---
name: wiki-manage
description: Create a new wiki page (entity, concept, source, comparison) or update an existing page with new information, including cross-references, index/log, and publish. Use when the user says "create a new entity/concept/comparison", "add a page for X", "update the X page", or new information needs integrating into an existing page.
---

# Wiki Manage

**Purpose:** Create a new wiki page, or update an existing one, keeping cross-references, the
catalog and the audit log in sync.

**Trigger:** User requests a new entity/concept/comparison page, or new information needs
integrating into an existing one.

**Before the first `wikitool` call:** [session-setup.md](../session-setup.md).

**Read before drafting:** [kb/CONTRACT.md](../../kb/CONTRACT.md) - linking, provenance and the
confidence machinery, all of which the tool enforces - and
[kb/CONVENTIONS.md](../../kb/CONVENTIONS.md), which is where this instance's language, naming
forms, tone and relationship labels are, together with the target collection's own
`COLLECTION.md`, which carries its quality goal and what is local to that subtree. Field-level
requirements come from `tools/wikitool types describe <type>`.

## Creating a page

1. **Check it does not already exist.**

   ```bash
   tools/wikitool search "<name and its synonyms>"
   ```

   A near-duplicate under a different title is the most expensive mistake here, and the
   cheapest to prevent. `search` does not count against the iteration budget.

2. **Determine the type.** `tools/wikitool types list` for the roster;
   `tools/wikitool types describe <type>` for its required fields, enums and authoring
   guidance.

3. **Scaffold it.**

   ```bash
   tools/wikitool new <type> --name "<Name>" --set field=value ...
   ```

   This resolves location, frontmatter, naming collisions and directory placement
   deterministically. Never write frontmatter or pick a directory by hand.

4. **Gather what the wiki already knows** - `tools/wikitool search` again, for the surrounding
   subjects - so the prose connects to existing pages instead of restating them.

5. **Draft.** Fill in the generated skeleton's TODO sections, following the tone rules in
   [kb/CONVENTIONS.md](../../kb/CONVENTIONS.md#tone). If `provenance:` is `sourced` or `mixed`, cite
   hard facts as you write them with `tools/wikitool cite add --page "<Title>" --source
   "Source - X"`, which also adds `X` to `sources:` - paste the `[^cite-id]` marker it prints.

6. **Cross-reference.**

   ```bash
   tools/wikitool xref add --a "<A>" --b "<B>" --rel-a "<label>" --rel-b "<label>"
   ```

   One per relationship. Never hand-edit `related:`.

7. **Close out.** [publish-cycle.md](../publish-cycle.md), `--op create`.

## Updating a page

1. **Read the page.** Understand what it already claims.

2. **Preserve what is still true.** Do not remove valid information to make room.

3. **Integrate the new content.**

4. **Mark what was superseded** - ~~strikethrough~~ for replaced text, or move it to a
   "Historical" section with a note. Do not silently delete a claim that was once true; the
   wiki's value is that it records what changed.

5. **Cross-reference** any new relationship (`xref add`), and cite any new hard fact inline.

6. **Update the frontmatter that describes the page itself:**

   ```bash
   tools/wikitool touch --page "<Title>" --summary "<new 1-liner>" [--provenance <value>]
   ```

   Never hand-edit `modified:`, `summary:`, `provenance:` or `confidence:`.

7. **Close out.** [publish-cycle.md](../publish-cycle.md), `--op update`.

## Renaming, deleting, or unlinking

That is [page-lifecycle.md](../page-lifecycle.md). A title is the wiki's only identifier for a
page, so none of it is a file operation.

## Decision points

- **Is this really a new page?** If the subject already has one, update it. If the material is
  a head-to-head evaluation, it is a comparison and both subjects need pages first.
- **Entity or concept?** A thing you can point at is an entity; a *why* or *how* is a concept.
  The collection contracts draw the line.
- **`publish` refused?** A single page is normally well under the threshold. If it trips,
  [gates.md](../gates.md).

## wikitool commands used

`search`, `types list`, `types describe`, `new`, `touch`, `xref add`, `xref remove`,
`sources rebuild-index`, `index rebuild`, `log append`, `publish`

## Output

A new or updated page, published to `origin/main`.