kb-management — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install

---
name: kb-management
description: >
  Maintaining the story knowledge base: creating, updating, and organizing
  wiki-style reference pages in kb/. Use when capturing finalized story
  knowledge, updating character profiles, documenting world mechanics, or
  restructuring the kb.
---

# KB Management

The knowledge base (`kb/`) is the project's durable memory. Every agent reads
from it for context. This skill covers how to maintain it well.

## Layers

**Canon**: established facts the story has committed to. Once a chapter is
published/finalized, the facts it establishes are canon. Contradicting canon
breaks reader trust.

**Wiki**: synthesized reference pages. How the magic system works, character
relationships, faction politics. Living documents that evolve as the story
develops.

**Styles**: voice reference files derived from prose samples. The writer
and critic agents depend on these for voice consistency.

**Vocab**: canonical story terms, aliases, and exclusions. Project-wide terms
live in `kb/vocab.md`; domain terms live beside the domain they govern, such as
`kb/world/vocab.md`.

**Issues**: tracked writing problems that span multiple chapters (recurring
tics, pacing patterns, continuity errors). See the story-memory skill.

## Page Conventions

### One Concept Per Document

Each doc covers one coherent topic: one character, one location, one system.
When a doc covers two unrelated topics, split it. When two docs explain the
same thing from different angles, merge or cross-reference.

Name files by what they describe (`fire-magic.md`, `protagonist.md`), not
when they were written (`session-3-notes.md`).

### Organization

```text
kb/
  characters/
    <name>.md              # one file per character
  vocab.md                 # project-wide canonical terms
  world/
    vocab.md               # worldbuilding terms when needed
    <topic>.md             # locations, factions, systems
    <domain>/
      vocab.md             # subdomain terms when needed
      <topic>.md           # nest when a domain has many pages
  timeline/
    <arc-or-period>.md     # chronological entries
  canon/
    <chapter-or-arc>.md    # hard facts per chapter/arc
  styles/
    <style-name>.md        # voice reference files
  issues/
    <issue-name>.md        # tracked writing problems
```

The project's `AGENTS.md` may customize this. Read it first.

### Linking

Link to related pages with relative paths. Cross-reference instead of
duplicating: one source of truth per concept. A character page links to
the location page for their home, the timeline entry for their arc, etc.

### Readability

Write pages that work in isolation:

- **Self-contained**: enough context that a reader doesn't need three
  other pages first
- **Scannable**: headers, bullets, tables. Bold key terms on first use.
- **Concrete**: specific quotes, chapter references, scene citations
- **Current**: update when the story invalidates or extends what's here

## Vocab Pages

Use vocab pages when terms matter across agents: magic names, faction labels,
place names, titles, relationship labels, invented words, recurring in-world
phrases, and genre terms with project-specific meanings.

Each entry should include:

- **Canonical name**: the form agents should use
- **Definition**: one to three sentences, including what the term is not when ambiguity is likely
- **Aliases**: names the author, characters, drafts, or older kb pages actually use
- **Source**: where the usage was established or decided

Resolve conflicts early. If two terms seem to name the same thing, pick the
canonical form with the author or flag it in the report instead of carrying
both forward silently.

## When to Create vs Update

**Create** a new page when a concept is finalized enough to be referenced
by other agents. Don't create pages for things still in story-planning.

**Update** an existing page when new chapters establish facts about it,
when the author makes decisions that change it, or when a page has become
stale.

**Split** when a page grows past ~200 lines or covers multiple unrelated
concepts.

## What Belongs in KB vs Work

- Finalized knowledge → `kb/`
- Draft iterations, brainstorm captures, critique reports → `work/`
- Promoted facts after a draft completes → `kb/canon/` or relevant wiki page

Use `/story-memory` for routine fact extraction from completed chapters.
Direct kb edits are for the author or muse when capturing decisions
interactively.