Wiki Maintenance Protocol
Wiki Maintenance Protocol
TL;DR: A wiki only compounds if it’s actively maintained. This protocol defines regular reviews to ensure the wiki stays healthy, current, and growing.
The Growth Mindset
This wiki is a living system, not a static document. It should:
- Grow with every source ingested
- Improve with every question asked
- Evolve as understanding deepens
- Stay current as the AI field changes
If the wiki isn’t changing, something is wrong.
Review Cadences
Daily (5-10 minutes)
Goal: Keep momentum, capture fresh knowledge
- Ingest at least one source OR ask one exploratory question
- Review any pages touched today — catch errors early
- Note any new questions that arose
Trigger: End of each work session with Claude
Weekly (30-45 minutes)
Goal: Ensure structural health, plan growth
- Run full lint check:
"Lint the wiki thoroughly" - Review log — what was added this week?
- Check for orphan pages (no inbound links)
- Update index if categories have grown
- Review 🌱 seedling pages — any ready to upgrade to 🌿 growing?
- Identify 2-3 topics to explore next week
- Update changelog with week’s highlights
Day: Pick a consistent day (e.g., Friday or Sunday)
Monthly (1-2 hours)
Goal: Strategic review, major updates, structural evolution
- Review all domain overview pages — still accurate?
- Check glossary completeness — missing important terms?
- Assess tool reviews — any outdated (AI changes fast!)
- Review open questions (see index#Questions) — any resolved? any stale?
- Analyze wiki growth metrics (see below)
- Consider structural changes:
- New categories needed?
- Rename/reorganize sections?
- Split pages that grew too large?
- Merge pages that overlap?
- Update methodology if conventions evolved
- Plan next month’s focus areas
- Create content from wiki for LinkedIn/blog
Day: First week of each month
Quarterly (2-3 hours)
Goal: Major refresh, strategic alignment
- Full content audit — read through key pages
- Check all external links (tools break, URLs change)
- Review and update all 🌳 evergreen pages
- Assess: Is the wiki serving its goals?
- Learning acceleration?
- Content creation efficiency?
- Client value?
- Major structural reorganization if needed
- Archive or remove obsolete content
- Refresh getting-started and index
- Set goals for next quarter
Growth Metrics
Track these to ensure healthy growth:
Quantity Metrics
| Metric | How to Check | Healthy Range |
|---|---|---|
| Total pages | `find wiki -name “*.md” | wc -l` |
| Pages per domain | Count in index | Balanced across domains |
| Sources ingested | Count log entries | 4-10 per week |
| Questions explored | Count in questions/ | Always have 3-5 open |
Quality Metrics
| Metric | How to Check | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Orphan pages | Lint check | 0 |
| Seedling → Growing upgrades | Status changes | 2-4 per month |
| Stale pages (>30 days unchanged) | Check timestamps | <20% |
| Cross-links per page | Manual review | 3+ per page |
Usage Metrics
| Metric | How to Check | Indicates |
|---|---|---|
| Queries answered from wiki | Track in log | Wiki is useful |
| Content pieces generated | Track in log | Wiki produces value |
| Time to answer questions | Subjective | Wiki is efficient |
Lint Check Protocol
When running "Lint the wiki", Claude should check:
Structure Health
- Orphan pages: Pages with no inbound links
- Dead links: Internal links pointing to non-existent pages
- Missing pages: Concepts mentioned but lacking their own page
- Overcrowded pages: Pages >500 lines that should be split
- Index accuracy: Does index.md reflect actual content?
Content Health
- Contradictions: Do any pages disagree with each other?
- Staleness: Pages with outdated information (especially tools)
- Incomplete pages: Seedlings that have been stale >2 weeks
- Missing cross-references: Related pages not linked
- Source gaps: Claims without sources that should have them
Convention Compliance
- Frontmatter: All pages have required YAML fields
- Status accuracy: Do statuses reflect actual page maturity?
- Naming conventions: Consistent file naming
- Template usage: New pages following templates
- Private path leakage: No links to
raw/orprivate/folders in public wiki pages (grep for](raw/and](private/)
Growth Opportunities
- Questions to explore: What should we learn next?
- Sources to find: What gaps could be filled with research?
- Content to create: What wiki knowledge is ready for publishing?
- Comparisons to make: What X vs Y analyses would be valuable?
- Experiments to run: What should we test hands-on?
Content Lifecycle
Every piece of content follows this lifecycle:
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐│ 🌱 │ │ 🌿 │ │ 🌳 ││ SEEDLING │ ──► │ GROWING │ ──► │ EVERGREEN ││ │ │ │ │ ││ Initial │ │ Solid │ │ Comprehensive││ thoughts │ │ foundation │ │ maintained │└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ │ │ │ ▼ ▼ ▼ Add sources Add depth Regular updates Get feedback Cross-link Check freshness Test ideas Verify claims Expand coverageUpgrading Content
Seedling → Growing when:
- Has at least 2-3 sources supporting key claims
- Core structure is stable
- Main points are validated
- Has inbound links from other pages
Growing → Evergreen when:
- Comprehensive coverage of topic
- Well cross-linked
- Actively maintained (updated within 30 days)
- Tested/validated through use
Archiving Content
Move to wiki/archive/ when:
- Topic is no longer relevant
- Information is completely superseded
- Content was experimental and didn’t pan out
Never delete — archive preserves history and prevents link rot.
Structural Evolution
The wiki structure should evolve as it grows:
Signs Structure Needs Change
- A folder has 20+ pages → consider subfolders
- Pages frequently cross-reference a non-existent category → create it
- Two domains overlap significantly → consider merging or clarifying boundaries
- Templates are consistently modified → update the template
How to Restructure
- Propose changes in a lint report
- Discuss with user before major moves
- Update all affected links
- Update index.md
- Log the restructuring
Protected Structure
These should remain stable:
wiki/index.md— master catalogwiki/log.md— activity historywiki/templates/— page templates- Domain folders (marketing, seo, etc.) — core organization
Emergency Maintenance
If Wiki Feels Stale
- Run aggressive lint check
- Pick 3 seedlings and deliberately grow them
- Ingest 5 new sources in one session
- Generate a piece of content to prove wiki value
If Wiki Feels Overwhelming
- Focus on one domain only for a week
- Archive pages that aren’t providing value
- Simplify structure — fewer, richer pages beat many thin ones
- Review goals — is the wiki serving them?
If Wiki Has Contradictions
- Identify all contradicting pages
- Research to find current truth
- Update all pages to be consistent
- Add note in log about what changed and why
Key Takeaways
- Daily: Ingest something, maintain momentum
- Weekly: Lint check, plan growth
- Monthly: Strategic review, create content
- Quarterly: Full audit, major updates
- Always: The wiki should be changing — stagnation is failure
Related
- getting-started — How to use the wiki
- methodology — How this wiki is built
- log — Activity history
- changelog — Recent changes
This protocol should itself be reviewed quarterly and updated as better practices emerge.