WikiBonsai

A knowledge bonsai wends through concepts in semantic space, like a melody winds through harmonies in music.

[cite me!][wibomd-doc-cite-this]

<p align="center"> <img src="./static/wikibonsai.svg" width="35%" height="35%"/> </p>

⚠️ Please remember to backup all data and use version control.

The WikiBonsai project transforms a collection of markdown files into a structured knowledge layer in plain text (in markdown). This is accomplished by enabling text-based workflows that rely on [[wiki]] syntaxes, knowledge trees, and data visualizations.

This project is about strategically implementing and open-sourcing functionality that will benefit the most users and developers across the digital ecosystem. Thus, it abides by the Unix Philosophy: Everything is modularized and implemented in such a way as to maximize re-use whether it be for the browser, desktop, mobile, or headset. It's about furthering structured knowledge tooling by building atop "[standardization bedrock][wibomd-doc-design--drilling-down-to-standardization-bedrock]" instead of just creating a single application.

Further, these workflows may also facilitate the mapping of [semantic space][wibomd-doc-design--semantic-space] which could prove an invaluable resource in building a better understanding of how neural nets work and furthering the development of interpretable, explainable AI.

Notable Workflows

These are the workflows the WikiBonsai project enables for markdown-based collections of notes:

1. Expanded [[[wikirefs]]][wibomd-repo-wikirefs] syntax for quick associative linking (a.k.a. "wikilink", "bidirectional link", "internal link", etc.).
2. [Mechanics][wibomd-repo-semtree] to cultivate and train a unified "semantic tree" or "knowledge bonsai" across a collection of markdown files.
3. A clean, lean, [yaml][yaml]-like [markup language for structured attributes][wibomd-repo-caml-mkdn] (with built-in [[wikiref]] support).
4. [Graph][wibomd-repo-treehouze] utilities to experience and interact with a unified visual-spatial "[memory palace][memory-palace]" that emerges from the relationships formed across markdown notes (syntaxes 1 + 2).

These workflows are what distinguish "WikiBonsai" from other styles of digital garden -- particularly the semantic tree.

Project Info

Docs

The documentation in this repository describe the philosophies, mechanics, and terminologies that are adopted throughout all of the WikiBonsai projects:

• For Use:
  • [Getting Started][wibomd-doc-use]
  • [Privacy and Security][wibomd-doc-secure]
• For Dev:
  • [Design Principles][wibomd-doc-design]
  • [Terminology][wibomd-doc-terms]
  • [Code of Conduct][wibomd-doc-code-of-conduct]
  • [Contributing][wibomd-doc-contributing]
• For Lore:
  • [Guiding Philosophy][wibomd-doc-philosophy]
  • [Origin Story][wibomd-doc-story]
  • [Citations and Sources][wibomd-doc-cite]
• For Input:
  • [Questions][wibomd-doc-questions]

And be sure to check out [other writings][social-x] for art, writing, memes, and more.

Repos

The following links point to repositories of the WikiBonsai project and are organized by stack depth. Projects toward the top are ready-to-use and meant for the end user, while projects toward the bottom are meant for developers to build with and integrate into other solutions:

