PARA Knowledge Base — Claude Code Plugin

LLM as Knowledge Compiler — Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Base pattern, optimized for PARA Obsidian vaults

---

Inspiration

Inspired by Karpathy's llm-wiki — the idea that an LLM should act as a knowledge compiler, not a search engine. Rather than re-retrieving and re-summarizing raw notes on every query, knowledge is compiled once into structured wiki-style articles, then maintained incrementally as new information arrives.

This plugin applies that pattern to PARA-structured Obsidian vaults.

---

Why this plugin?

If you already have a PARA vault with hundreds of notes, Claude Code can read them — but every conversation starts from scratch. Each query re-reads files, re-discovers structure, and burns tokens figuring out what's where.

This plugin fixes that by adding a persistent knowledge layer on top of your existing vault:

The problem without a KB:

User: "What do I know about distributed systems?"
Claude: reads 30+ files → 15K tokens → synthesizes answer → forgotten next session
User: (asks again next week)
Claude: reads the same 30+ files again → 15K tokens again

With this plugin:

/kb-ingest              → new notes classified, linked, indexed (once)
/kb-query "distributed systems"  → reads _index.md (50 tokens) → targets 2 files (400 tokens) → done

What you get on top of your existing PARA vault

Already have	This plugin adds
Folders organized by PARA	_index.md per category — Claude reads 10 lines instead of scanning 100 files
Notes with some tags	Tag convention detection + consistency enforcement across vault
Manual wikilinks	Auto-generated wikilinks on ingest — first occurrence of known terms linked automatically
CLAUDE.md with basic rules	Full vault schema — structure, KB operations, tag system, navigation strategies
Raw notes in Inbox	One-command classification + move + metadata + linking

Token efficiency

Operation	Without plugin	With plugin
"What projects am I working on?"	Scan all project folders ~3K tokens	Read _index.md ~50 tokens
"Find everything about topic X"	Grep entire vault ~5K tokens	Tag search via index ~200 tokens
Ingest a new document	Manual: move, tag, link, update index	/kb-ingest — all automated, ~500 tokens
Weekly health check	Not possible	/kb-lint — orphans, broken links, stale content

The key insight: indexes are cheap to read, and they tell Claude exactly where to look. Instead of scanning your whole vault every time, Claude reads a 10-line index, picks the right folder, and reads only what's needed.

---

Concept

The 3-Layer Architecture

Inbox/          ← raw capture (fleeting notes, clippings, meeting notes)
PARA/           ← compiled knowledge wiki (Projects / Areas / Resources / Archives)
CLAUDE.md       ← vault schema (topics, conventions, wikilink vocabulary)

• Inbox is the staging area. Raw, unprocessed, low-friction.
• PARA is the knowledge base. LLM-compiled, structured, cross-linked.
• CLAUDE.md is the schema. Tells the LLM what topics exist, how notes are organized, what wikilinks are canonical.

The 3 Core Operations

Operation	What it does
Ingest	Takes raw Inbox notes, extracts knowledge, merges into PARA wiki pages
Query	Answers questions by reading compiled PARA pages (not raw notes)
Lint	Audits knowledge base for gaps, broken wikilinks, stale content

RAG vs. Knowledge Base

RAG (Retrieval)	KB (Compilation)
Retrieves chunks on each query	Knowledge compiled once, maintained incrementally
Quality varies with retrieval precision	Consistent quality — LLM synthesizes on ingest
No persistent synthesis	Synthesis is durable; query is fast
Good for large document corpuses	Good for personal knowledge that evolves over time

For a personal PARA vault, the KB pattern wins: your notes are small enough to compile, and the value compounds as the KB grows more interconnected.

---

Skills

/kb-init

Initializes the knowledge base structure in your vault. Creates CLAUDE.md schema, sets up PARA folder conventions, and generates top-level _index.md files for each PARA category.

/kb-ingest

Processes notes from your Inbox. The LLM reads each raw note, determines which PARA page it belongs to (or creates a new one), and merges the knowledge — updating wikilinks, adding cross-references, and moving the source note to Archives when done.

/kb-query

Answers a question using the compiled knowledge base. Reads relevant PARA pages directly rather than performing fuzzy retrieval over raw notes. Returns a cited answer with links to the source pages.

/kb-lint

Audits the knowledge base. Checks for broken wikilinks, orphaned notes, pages with no backlinks, topics mentioned in CLAUDE.md that have no corresponding page, and pages that haven't been updated in a configurable period.

