LLM Wiki (Karpathy)
Andrej Karpathy's pattern for a persistent, LLM-maintained knowledge wiki. Instead of RAG-style 'retrieve from raw files each query', the LLM incrementally builds and maintains interlinked markdown pages — entity pages, concept pages, a log, an index — that compound over time as you add sources. Designed to be dropped into CLAUDE.md (Claude Code) or AGENTS.md (Codex).
Most LLM + document workflows rediscover knowledge from scratch on every query. Karpathy's wiki pattern is the first widely-circulated blueprint for knowledge that *accumulates* — cross-referenced, deduplicated, contradictions flagged, synthesis evolving with each new source. The LLM does the bookkeeping that kills human-maintained wikis; you stay in charge of sourcing, exploration, and judgement. Particularly valuable for research deep-dives, competitive intelligence, personal knowledge bases, and any domain where context compounds over months.
Researchers, analysts, and power users who accumulate sources over weeks or months and want an organised, searchable synthesis. Also teams maintaining internal wikis that die from maintenance burden (Slack threads, meeting transcripts, project docs that nobody cross-references). Pair with Obsidian for the best editing experience.
https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519...
By Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy)
How to Get It
In Claude Cowork: Open the Customize panel in the sidebar → Folder Instructions, and paste the instructions below. Claude will follow them automatically in that folder.
In Claude Code: Add these instructions to your project's CLAUDE.md file, or paste them into your conversation and ask Claude to save them.
## LLM Wiki Schema (adapted from Karpathy's pattern)
This project is an LLM-maintained wiki. Your role is to ingest raw sources, build and maintain a structured markdown knowledge base, and answer queries with citations. Read this file at the start of every session.
### Directory layout
```
raw/ # Source-of-truth files — immutable. You read from here; you never modify.
wiki/ # Your workspace. Markdown pages: entities, concepts, summaries, syntheses.
wiki/index.md # Content catalog — every wiki page with a one-line summary.
wiki/log.md # Chronological log — every ingest, query, and lint pass you perform.
```
### Operations (you do these on request)
**Ingest** — when I drop a new source into `raw/`:
1. Read the full source.
2. Tell me the 3–5 key takeaways and wait for direction on what to emphasise.
3. Write a summary page at `wiki/sources/{slug}.md` with structured takeaways, quotes, and a full citation.
4. Update relevant entity and concept pages across `wiki/` — add new info, flag contradictions with older claims, add cross-reference links.
5. Update `wiki/index.md` with the new page listings.
6. Append an entry to `wiki/log.md`: `## [YYYY-MM-DD] ingest | {source title}` followed by the pages you touched.
A single source might touch 10–15 wiki pages. Be thorough.
**Query** — when I ask a question against the wiki:
1. Read `wiki/index.md` first to find relevant pages.
2. Drill into those pages, read them fully, then synthesise an answer with inline citations back to the wiki pages you used.
3. If the answer is novel and worth preserving (comparison table, analysis, synthesis of multiple sources), offer to file it as a new wiki page.
4. Append to `wiki/log.md`: `## [YYYY-MM-DD] query | {short question}`.
**Lint** — when I ask for a health check:
1. Scan `wiki/` for contradictions between pages.
2. Flag stale claims that newer sources have superseded.
3. List orphan pages (no inbound links).
4. List concepts mentioned in multiple pages but lacking their own dedicated page.
5. Suggest new questions or sources worth pursuing.
6. Append to `wiki/log.md`: `## [YYYY-MM-DD] lint | {N issues found}`.
### Rules
- You write all wiki content. I read it and direct you.
- You never modify `raw/` — sources are immutable.
- Every factual claim in the wiki must cite a source page.
- Contradictions between sources go in a `## Contradictions` section on the relevant page — never silently pick one.
- Entity pages stay short (<200 lines). If they grow longer, split into sub-pages.
- Use `[[wiki links]]` (Obsidian style) for cross-references so I can click through.
Based on Andrej Karpathy's LLM Wiki pattern: https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f
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Reviewer notes
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Pattern only — no code execution, no data transmission. Schema text users paste into CLAUDE.md.
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