• For Use:
  • Starters:
    • [garden-beds][wibomd-repo-garden-beds]: A collection of starter WikiBonsai digital gardens -- includes starter markdown files and config files.
  • AI:
    • [germinator][wibomd-repo-germinator]: An AI-powered semantic seedling germinator that generates starter semantic mappings of concepts which are easily transplantable into one's own digital garden.
      • [semtree-germ][wibomd-repo-semtree-germ]: An earlier version of the germinator that focused on semantic trees.
    • [tree-trainer][wibomd-repo-tree-trainer]: An AI-powered tree trainer that generates syntax trees for sentence(s).
    • [prompt][wibomd-repo-promp]: Prompts for AI-powered digital gardening.
    • [tendr-skill][wibomd-repo-skill]: A skill for AI agents to tend their knowledge base.
  • Notes:
    • [vscode-tendr][wibomd-repo-vscode-tendr]: A VSCode extension for tending a WikiBonsai digital garden.
    • [tendr-cli][wibomd-repo-tendr-cli]: A CLI tool for tending a markdown-based WikiBonsai digital garden.
  • SSG:
    • [jekyll-garden][wibomd-repo-jekyll-garden]: A [jekyll][ssg-jekyll] template that can be imported as a gem or cloned as a template project.
    • [jekyll-bloomz][wibomd-repo-jekyll-bloomz]: An example setup to enable WikiBonsai workflows fro a [jekyll][ssg-jekyll]-bsaed statically generated site (SSG).
    • [astro-bloomz][wibomd-repo-astro-bloomz]: An example setup to enable WikiBonsai workflows for an [astro][ssg-astro]-based statically generated site (SSG).
    • [eleventy-bloomz][wibomd-repo-eleventy-bloomz]: An example setup to enable WikiBonsai workflows for [eleventy][ssg-eleventy]-based static site generation (SSG).
• For Dev
  • Markdown Parsers:
    • [markdown-it-caml][wibomd-repo-markdown-it-caml]: A markdown-it plugin to enable :colon::attributes.
    • [markdown-it-wikirefs][wibomd-repo-markdown-it-wikirefs]: A markdown-it plugin to enable [[wikirefs]].
    • [remark-caml][wibomd-repo-remark-caml]: A remark plugin to enable :colon::attributes.
    • [remark-wikirefs][wibomd-repo-remark-wikirefs]: A remark plugin to enable [[wikirefs]].
  • Jekyll:
    • [jekyll-graph][wibomd-repo-jekyll-graph]: A jekyll plugin to generate graphs of blog content.
    • [jekyll-semtree][wibomd-repo-jekyll-semtree]: A jekyll plugin to generate a semantic tree from index collections.
    • [jekyl-wikirefs][wibomd-repo-jekyll-wikirefs]: A jekyll plugin to enable [[wikirefs]].
  • Base:
    • [almanac][wibomd-repo-almanac]: A type system for PKM notes.
    • [caml][wibomd-repo-caml-mkdn]: Base utilities for Colon Attribute Markup Language (:colon::attributes).
    • [caudex][wibomd-repo-caudex]: An index to cache and store WikiBonsai relationships.
    • [semtree][wibomd-repo-semtree]: Base utilities for "semantic tree" or "knowledge bonsai" building in markdown.
    • [treehouze][wibomd-repo-treehouze]: Generalized graph utilities with minor specialized features for visualizing WikiBonsai-enabled markdown-based knowledge collections.
    • [trug][wibomd-repo-trug]: A config handler for WikiBonsai-style knowledge collections.
    • [wikirefs][wibomd-repo-wikirefs]: Base utilities for internal links ([[wikirefs]]).
  • Spec:
    • [caml-spec][wibomd-repo-caml-spec]: Test suite for Colon Attribute Markup Language, CAML, (:colon::attributes) specification.
    • [wikirefs-spec][wibomd-repo-wikirefs-spec]: Test suite for wikirefs ([[wikirefs]]) specification.

⚠️ Usage Note

The systems you interact with have an effect on the way you think. This system is meant to provide a ["jungle gym for thought,"][wibomd-doc-philosophy--a-jungle-gym-for-thought] but it can't do everything and might even have negative consequences if used improperly. Here are some supplemental suggestions for adopting a knowledge framework such as this, especially for educational purposes:

Write Full Essays

The workflows this project enables are meant to help develop an explicit relationship with the words you use. It's possible over-reliance on a tool like this (like many other digital productivity tools) can allow, or even facilitate, overly modular and fractured trains of thought. Writing [full essays][utb-essay] can combat fractured thinking and exercise those parts of the mind.

Refer to Common Cultural Reference Points

(such as britannica or [wikipedia][wikipedia])

By adopting a tool specifically meant for mapping vocabulary, it can be tempting to use niche words or make up one's own to demarcate an idea. But too much of this risks building a Tower of Babel and losing the ability to communicate effectively with others. Use shared vocabulary where you can and if you've found a word of better fit, use it with others. That is the purpose of language after all.

There is Never a "Final Word"

Like this project it is best to view a set of notes and explicit knowledge as a current state of affairs -- it's the state of the trail; of how much clutter has been cleared away. The goal is to build a navigable path for yourself, but to remain aware of what other things lie beyond the already-explored path. Always be open to what hard reality is telling you, especially while getting your hands dirty.

Get Your Hands Dirty

The digital world cannot replace practical, hands-in-the-mud experience. No matter what you learn or study be sure to learn something, anything, that requires your hands in the real world.

Forward

Here's to making the road ahead a bit smoother for those that follow.

[just keep tending...🪴][wibomd-doc-use]

[^mind]: Not too dissimilar from a ["bicycle for the mind"][utb-mind-bike].

[memory-palace]: <h