/kb-index

Regenerates _index.md files at two levels:

• Top-level (_index.md): full map of all PARA categories and key topics
• Category-level (Projects/_index.md, Areas/_index.md, etc.): topic lists with one-line summaries

---

Key Features

Hierarchical Indexing

Two-tier index system keeps navigation fast even as the vault grows:

• Top-level _index.md gives a full vault map
• Per-category _index.md gives a focused topic list

4 Navigation Methods

The KB is designed to be navigable four ways simultaneously:

1. Folders — PARA hierarchy provides structure
2. Tags — status, type, and topic tags for filtered views
3. Wikilinks + Backlinks — every concept links forward and backward
4. Indexes — _index.md files for when you want a map, not a search

Automatic Wikilink Generation

During ingest, the LLM automatically generates wikilinks between related concepts. New terms are registered in CLAUDE.md so future ingests stay consistent.

Obsidian CLI Integration

When the Obsidian CLI (built into Obsidian 1.12+) is available, skills use it for precise vault operations:

CLI Command	Used by	Purpose
obsidian search query="term"	kb-query, kb-ingest	Full-text vault search
obsidian backlinks file="Note"	kb-query, kb-lint	Find referencing documents
obsidian tags	kb-lint, kb-ingest	Tag inventory and consistency
obsidian property:set	kb-ingest	Frontmatter updates
obsidian read file="Note"	kb-query	Read note content

Without CLI, all skills fall back to Grep/Glob/Read tools — fully functional but slightly less precise for backlink resolution and search.

---

Installation

Install as marketplace

# Add the marketplace
/plugin marketplace add ernestolee13/para-knowledge-base

# Install the plugin
/plugin install para-knowledge-base@para-knowledge-base

Manual install

git clone https://github.com/ernestolee13/para-knowledge-base.git
# Then add to your Claude Code plugin settings

Then open Claude Code in your vault directory. Skills become available as /kb-init, /kb-ingest, /kb-query, /kb-lint, /kb-index.

Recommended: Install with kepano/obsidian-skills

This plugin works best alongside kepano's obsidian-skills, which adds Obsidian CLI commands, markdown syntax, bases, and canvas skills. Together they cover both vault management (this plugin) and content creation (obsidian-skills).

# Install both
/plugin marketplace add kepano/obsidian-skills
/plugin install obsidian@obsidian-skills

/plugin marketplace add ernestolee13/para-knowledge-base
/plugin install para-knowledge-base@para-knowledge-base

---

Quick Start

1. Open Claude Code with your Obsidian vault as the working directory.
2. Run /kb-init — creates CLAUDE.md schema, _index.md files, and log.md.
3. Drop notes into your Inbox/ folder.
4. Run /kb-ingest — classifies, moves, links, and indexes Inbox documents.
5. Ask questions with /kb-query "What do I know about X?".
6. Run /kb-lint periodically to check vault health.
7. Run /kb-index to rebuild all indexes after major reorganization.

---

Obsidian CLI Setup (Recommended)

The Obsidian CLI enhances search, backlink traversal, and tag operations. It's optional but recommended.

Requirements: Obsidian Desktop v1.12.0+ (installer version, not just app update).

macOS

1. Download latest installer from https://obsidian.md/download
2. Replace /Applications/Obsidian.app (vault data is preserved)
3. Open Obsidian → Settings → General → Command line interface → Enable
4. Restart terminal, verify: obsidian help

PATH is auto-added to ~/.zprofile. For other shells:

export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS"

Windows / Linux

1. Download latest installer from https://obsidian.md/download
2. Install over existing (v1.12.4+ required for Windows)
3. Open Obsidian → Settings → General → CLI → Enable
4. Follow shell-specific PATH instructions in the app

Without CLI

All skills work without the CLI using file-based fallback (Grep, Glob, Read). You get full functionality — the CLI just makes search and backlink operations faster and more precise.

Works with kepano/obsidian-skills

This plugin is designed to complement kepano's obsidian-skills plugin. If you have both installed:

• obsidian-skills provides general Obsidian CLI, markdown, bases, and canvas skills
• para-knowledge-base adds PARA-specific knowledge management on top
• Both share the same obsidian CLI binary — no conflict

---

Requirements

• Claude Code
• Obsidian vault with PARA folder structure (numbered: 1. Projects/, 2. Areas/, 3. Resources/, 4. Archive/)
• Optional: Obsidian 1.12+ for CLI integration (see setup above)
• Recommended: kepano/obsidian-skills — provides Obsidian CLI, markdown, bases, and canvas skills that complement this plugin

---

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome. Please open an issue first for major changes.

License

MIT — see LICENSE