wiki-journal - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: wiki-journal version: 1.0.0 description: Daily journaling with deep Wikipedia/encyclopedia research. Builds a wikilinked knowledge graph over time.

Wiki-Journal Skill

Daily intellectual enrichment through structured study of Wikipedia, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and other knowledge sources.

Purpose

Transform journaling from event-logging into a knowledge engine:

Deep study of topics across any domain
[[Wikilinked]] concepts creating an interconnected knowledge graph
Applied reflection on your own projects and workflows
Deeper implications and philosophical connections
A growing shared vocabulary between you and your agent

Before Writing

1. Read Context

Before choosing a topic or writing anything:

Read MEMORY.md in the agent's workspace — understand current projects, interests, active threads
Scan memory/ files — check for recent activity, themes, notable events
Read the last 3-5 journal entries (in journal/YYYY/MM/) — identify the wikilink trail, avoid repeats, find threads to follow
Check for config.md alongside this SKILL.md — if it exists, read it for topic preferences, excluded topics, tone, and length settings

2. Cold Start

If there are no previous journal entries (first run):

Pick any topic that genuinely interests you from the default domains below
No need to reference previous studies — just begin
Mention this is the inaugural entry

Topic Selection

Autonomous choice based on:

Connections to previous studies (follow the [[wikilink]] trail from "Connections to Explore")
Current relevance to projects and interests found in MEMORY.md
What sparks genuine curiosity
Seasonal or timely appropriateness

Default topic domains (override via config.md if present):

Philosophy: phenomenology, existentialism, philosophy of mind, ethics, epistemology
Cognitive Science: embodied cognition, distributed cognition, situated learning
Science: emergence, complexity, information theory, thermodynamics
Technology: computing history, internet architecture, cryptography, AI
Mathematics: foundations, logic, topology, game theory
History: intellectual movements, pivotal figures, turning points
Art & Culture: movements, aesthetics, media theory, architecture
Systems Thinking: cybernetics, feedback loops, design patterns

Research Depth

Don't summarize — interrogate:

What is the core claim or idea?
What are the implications — stated and unstated?
How does this challenge common assumptions?
What do critics say? What are the unresolved tensions?
What connections exist to other concepts you've studied?

Sources (in order of preference):

Wikipedia (reliable on academic topics, good for overview and citations)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (gold standard for philosophy)
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Academic sources where accessible via web search

Quality check:

Look for citations in the source material
Check for controversy or disputed claims — note them
When a source is thin, follow references to primary sources
If web_search is unavailable, draw from training knowledge and note: "Sources not independently verified this session."

Entry Structure

Write the entry to: journal/YYYY/MM/DD.md (relative to the agent's workspace). Create year/month directories if they don't exist.

# <Weekday>, <Month> <Day>, <Year>

## Study: [[Topic Name]]

*Source citation(s) — author, title, year*

---

### The Core Argument
[Deep dive into the idea. Not a surface summary — explain what makes this concept
significant, what problem it solves, what shift in thinking it represents.
Include historical context, key figures, and the intellectual lineage.]

### Applied Reflection
[How does this concept connect to your current projects, workflows, or interests?
Read MEMORY.md for context. Be specific — reference actual tools, habits, or
systems. If nothing connects directly, reflect on how the concept might
reframe how you approach problems generally.]

### Deeper Implications
[Broader philosophical, ethical, or societal implications. What does this idea
mean beyond its original domain? How does it challenge assumptions?
What paradoxes or tensions does it surface?]

### Quotes to Keep
[2-5 significant quotations with attribution. Choose quotes that capture
the essence, provoke thought, or crystallize a difficult idea.]

### Connections to Explore
[List of [[wikilinked]] concepts for future study. These form the knowledge
graph — each is a potential future entry. Aim for 4-8 connections spanning
different domains.]

### The Open Question
[What remains unresolved? What tension, paradox, or question does this study
leave you with? This should be genuinely open — not a rhetorical flourish
but an honest edge of understanding.]

---

*Sources:*
- [Full citation 1]
- [Full citation 2]
- ...

Wikilinking Convention

Format: [[Concept Name]] on first mention in an entry, plain text thereafter.

Link types:

People: [[Andy Clark]], [[Ada Lovelace]]
Concepts: [[Extended Mind]], [[Emergence]]
Works: [[Godel, Escher, Bach]], [[Principia Mathematica]]
Movements: [[Phenomenology]], [[Vienna Circle]]

Purpose:

Creates a knowledge graph over time
Shows concept clusters and thematic arcs
Enables "follow the link" topic selection
Compatible with Obsidian, Logseq, and other tools (but doesn't require them)

Writing Quality

Aim for:

Not just "what is X" but "why X matters"
Genuine engagement — write as if you're working through the idea, not reporting on it
Questions raised, not just answers found
Connections to previous studies where they exist naturally
Intellectual honesty — note when you're uncertain or when a topic is contested

Avoid:

Dry encyclopedia summaries
Forced connections that don't genuinely illuminate
Padding or filler
Jargon without explanation

Default length: ~1500-2500 words (override via config.md).

After Writing

Write the entry to journal/YYYY/MM/DD.md
That's it — no git commit, no push, no channel posting. Just the file.

If the cron job has delivery configured, the output will be posted automatically.

This skill transforms journaling from logging into learning.