Research Wiki

# Research Wiki: Persistent Research Knowledge Base

Subcommand: **$ARGUMENTS**

## Overview

The research wiki is a persistent, per-project knowledge base that accumulates structured knowledge across the entire ARIS research lifecycle. Unlike one-off literature surveys that are used and forgotten, the wiki **compounds** — every paper read, idea tested, experiment run, and review received makes the wiki smarter.

Inspired by [Karpathy's LLM Wiki pattern](https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f): compile knowledge once, keep it current, don't re-derive on every query.

## Core Concepts

### Four Entity Types

| Entity | Directory | Node ID format | What it represents |
|--------|-----------|---------------|--------------------|
| **Paper** | `papers/` | `paper:<slug>` | A published or preprint research paper |
| **Idea** | `ideas/` | `idea:<id>` | A research idea (proposed, tested, or failed) |
| **Experiment** | `experiments/` | `exp:<id>` | A concrete experiment run with results |
| **Claim** | `claims/` | `claim:<id>` | A theorem/headline with an honest PROOF status — born via `/proof-checker` (see Hook 4) |

### Typed Relationships (`graph/edges.jsonl`)

| Edge type | From → To | Meaning |
|-----------|-----------|---------|
| `extends` | paper → paper | Builds on prior work |
| `contradicts` | paper → paper | Disagrees with results/claims |
| `addresses_gap` | paper\|idea → gap | Targets a known field gap |
| `inspired_by` | idea → paper | Idea sourced from this paper |
| `tested_by` | idea\|claim → exp | Tested in this experiment |
| `supports` | exp → claim\|idea | Experiment confirms claim |
| `invalidates` | exp → claim\|idea | Experiment disproves claim |
| `supersedes` | paper → paper | Newer work replaces older |

Edges are stored in `graph/edges.jsonl` only. The `## Connections` section on each page is **auto-generated** from the graph — never hand-edit it.

### Capture hygiene (anti-self-poisoning)

Before persisting an **idea / claim / experiment** note, screen it for
operational noise that would harden into a self-cited falsehood (see
[`shared-references/capture-antipatterns.md`](../shared-references/capture-antipatterns.md)).
Resolve the helper via the canonical chain (integration-contract §2):
`.aris/tools/capture_filter.py` → `tools/capture_filter.py` →
`$ARIS_REPO/tools/capture_filter.py` (warn-and-skip if unresolved). Run
`python3 <capture_filter> -` on the note text; if it flags **env-failure /
transient-error / negative-tool-claim**, do NOT store it as a durable node —
rewrite it to the *fix / missing config / workaround*, or drop it. Never store
"codex/gemini/the reviewer can't do X" — that gets loaded into every future
session and cited against the agent long after the real cause is gone. (The wiki's
"failed ideas → anti-repeat memory" is the GOOD inverse: a class-level *research*
finding, not operational noise.)

## Wiki Directory Structure

```
research-wiki/
  index.md               # categorical index (auto-generated)
  log.md                 # append-only timeline
  gap_map.md             # field gaps with stable IDs (G1, G2, ...)
  query_pack.md          # compressed summary for /idea-creator (auto-generated, max 8000 chars)
  papers/
    <slug>.md            # one page per paper
  ideas/
    <idea_id>.md         # one page per idea
  experiments/
    <exp_id>.md          # one page per experiment
  claims/
    <claim_id>.md        # one page per testable claim
  graph/
    edges.jsonl          # materialized current relationship graph
```

