Wiki Rebuild — Archive, Rebuild, Restore

You are performing a destructive operation on the wiki. Always archive first, always confirm with the user before proceeding.

Before You Start

• Read .env to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH

• Read .manifest.json to understand current state

• Confirm the user's intent. This skill supports three modes:

• Archive only — snapshot current wiki, no rebuild

• Archive + Rebuild — snapshot, then reprocess all sources from scratch

• Restore — bring back a previous archive

The Archive System

Archives live at $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_archives/ . Each archive is a timestamped directory containing a full copy of the wiki state at that point.

$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/ ├── _archives/ │ ├── 2026-04-01T10-30-00Z/ │ │ ├── archive-meta.json │ │ ├── concepts/ │ │ ├── entities/ │ │ ├── skills/ │ │ ├── references/ │ │ ├── synthesis/ │ │ ├── journal/ │ │ ├── projects/ │ │ ├── index.md │ │ ├── log.md │ │ └── .manifest.json │ └── 2026-03-15T08-00-00Z/ │ └── ... ├── concepts/ ← live wiki ├── entities/ └── ...

archive-meta.json

{ "archived_at": "2026-04-06T10:30:00Z", "reason": "rebuild", "total_pages": 87, "total_sources": 42, "total_projects": 6, "vault_path": "/Users/name/Knowledge", "manifest_snapshot": ".manifest.json" }

Mode 1: Archive Only

When the user wants to snapshot the current state without rebuilding.

Steps:

• Create archive directory: _archives/YYYY-MM-DDTHH-MM-SSZ/

• Copy all category directories, index.md , log.md , .manifest.json , and projects/ into the archive

• Write archive-meta.json with reason "snapshot"

• Append to log.md :

• [TIMESTAMP] ARCHIVE reason="snapshot" pages=87 destination="_archives/2026-04-06T10-30-00Z"

• Report: "Archived 87 pages. Current wiki is untouched."

Mode 2: Archive + Rebuild

When the user wants to start fresh. This is the full sequence:

Step 1: Archive current state

Same as Mode 1 above, but with reason "rebuild" .

Step 2: Clear live wiki

Remove all content from the category directories (concepts/ , entities/ , skills/ , etc.) and the projects/ directory. Keep:

• _archives/ (obviously)

• .obsidian/ (Obsidian config)

• .env (if present in vault)

Reset index.md to the empty template. Reset log.md with just the rebuild entry. Delete .manifest.json (it'll be recreated during ingest).

Step 3: Rebuild

Tell the user the vault is cleared and ready for a full re-ingest. They can now run:

• wiki-status — to see all sources as "new"

• claude-history-ingest — to reprocess Claude history

• codex-history-ingest — to reprocess Codex session history

• wiki-ingest — to reprocess documents

• data-ingest — to reprocess any other data

Each of these will rebuild the manifest as they go.

Important: Don't run the ingest yourself automatically. The user should choose what to re-ingest and in what order. Some sources may no longer be relevant.

Step 4: Log the rebuild

Append to log.md :

• [TIMESTAMP] REBUILD archived_to="_archives/2026-04-06T10-30-00Z" previous_pages=87

Mode 3: Restore from Archive

When the user wants to go back to a previous state.

Step 1: List available archives

Read _archives/ directory. For each archive, read archive-meta.json and present:

Available Archives

Step 2: Confirm which archive to restore

Ask the user which archive they want. Warn them that restoring will overwrite the current live wiki.

Step 3: Archive current state first

Before restoring, archive the current state (reason: "pre-restore" ) so nothing is lost.

Step 4: Restore

• Clear the live wiki (same as Mode 2, Step 2)

• Copy all content from the chosen archive back into the live wiki directories

• Restore index.md , log.md , and .manifest.json from the archive

• Append to log.md :

• [TIMESTAMP] RESTORE from="_archives/2026-03-15T08-00-00Z" pages_restored=65

Step 5: Report

Tell the user what was restored and suggest running wiki-lint to check for any issues with the restored state.

Safety Rules

• Always archive before destructive operations. No exceptions.

• Always confirm with the user before clearing the live wiki.

• Never delete archives unless the user explicitly asks. Archives are cheap insurance.

• The .obsidian/ directory is sacred. Never touch it during archive/rebuild/restore — it contains the user's Obsidian settings, plugins, and themes.

• If something goes wrong mid-rebuild, the archive is there. Tell the user they can restore.