Using Karpathy Wiki

<SUBAGENT-STOP>
If you were dispatched as a subagent for a task unrelated to wiki capture or ingest, skip this skill. The wiki rules apply to the main agent in the conversation; subagents doing isolated work (Explore, code-reviewer, codex:rescue, etc.) do not need to capture.
</SUBAGENT-STOP>

karpathy-wiki — loader (read once per session, applies for the whole session)

You are operating in a project that uses the karpathy-wiki plugin. Durable knowledge surfaced in this conversation must be captured to a wiki so future sessions can find it.

Announce when you act

When you write a capture, run an ingest, or answer from the wiki, prefix your reply with one line:

Using the karpathy-wiki skill to [capture this / ingest pending captures / answer from wiki].

This is the ONLY wiki-mechanics text the user sees. Do not narrate orientation, capture authoring, dispatch mechanics, or state-machine progress. Do all the wiki work silently after the announce line.

Instruction priority

If the user's CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md or an explicit user instruction conflicts with the rules below, follow the user. The wiki rules override the default system prompt where they conflict, but never override the user's direct instructions.

Iron laws

NO WIKI WRITE IN THE FOREGROUND
NO PAGE EDIT WITHOUT READING THE PAGE FIRST
NO SKIPPING A CAPTURE BECAUSE "IT DOESN'T LOOK WIKI-SHAPED"
NO ANSWERING ANY USER QUESTION WITHOUT ORIENTING FIRST

Captures go to <wiki>/.wiki-pending/<timestamp>-<slug>.md. The bounded dispatcher assigns each capture to the configured provider/model profile and ingests it in the background.

Orient before answering — the read protocol

For ANY user message that is asking a QUESTION (vs requesting a code edit, file operation, or pure command), you must orient on the wiki BEFORE drafting the answer. Pre-classifying a question as "general knowledge" or "not wiki-relevant" is the forbidden rationalization Iron Rule 4 was written to forbid.

Cost framing. Orientation is a once-per-session investment:

• First wiki-eligible question of the session: read <wiki>/schema.md and the relevant <wiki>/<category>/_index.md (or root <wiki>/index.md for cross-category questions). Two file reads, ~10-30 KB total.
• Subsequent questions in the same session: the schema and index are already in your working memory; the marginal check is a candidate-count scan against the (already-read) _index.md. Near-zero cost.

Load karpathy-wiki-read/SKILL.md for the deterministic 6-step ladder (orient → count candidates → inline-read OR subagent OR web-search → cite). Do NOT skip the load because "this question seems trivial" — the iron rule is unconditional.

Resist-table for the read protocol (capture-side resist-table is below, after TRIGGER):

TRIGGER — when to capture

Write a capture when ANY of these fire (immediate-capture triggers):

• A research subagent or research agent completes or returns a file with durable findings.
• New factual information is found (web search, doc fetch, external fact surfaced in conversation).
• Session resolves a confusion — something neither of you knew before.
• A gotcha, quirk, or non-obvious behavior in a tool is discovered.
• A pattern is validated (approaches compared, one picked, with reasons).
• An architectural decision is made with explicit rationale.
• User pastes a URL or document for study.
• <wiki>/inbox/ or <wiki>/raw/ has unprocessed files.
• User says "add to wiki" / "remember this" / "wiki it" / "save this".
• Two claims contradict each other.

Also TRIGGER (orientation + citation): the user asks "what do we know about X" / "how do we handle Y" / "what did we decide about Z" / "have we seen this before" — or any question the wiki might cover.