## Subcommands

## Helper resolution (run before any subcommand below)

All wiki operations except plain directory bootstrap go through a single
canonical helper, `tools/research_wiki.py`. Skills that touch the wiki
must resolve `$WIKI_SCRIPT` via the chain below — never hard-code
`python3 tools/research_wiki.py …`. Hard-coding silently fails when
the project does not have `tools/` on disk (the post-`install_aris.sh`
default), which is exactly the failure mode that left a real user's
`research-wiki/` empty for a week.

```bash
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)" || exit 1
ARIS_REPO="${ARIS_REPO:-$(awk -F'\t' '$1=="repo_root"{print $2; exit}' .aris/installed-skills.txt 2>/dev/null)}"
WIKI_SCRIPT=".aris/tools/research_wiki.py"
[ -f "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ] || WIKI_SCRIPT="tools/research_wiki.py"
[ -f "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ] || { [ -n "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && WIKI_SCRIPT="$ARIS_REPO/tools/research_wiki.py"; }
[ -f "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ] || {
  echo "ERROR: research_wiki.py not found at .aris/tools/, tools/, or \$ARIS_REPO/tools/." >&2
  echo "       Fix one of:" >&2
  echo "         1. rerun 'bash tools/install_aris.sh' from the ARIS repo (creates .aris/tools symlink)" >&2
  echo "         2. export ARIS_REPO=<path-to-ARIS-repo>" >&2
  echo "         3. cp <ARIS-repo>/tools/research_wiki.py tools/" >&2
  exit 1
}
```

`/research-wiki` itself is the wiki tool — if the helper is missing the
skill **hard-fails**. Caller skills that update the wiki as a side
effect (`/idea-creator`, `/result-to-claim`, `/research-lit`, `/arxiv`,
`/alphaxiv`, `/deepxiv`, `/semantic-scholar`, `/exa-search`) use the
same chain but **warn-and-skip** instead of hard-failing — their
primary output (idea list, claim verdict, paper summary) must still be
delivered to the user.

### `/research-wiki init`

Initialize the wiki for the current project. After resolving
`$WIKI_SCRIPT` per the chain above:

```bash
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" init research-wiki/
```

The helper creates `research-wiki/{papers,ideas,experiments,claims,graph}/`
plus `index.md`, `log.md`, `gap_map.md`, **`query_pack.md`**, and
`graph/edges.jsonl`, then appends `"Wiki initialized"` to `log.md`.

(Earlier versions of this skill described a prose-only init that
omitted `query_pack.md` — that drifted from the helper and made
`/idea-creator`'s Phase 0 query-pack check fall through to a
`rebuild_query_pack` invocation that, under the old hard-coded path,
silently failed. Delegating init to the helper is the single source of
truth for the wiki schema.)

### `/research-wiki ingest "<paper title>" — arxiv: <id>`

Add a paper to the wiki. This subcommand is thin wrapping around
`python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ingest_paper …`, which is the single
implementation of paper ingest in ARIS (per
[`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md)
— one helper, no copies). The helper does all of:

1. **Fetch metadata** — queries the arXiv Atom API when `--arxiv-id` is given
2. **Generate slug** — `<first_author_last_name><year>_<keyword>`
3. **Check dedup** — skip an existing page unless `--update-on-exist`
4. **Create page** — `papers/<slug>.md` with the schema below
5. **Rebuild `index.md`** and `query_pack.md`
6. **Append `log.md`**

Edge extraction (step 5/8 in the old manual flow) is **not** in
`ingest_paper`; do it as a follow-up with `add_edge` per relationship
identified:

```bash
# arXiv-known paper
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ingest_paper research-wiki/ \
    --arxiv-id 2501.12345 --thesis "One-line claim from abstract."

# Venue paper with no arXiv mirror
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ingest_paper research-wiki/ \
    --title "Attention Is All You Need" \
    --authors "Ashish Vaswani, Noam Shazeer, …" --year 2017 --venue "NeurIPS"

# Manual edge after ingest
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" add_edge research-wiki/ \
    --from "paper:vaswani2017_attention_all_you" \
    --to "paper:chen2025_factorized_gap" \
    --type "extends" --evidence "Section 3.2: adapts the encoder block …"
```

Other skills (`/research-lit`, `/arxiv`, `/alphaxiv`, `/deepxiv`,
`/semantic-scholar`, `/exa-search`) call the same helper directly in
their own last step — they don't re-route through `/research-wiki
ingest` as a subcommand, so they don't need an LLM roundtrip.

