Knowledge Base

This page is under construction.

The Knowledge Base is the heart of KNL's retention system, storing task context, learned patterns, and development standards.

Overview

The .knowledge/ directory stores:

  • Task Context: Markdown files with development notes
  • Templates: Reusable task templates
  • Standards: Evolving development standards
  • Scripts: Repository-specific automation

Directory Structure

.knowledge/
├── config.toml           # Local configuration
├── cache/                # Local cache
├── tasks/                # Task storage
│   └── TASK-ID/
│       ├── metadata.json
│       ├── context.md
│       ├── tests/
│       └── artifacts/
├── templates/            # Task templates
├── standards/            # Development standards
└── scripts/              # Helper scripts

Features

Task Context Retention

Each task maintains its own context file where you can document: - Implementation decisions - Challenges encountered - Solutions discovered - Learnings for future reference

Development Standards

The standards/development.md file evolves as you work: - Coding conventions - Testing requirements - Documentation patterns - Best practices learned from tasks

Knowledge Transfer

Export knowledge to new projects: - Templates for common task types - Learned best practices - Development standards - Custom scripts

Knowledge Crumbs

In addition to the task-based knowledge you accumulate in .knowledge/, KNL provides curated knowledge crumbs - bite-sized, reusable guides for common development tasks.

What Are Crumbs?

Knowledge crumbs are:

  • Curated: Carefully written and tested solutions to common development problems
  • Categorized: Organized by category (DevOps, Testing, Security, Development, Tooling)
  • LLM-friendly: Structured with YAML frontmatter metadata for easy AI consumption
  • Self-contained: Each crumb is complete and actionable on its own
  • Searchable: Full-text search with filtering and sorting capabilities

Crumb Locations

Crumbs are automatically deployed during KNL installation:

Repo-local installation: 

.knl/know-how/crumbs/
├── devops/
│   └── github-pages-setup.md
├── development/
├── testing/
├── security/
└── tooling/

User-local installation: 

~/.local/knl/know-how/crumbs/
├── devops/
├── development/
├── testing/
├── security/
└── tooling/

Using the Crumb CLI

KNL provides a complete CLI for browsing and searching crumbs:

# List all crumbs
knl crumb list

# Filter by category
knl crumb list --category devops

# Filter by tags and difficulty
knl crumb list --tag deployment --difficulty beginner

# Sort by updated date
knl crumb list --sort updated

# Show crumb content with rich rendering
knl crumb show devops/github-pages-setup

# Show crumb metadata only
knl crumb info devops/github-pages-setup

# Search crumbs
knl crumb find "github actions"
knl crumb find "deployment" --in title

# Browse categories
knl crumb categories --describe

# Browse tags
knl crumb tags --sort count

Crumb Metadata

Each crumb includes comprehensive metadata:

---
title: "Descriptive Title"
description: "One-line summary"
category: "devops"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
difficulty: "beginner"  # beginner | intermediate | advanced
created: "2025-12-31"
updated: "2025-12-31"
author: "Author Name"
related: ["other/crumb"]
prerequisites:
  - "Prerequisite 1"
applies_to:
  - "Technology 1"
---

This metadata enables: - Filtering: Find crumbs by category, tags, or difficulty - Discovery: Browse related crumbs - Context: Understand prerequisites and applicability - AI Integration: LLMs can easily parse and use crumbs

Crumbs vs Task Knowledge

Crumbs (.knl/know-how/crumbs/): - Pre-written, curated guides - General purpose, reusable across projects - Deployed with KNL installation - Read-only reference material

Task Knowledge (.knowledge/tasks/): - Project-specific context - Grows as you work on tasks - Created by you during development - Evolves with your project

Both systems complement each other: crumbs provide foundational knowledge, while task context captures project-specific learnings.

Contributing Crumbs

Want to add your own crumbs? See the know-how README for the crumb format and contribution guidelines.

Next Steps