Keeping Content Fresh

Echo Wiki is command-driven, not automatic. The skills keep the source-to-KB pipeline consistent when you run them, but they do not watch files, continuously re-fetch URLs, or silently rewrite your notes and derived artifacts.

Use this page whenever a source, workspace note, or product area changes.

What Changed? What Next?

Change	Next action	What updates
New URL, PDF, or local file	/ingest <url-or-path>	A new raw receipt is written, then /compile runs for it.
Raw Markdown added manually	Validate it, then /compile raw/<path>.md	The source summary and affected KB articles are created or merged; indexes and backlinks regenerate.
Your workspace note or draft changed	/index	_index.md and _backlinks.md include the workspace change.
New KB evidence affects a developer context pack	/context <product-area>	That context pack is recreated or refreshed from current evidence.
You need a fresh answer to a prior question	/query <question> again	A new or matching durable answer is updated only when the query is worth filing.
You want a health/freshness scan	/maintain or /lint all	Reports, indexes, and the maintenance queue refresh; factual KB content is not rewritten.
A raw source was deliberately deleted	/rebuild	A staged KB replacement is rebuilt from the remaining raw sources.

The Normal Path: Add New Evidence

For a new source, use /ingest. It creates a clean Markdown receipt under raw/, validates it, and then runs /compile. Compilation creates a source summary, creates or merges configured KB article types, regenerates indexes and backlinks, and validates the written articles.

New source → /ingest → raw/ receipt → /compile → KB articles + index + validation

If you deliberately add a raw Markdown receipt yourself, first run:

./hooks/validate.sh raw/<category>/<file>.md

Then run /compile raw/<category>/<file>.md. Do not hand-edit KB type directories; they are the compiled projection of raw/.

What Does Not Refresh Itself

The KB projection updates during compilation, but the following are derived working artifacts—not live views:

Artifact	Refresh it with	Important behavior
Context pack	/context <product-area>	It summarizes current evidence for one area and stops rather than inventing unsupported architecture.
Durable query answer	/query <question> again	Existing answers are saved synthesis; Echo Wiki does not silently change them.
Knowledge-gap note	A new evidence-backed query and an explicit review	A gap does not automatically close just because a new source was ingested.
Maintenance queue and lint report	/maintain	/maintain is a manual safe-maintenance command, not a scheduler or background service.

After adding evidence for an active product area, a practical routine is:

/ingest new source
/context affected-area        # if developers use a context pack
/query recurring question     # if a prior answer needs a fresh synthesis
/maintain                     # when you want the health and priority view

Replacing or Removing a Source

raw/ is append-only during normal /ingest and /compile work. Echo Wiki does not have a first-class “refresh this same URL” operation: the ingest workflow avoids duplicate sources, and replacing an existing raw receipt is not a normal update path.

For a true replacement—for example, a source published at the same canonical URL has materially changed—use a deliberate reconciliation workflow only when at least one other raw source remains:

1. Identify workspace artifacts that cite the old source or link to articles it uniquely produced.
2. Decide whether to preserve, refresh, or explicitly remove those artifacts. A rebuild will stop rather than leave a broken workspace dependency behind.
3. Manually delete the old raw receipt.
4. Run /rebuild to remove its compiled projection safely. If validation reports obsolete workspace artifacts, resolve those explicitly and retry.
5. Run /ingest <url> for the replacement source, then let /compile update the KB.
6. Refresh any relevant context packs or durable answers, then run /maintain when you want an updated maintenance view.

/rebuild stages and validates the entire replacement before it changes the live wiki/ directory. It preserves workspaces, .obsidian, and the activity log; it does not silently repair derived workspace content that has lost its evidence.

Current Boundary: The Only Raw Source

If the receipt being removed is the only raw source, /rebuild intentionally stops without changing the wiki. That protects the current KB from an accidental empty rebuild, but it means Echo Wiki has no supported complete remove-or-replace workflow for that last source today. Keep the receipt and its compiled output intact, and treat this as a product limitation that needs an explicit removal/replacement capability; do not try to work around it by hand-editing compiled KB articles.

Human and Agent Responsibilities

Actor	Do	Do not
Human user	Add sources through /ingest, write personal notes in a regular workspace, run /index after manual workspace changes, and review maintenance findings.	Edit KB articles directly or assume source changes propagate without a command.
Agent	Use /ingest and /compile for source-backed KB updates; use /query, /context, and /maintain for their intended derived outputs.	Write another actor’s workspace, treat a query answer as a source, or silently repair factual content during /maintain.

A Simple Freshness Routine

Use the smallest operation that matches the change:

Added a source?                 /ingest
Added raw Markdown manually?    validate, then /compile <path>
Changed a workspace note?       /index
Need current developer context? /context <area>
Need a new synthesis?           /query <question>
Need a health scan?             /maintain
Removed a source?               /rebuild

This keeps the KB evidence-backed while preserving notes, answers, and other workspace content as deliberate, reviewable work.