### `/research-wiki sync — arxiv-ids <id1>,<id2>,...`

Batch backfill: ingest one or more arXiv IDs that were read earlier
without being ingested (e.g., because `research-wiki/` was set up after
the reading happened, or a hook didn't fire).

```bash
# Explicit list
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" sync research-wiki/ \
    --arxiv-ids 2310.06770,1706.03762

# From a file (one id per line, # comments ok)
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" sync research-wiki/ --from-file ids.txt
```

Dedup is handled per-id; already-ingested papers are skipped silently.
This is the recommended **manual repair** step (see integration
contract §5 Backfill). `sync` does not scan session traces — callers
declare the ids explicitly.

**Paper page schema** (exactly what `ingest_paper` emits — do not
handwrite alternative fields; `lint` will flag drift):

```markdown
---
type: paper
node_id: paper:<slug>
title: "<full title>"
authors: ["First A. Author", "Second B. Author"]
year: 2025
venue: "arXiv"
external_ids:
  arxiv: "2501.12345"
  doi: null
  s2: null
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
added: 2026-04-07T10:12:00Z
---

# <full title>

## One-line thesis

[Single sentence capturing the paper's core contribution]

## Problem / Gap

## Method

## Key Results

## Assumptions

## Limitations / Failure Modes

## Reusable Ingredients

[Techniques, datasets, or insights that could be repurposed]

## Open Questions

## Claims

[Reference claim pages: claim:C1, claim:C2, etc.]

## Connections

[AUTO-GENERATED from graph/edges.jsonl — do not edit manually]

## Relevance to This Project

[Why this paper matters for our specific research direction]
```

_Additionally, when the paper was ingested via `--arxiv-id` and the arXiv
API returned an abstract, the helper appends an `## Abstract (original)`
section after `Relevance to This Project` containing the raw abstract
text as a blockquote. Manual ingests (no `--arxiv-id`) do not include
this section._

### `/research-wiki query "<topic>"`

Generate `query_pack.md` — a compressed, context-window-friendly summary:

**Fixed budget (max 8000 chars / ~2000 tokens):**

| Section | Budget | Content |
|---------|--------|---------|
| Project direction | full sections | Structured extraction from `RESEARCH_BRIEF.md` by `## ` heading (Problem / Constraints / Direction / Background / Non-Goals / Domain Knowledge / Existing Results), in priority order. No per-field char cap — the 8000-char assembly loop is the only safety net. Falls back to a flat 600-char slice if the brief uses no known headings. |
| Top 5 gaps | 1200 chars | From gap_map.md, ranked by: unresolved + linked ideas + failed experiments |
| Paper clusters | 1600 chars | 3-5 clusters by tag overlap, 2-3 sentences each |
| Failed ideas | 1400 chars | **Always included** — highest anti-repetition value |
| Top papers | 1800 chars | 8-12 pages ranked by: linked gaps, linked ideas, centrality, relevance flag |
| Active chains | 900 chars | limitation → opportunity relationship chains |
| Open unknowns | 500 chars | Unresolved questions across the wiki |

**Pruning priority** (when over budget): low-ranked papers > cluster detail > chain detail. **Never prune** failed ideas or top gaps first.

**Key rule:** Read from short fields only (frontmatter, one-line thesis, gap summary, failure note). Do not summarize full page bodies every time.

### `/research-wiki update <node_id> — <field>: <value>`

Update a specific entity:

```
/research-wiki update paper:chen2025 — relevance: core
/research-wiki update idea:001 — outcome: negative
/research-wiki update claim:C1 — status: refuted
```

After any update: rebuild `query_pack.md`, update `log.md`.

