ are not raw/. |
| Decisions as living objects (assumptions + new evidence) | Vigil-style | Interesting, not this month. You already journal decisions. |
| Watch sources for changes | Periodic re-ingest | Later. |
| Obsidian clipper + local images | In the gist tips | You likely have this. Confirm, do not rebuild. |
Rule
- qmd / agent search: now / later / never
- Contradiction stays a report to Wedge: yes / no
- Unpromoted chat answers may not enter
raw/: yes / no - Living-decision layer: park
Do, if yes on the first three
- One sentence in
AGENTS.mdor the wiki schema: contradictions are proposed, not written as fact - One sentence:
outputs/and journal are not sources - Do not install qmd until a session actually fails to find a page
Stage 5 — The next session has to read the ruling
This is the piece the second-brain posts have and we still drop.
Study. A correction that lives only in yesterday’s chat is gone. Karpathy-shaped vaults keep a rulings file the next run reads first.
You already write journal. The hole is: Grok/Claude starting a report tomorrow without being pointed at /Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-writing-normally.md and the report-intro note.
Rule
- Always-on pointer in repo
AGENTS.mdor Grok rules: before authored prose, read writing-normally + report-intro - Or: only the
/how-i-writeskill (weaker — it has to load) - Or: both (pointer + skill)
Do, after the ruling
- Write the pointer. One paragraph, no new law pile.
- Tomorrow’s first report in a fresh session is the test. If the intro is an inventory again, the pointer failed.
Stage 6 — Park / never
Do not spend tomorrow on these.
- 26-skill newsletter packs
- Marketplace install-count skills
- Re-cloning Karpathy from a blog
- Nineteen-test intro battery
- Letting the model own wiki prose
- Hook-formula skills for this vault’s reports
Suggested order tomorrow
- Stage 0 (15 min). Confirm Karpathy, tick the two rulings.
- Stage 1 (20 min).
grok inspect. Cap and refuse packs. - Stage 2b + 2c (the real work). Rule
/how-i-writeand where intro paragraphs live. If yes, build the skill the same sitting. Practice three intros. - Stage 3 (10 min). Allowed / not-allowed for AI on prose.
- Stage 5 (15 min). Pointer so the next session cannot “forget.”
- Stage 4 and 2d only if there is time. qmd waits.
Done for the day when: you have a written ruling on the writing skill, a written ruling on the intro job, and a pointer the next agent has to see.
Companion files
- X evidence:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-skills-writing-x-research.md - Speakable prose:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-writing-normally.md - Report intro write-act:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-report-intro-paragraph.md - Report intro bank:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Research/Report Intro Paragraph Bank.md - Worked example:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/journal/2026-08-20-fable-opus-degradation.md - Wiki schema page:
/Users/n1/Projects/llm-knowledge-base/wiki/Systems/AI & Agentic Systems/LLM Knowledge Systems.md