Slipbot

Slipbot

Configuration

• Notes directory: sync/slipbox/
• Graph index: sync/slipbox/.graph/graph.json
• Timezone: User's local timezone (check USER.md or system; default UTC)

Prefix → Type

• > {content} → quote
• ! {content} → idea
• * {content} → journal
• - {content} → note (default; also reached with no prefix)

Explicit triggers: note: {content}, remember this: {content}, quote: {content}.

Source Types

Common source types: book, article, podcast, video, movie, paper, talk, conversation.

Workflow

1. Capture

When a note is recognized:

1. Extract content and metadata

   • Note content
   • Type (from prefix above; default note)
   • Source, if provided, via the ~ shorthand: ~ {type}, {title} or ~ {type}, {title} by {author} (optional url appended as ({url})). Used by the slipbot-*-import siblings to pass parsed source metadata inline.

2. Generate filename

   • Format: YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-slug.md
   • Slug: lowercase, hyphenated, from title (max 4-5 words)
   • On collision, append a suffix increment (-2, -3, …) until the filename is unique on disk

3. Check for existing source

   • If source provided, search existing notes for matching source title (case insensitive)
   • Use existing source if found; otherwise use provided source as-is
   • Trust user-supplied source metadata as-is; do not call external APIs to enrich it

4. Generate tags — tag with objects

   • Tag with objects: specific people, tools, techniques, systems, concrete topics (nouns)
   • 2-5 tags per note
   • Check existing tags before creating new ones
   • Examples: [pomodoro-technique, Cal-Newport, deep-work], [vim, neovim-config, lua]
   • Done when 2-5 object tags are selected, each verified against existing tags (reused before created).

5. Create markdown file using the frontmatter template in SCHEMAS.md. Note titles: descriptive but concise (3-8 words), specific (not "Thoughts" or "Notes"), question format works ("Why does X happen?", "How to Y?").

Done when the markdown file exists at sync/slipbox/{timestamp}-{slug}.md with all required frontmatter fields populated (title, date, type, tags, source, links).

2. Link

After creating a note, find connections:

1. Search existing notes for related concepts, people, topics, and overlapping tags

2. Determine connection type

   • related — similar topic or theme
   • extends — builds on or expands another note
   • contradicts — opposing viewpoint
   • references — mentions same person/book/concept
   • supports — provides evidence for another note

3. Add bidirectional links with confidence ≥ 0.75

   • Update both notes' frontmatter
   • Include a reason for each connection (see links shape in SCHEMAS.md)

Done when every existing note scoring ≥0.75 confidence has been evaluated, and each accepted link is written bidirectionally into both notes' frontmatter with a reason.

3. Update Graph

After capture and linking:

1. Load sync/slipbox/.graph/graph.json
2. Add/update the note entry using the graph schema in SCHEMAS.md
3. Write the updated graph back to sync/slipbox/.graph/graph.json

Done when graph.json contains an entry for the new note whose links count matches the links written in §2, and last_updated is set.

Querying

When the user asks to retrieve notes ("show me notes about X", "find quotes from Y", "what links to Z", "what have I written about A"), see QUERYING.md.

Maintenance

When the user asks to maintain the slipbox (validate frontmatter, remove broken links, suggest merges, rebuild graph), see MAINTENANCE.md.

Error Handling

• Missing timezone: Default to UTC, ask user to set in USER.md
• Corrupted graph: Rebuild from note files (see MAINTENANCE.md)
• Invalid frontmatter: Fix the offending fields in place and notify the user what was fixed

User Feedback

Reply with one line: Note captured: [title] (plus Added N links to related notes when N>0). Narrate steps only when debugging.