### `/research-wiki lint`

Health check the wiki:

1. **Orphan pages** — entities with zero edges
2. **Stale claims** — claims still `status: drafted` or `status: unproven` older than 14 days
3. **Contradictions** — claims with both `supports` and `invalidates` edges
4. **Missing connections** — papers sharing 2+ tags but no explicit relationship
5. **Dead ideas** — `stage: proposed` ideas that were never tested
6. **Sparse pages** — pages with 3+ empty sections

Output a `LINT_REPORT.md` with suggested fixes.

### `/research-wiki stats`

Quick overview:

```
📚 Research Wiki Stats
Papers: 28 (12 core, 10 related, 6 peripheral)
Ideas: 7 (2 active, 3 failed, 1 partial, 1 succeeded)
Experiments: 12
Claims: 15 (8 verified, 4 unproven, 2 refuted, 1 sound-modulo-imports)
Edges: 64
Gaps: 8 (3 unresolved)
Last updated: 2026-04-07T10:12:00Z
```

## Integration with Existing Workflows

All paper-reading skills follow the same **integration contract** (see
[`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md)):

- single predicate — `[ -d research-wiki/ ]`
- single canonical helper — `python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ingest_paper …` after resolving `$WIKI_SCRIPT` via the chain at the top of this SKILL
- concrete artifact — `papers/<slug>.md` + `log.md` entry
- backfill — `sync --arxiv-ids …`
- diagnostic — `verify_wiki_coverage.sh` (Policy E; resolved per integration-contract §2)

### Hook 1: After `/research-lit` finds papers

```
# At end of research-lit, after synthesis:
if research-wiki/ exists AND $WIKI_SCRIPT resolved (chain at top of this SKILL):
    for paper in top_relevant_papers (limit 8-12):
        python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" ingest_paper research-wiki/ \
            --arxiv-id <id> [--thesis "..."] [--tags "..."]
        for each explicit relation to existing wiki paper:
            python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" add_edge research-wiki/ \
                --from "paper:<slug>" --to "<target>" \
                --type <extends|contradicts|addresses_gap|...> \
                --evidence "..."
    log "research-lit ingested N papers"
elif research-wiki/ exists but $WIKI_SCRIPT did not resolve:
    warn "wiki update skipped — research_wiki.py unreachable; rerun install_aris.sh"
```

Each paper-reading skill ships its own Step "Update Research Wiki (if
active)" that calls the same helper once per paper it touched. The
business logic is not duplicated — only the loop over that skill's
specific result set differs.

### Hook 2: `/idea-creator` reads AND writes wiki

**Before ideation:**
```
if research-wiki/query_pack.md exists (and < 7 days old):
    prepend query_pack to landscape context
    treat failed ideas as banlist
    treat top gaps as search seeds
    still run fresh literature search for last 3-6 months
```

**After ideation (CRITICAL — without it, `ideas/` stays empty; runs on EVERY
generation, including a re-run with updated constraints):** the page write is a
**deterministic helper command**, not a freehand step the model can skip:
```
for idea in all_generated_ideas (recommended + killed):
    python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" upsert_idea research-wiki/ \
      --slug <stable-id> --title <title> --stage <proposed|archived> --outcome pending \
      --thesis <...> --risks <...> --based-on <paper:slug,...> --target-gaps <G2,...>
    # one call: writes ideas/<slug>.md, wires inspired_by/addresses_gap edges,
    # rebuilds index + query_pack, logs. Default skip-on-exist (won't clobber an
    # existing idea enriched by /result-to-claim). `outcome` ∈ {unknown, pending,
    # negative, mixed, positive} — the experiment verdict is set later by
    # /result-to-claim, never guessed at ideation.
log "idea-creator wrote N ideas to wiki"
```

