Wiki skills cheat sheet¶
The AI skills that run this wiki, what each one does and the phrases that trigger it.
All of them read WIKI.md and wiki.config.yaml first, treat git as read-only and never delete files.
The author reviews, commits and pushes.
At a glance¶
| Skill | Use it for | Say something like | Hands over to |
|---|---|---|---|
| wiki-capture | Raw notes, photos, measurements and ideas into drafts; dated log entries on living pages (journeys, isolates, experiments, prep-designs) | "new bottle", "I plated…", "update the journey", "log this", "I tasted…", "write this up" | wiki-media (photos), wiki-publish |
| wiki-intake | A finished Markdown document (protocol, primer, prep design, skill user guide) made to fit the wiki without changing its substance; fidelity diff and review notes; new versions of published documents | "intake this", "publish this document", "add my protocol/primer/design" | wiki-publish |
| wiki-media | Photos and short clips: backs up originals with checksums, strips EXIF/GPS, resizes to WebP, H.264 video with poster; ready-to-paste Markdown; CSV data for tables and charts | "condition these photos", "add these plate/microscope shots", "upload this video" | the page that embeds them |
| wiki-publish | The single route onto the site: places a draft, assigns the ID, cross-links, regenerates nav and indexes, runs the strict check, gives a commit message | "publish this", "put it on the wiki", "add this to the site" | you (review, commit, push) |
| wiki-release-skill | Shares an AI skill for download: copies to skills-src, removes personal details, versions it, packages a CC0 zip, writes the skill page and user guide | "publish my skill", "release a new version of the skill" | wiki-publish |
| wiki-restructure | New sections or topics, splits, merges, renames and moves, with redirects so old URLs keep working | "add a new chapter", "reorganise", "move these pages", "rename the section" | wiki-publish (checks) |
| wiki-rules | Changes to the house rules (WIKI.md, wiki.config.yaml): sections, page types, fields, vocabularies, ID prefixes, media presets, validation; impact analysis, migration, changelog |
"from now on…", "add a stage/status/field", "change the rules" | wiki-restructure / wiki-publish if pages move |
| wiki-health | Health check: strict build, rule validation, broken links, orphans, unused media, oversized files, privacy leaks, stale drafts and journeys, live site vs local build | "check the wiki", "health check", "what's stale", "what needs attention" | fixes via the relevant skill |
Typical flows¶
- New bottle or plating round: wiki-capture → wiki-media → wiki-publish.
- Finished write-up: drop it in
inbox/raw/→ wiki-intake → wiki-publish. - New skill version: wiki-release-skill → wiki-publish.
- Section getting crowded: wiki-health → wiki-restructure.
- Changing how things are done: wiki-rules, then wiki-health.
Choosing the model¶
Model and effort matter most for the skills that change many pages or publish something that cannot be recalled. The table reflects the Claude line-up in September 2026.
| Skill | Default | Step up or down when | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| wiki-capture | Sonnet 5, medium effort | Opus 5 for messy notes, many photos, or updates across several pages | Invented facts when notes are sparse |
| wiki-media | Sonnet 5, low | Haiku 4.5 if you supply the captions | Poor alt text for plate and microscope shots |
| wiki-publish | Sonnet 5, medium | Opus 5 if the draft needs a new section | Low: wb.py check gates it |
| wiki-health | Sonnet 5, medium | Haiku 4.5 for a scheduled, report-only run | Missed privacy leaks on a small model |
| wiki-intake | Opus 5, high | Sonnet 5 for a new version with a small diff | Weak technical review of protocols and primers |
| wiki-release-skill | Opus 5, high | Sonnet 5 for a version bump | A personal detail left in a public zip |
| wiki-rules | Opus 5, high | Fable 5.1 for a breaking schema change | Migration errors across many pages |
| wiki-restructure | Opus 5, high | Fable 5.1 for a large reorganisation | Broken links and redirects |
The four Opus skills check which model is running and ask before continuing on a smaller one.
Hints¶
- Choose the model when you start the session. Skill frontmatter sets a model too, but it only takes effect when you type the skill as
/wiki-…; when Claude picks the skill from your wording, the session model runs. - Chains run on one model. capture → media → publish uses the session model throughout, so pick for the hardest step.
- One job per session. A fresh session for each bottle, document or restructure beats one long mixed session.
- Give it everything up front: the journey or page ID, dated notes, labelled photos, and what you want out.
- Ask for a dry run first on anything that touches many pages: "
/wiki-restructureSplit technical into maillard and acids topics. Dry run only: show the target tree, move table, link rewrites and rules changes, and apply nothing." wiki-rules works the same way ("impact analysis only"). - Trust the gates, not the model.
wb.py check, the intake fidelity diff and the privacy patterns catch mistakes whichever model ran.
Under the bonnet: tools/wb.py¶
| Command | Does |
|---|---|
config |
Summary of the rules (JSON) |
pages |
Published pages and their frontmatter |
next-id PREFIX / next-isolate PARENT |
Next free ID (BUG, EXP, ING, PRT) |
new TYPE |
Template into inbox/drafts/ |
media SRC... |
Condition media, back up originals |
fidelity ORIGINAL NEW |
What an intake changed in the prose |
package-skill DIR |
CC0 zip into docs/skills/downloads/ |
move OLD NEW / redirect OLD NEW |
Move pages with redirects |
nav / index |
Regenerate navigation and wb:auto blocks |
validate / build / check |
Rules, strict build, and the pre-publish gate |
Local preview on Windows: .venv\Scripts\zensical serve, then open http://localhost:8000.