# Wiki Init

> Bootstrap a CodeWiki vault — domain-aware SCHEMA.md, index.md, log.md, and ~/.skillwiki/.env binding. Use when starting a fresh vault.

- Skill: `karlorz/wiki-init` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add karlorz/wiki-init`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/karlorz/wiki-init/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: karlorz (https://skillmd.com/u/karlorz)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/karlorz/wiki-init

---


# wiki-init

## When This Skill Activates

- User asks to create, build, or start a vault, wiki, or knowledge base.
- The resolved vault path (see step 0) does not yet contain SCHEMA.md.

## Pre-orientation reads

None for the first run.

## Steps

0. **Resolve target.** Run `skillwiki path --init-time` to see what target the CLI will pick. Confirm with the user, or override with `--target <dir>`.
1. Verify target is empty or has no SCHEMA.md.
2. Ask the domain question: "What knowledge domain will this vault cover? Be specific."
3. Propose a 10–15 tag taxonomy tailored to the domain. Confirm or accept the user's revision.
4. Ask the language question: "What language should generated page prose use? Default is `en`. Aliases like `chinese-traditional` or `zh-Hant` are accepted."
5. Run `skillwiki init --target <dir> --domain "<answer>" --taxonomy "<comma list>" --lang "<lang>"`.
   Init always writes or merges a vault `.gitignore` for GitHub-sync hygiene
   (work-complete journals, last-op, locks, memory/graph caches). It does **not**
   ignore `session-brief.*` or `agent-memory-trends/`. Pass `--no-gitignore` only
   when the user explicitly does not want that file. For an existing vault:
   `skillwiki init --target <dir> --domain existing --write-gitignore`.
6. Report the installed Web Clipper assets at
   `_Templates/web-clipper/llm-wiki-clippings.json` and
   `_Templates/web-clipper/readme.txt`. Tell the user to open Obsidian Web
   Clipper Settings, import the JSON, and repeat the import for every browser
   profile that should capture into the vault. Re-init preserves existing
   customized copies, including short files.
7. Explain that the generic template preserves `{{content}}`; remote HTTP(S)
   images remain external dependencies. An attended local-asset capture may
   choose any URL-friendly path under `raw/assets/`, but it must write the asset,
   emit an explicit vault-qualified `![[raw/assets/...]]` embed, verify
   resolution/preview, and only then finalize the immutable raw note. Also write
   a sibling Markdown note (`listings.md`, `note.md`, or a dated `.md`) that
   embeds each file. Never use `.txt` as the only index.
8. **Suggest first sources.** Propose 3–5 initial sources (URLs, papers, articles) appropriate to the domain. Prompt the user to provide the first one to ingest, then hand off to wiki-ingest.

## Stop conditions

- Target non-empty and `--force` not consented.
- `~/.skillwiki/.env` already binds a different vault or language and `--force` not consented.

## Forbidden

- Modifying anything outside the target directory or `~/.skillwiki/.env`.
- Writing to `~/.hermes/.env` (read-only fallback).
- Running any LLM-driven content generation in this skill.