### Hook 3: After `/result-to-claim` verdict

```
# Create/refresh the experiment node FIRST via the deterministic helper (verdict owner
# → --update-on-exist). This is the experiment BIRTH point. add_edge does NOT verify
# node existence, so GATE the supports/invalidates edges below on the node having been
# born (EXP_NODE_OK) — else they'd dangle off a missing exp node.
EXP_NODE_OK = (python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" add_experiment research-wiki/ --slug <exp_id> \
  --idea idea:<active_idea> --verdict <yes|partial|no> --confidence <high|medium|low> \
  --metrics <...> --reasoning <...> --provenance <run dir> --update-on-exist) succeeded
  # writes page + idea--tested_by-->exp edge + rebuilds index/query_pack

# Record empirical support as EDGES ONLY, and ONLY if EXP_NODE_OK — never overwrite the
# claim's `status`. A claim's `status` is the PROOF axis (verified / sound-modulo-imports
# / refuted / unproven / drafted / retracted), owned by /proof-checker (the claim birth
# point). Experiment support is a SEPARATE axis carried entirely by supports/invalidates
# edges; writing "supported"/"invalidated" into status is rejected by the validator.
if EXP_NODE_OK:
    for claim_id in resolved_claims:
        if verdict == "yes":
            add_edge(exp_id, claim_id, "supports")
        elif verdict == "partial":
            add_edge(exp_id, claim_id, "supports")   # partial — qualify in --evidence
        else:
            add_edge(exp_id, claim_id, "invalidates")

# Update idea outcome
update_idea(active_idea_id, outcome=verdict)

# If failed, record WHY for future ideation
if verdict in ("no", "partial"):
    update_idea failure_notes with specific metrics and reasons

rebuild query_pack
log "result-to-claim: exp_id updated, verdict=..."
```

### Hook 4: Claim birth — from `/proof-checker` (the ONLY birth point)

Wiki **claim nodes are born here.** `/proof-checker` Phase 5.5 calls `add_claim`
for each top-level theorem/headline after writing `PROOF_AUDIT.json`, stamping an
honest PROOF-axis `status` and a `provenance` pointer to the audit trace. No other
skill creates a claim node: `/result-to-claim` (Hook 3) only adds empirical
`supports`/`invalidates` *edges* to an already-born claim and never edits its `status`.

```bash
# (run by /proof-checker; shown here for the wiki's record)
python3 "$WIKI_SCRIPT" add_claim research-wiki/ --slug thm-main-ub \
  --name "Main upper bound" --status verified \
  --provenance ".aris/traces/proof-checker/<run>/" --statement "..." --update-on-exist
```

Claim `status` ∈ {`drafted`, `unproven`, `sound-modulo-imports`, `verified`,
`refuted`, `retracted`} — the **proof axis only**. Empirical support is a separate
axis, carried entirely by edges (Hook 3), never written into `status`.

## Re-ideation Trigger

After significant wiki updates, suggest re-running `/idea-creator`:

- ≥5 new papers ingested since last ideation
- ≥3 new failed/partial ideas since last ideation
- New contradiction discovered in the graph
- New gap identified that no existing idea addresses

The system suggests but does not auto-trigger. User decides.

## Key Rules

- **One source of truth for relationships**: `graph/edges.jsonl`. Page `Connections` sections are auto-generated views.
- **Canonical node IDs everywhere**: `paper:<slug>`, `idea:<id>`, `exp:<id>`, `claim:<id>`, `gap:<id>`. Never use raw titles or inconsistent shorthands.
- **Failed ideas are the most valuable memory.** Never prune them from query_pack.
- **query_pack.md is hard-budgeted** at 8000 chars. Deterministic generation, not open-ended summarization.
- **Append to log.md for every mutation.** The log is the audit trail.
- **Reviewer independence applies.** When the wiki is read by cross-model review skills, pass file paths only — do not summarize wiki content for the reviewer.

## Acknowledgements

Inspired by [Karpathy's LLM Wiki](https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f) — "compile knowledge once, keep it current, don't re-derive on every query."