---
type: overview
tldr: High-level map of the cascade knowledge base's directory structure, frontmatter schema, and layering rules.
last_updated: 2026-07-13
---

# Knowledge Base Overview

This is the local (mutable) layer of a cascade knowledge base.
It sits above read-only upstream KBs in `../linked/` and `../libs/`.

## Cascade Priority
1. **wiki/** (local) — highest priority, agent-managed
2. **linked/\<name\>/** (symlinked) — read-only upstream source of truth
3. **libs/\<name\>/** (git-managed) — read-only external KBs

When the same entity exists in multiple layers, the local version wins.

## Directory Structure
```
.
├── libs/         # Git-managed external KBs (read-only, gitignored)
├── linked/       # Symlinks to upstream KBs (read-only)
├── outputs/      # Generated artifacts from the wiki
├── raw/          # User-provided source material
│   └── inbox/    # Drop zone for unprocessed material
├── tmp/          # Temporary files, caches (gitignored)
├── wiki/         # Local structured wiki (agent-managed)
│   ├── entities/ # Typed entity pages
│   └── graph/    # Edge lists and relationship data
└── workload/     # Summaries of discussions and decisions
```

## Page Frontmatter
Every wiki page carries YAML frontmatter with a required `type` field, plus
optional `resource`, `tldr`, `confidence`, `quality`, `supersedes`,
`freshness_window_days`, and `retention`. `wiki/index.md` additionally
declares `kb_schema_version` for the bundle as a whole.
See AGENTS.md for the full schema.

## Recursive Indexes
`entities/` and `graph/` each carry their own `index.md` so navigation stays
lazy — read `wiki/index.md` first, then only descend into a subdirectory
index if its contents are relevant to the current task.