# Knowledge documents

A knowledge base is built from a handful of document kinds. Some were defined only as file-name suffixes, and some overlap. This page records what each is, the problem with it, and the chosen reorganisation.

## The kinds today

| Kind | What it is | Problem |
| --- | --- | --- |
| scope | The charter, written first | None |
| toc | A pure table of contents per topic; input to article building | No front matter or template |
| toc-home | A derived view of all tables of contents | Generated; fine |
| tracker | What is built versus planned, per topic | Hand-kept, so it can drift |
| home | Generated by the view build, never hand-edited | Appears as a file in activities, which suggests it is written by hand |
| model | Defined nowhere | Overlaps design, spec and architecture |
| inventory | Seen in practice, not a defined type | Needs a definition |

## The options

Write definitions and front matter for the existing kinds as they are. Smallest change, but `home` stays an authored kind although it is generated, `tracker` stays hand-kept and `model` stays vague.
`home` becomes generated only. `toc` stays as the first result of the Knowledge route, with a front-matter block. `tracker` stays as a file but is generated from the content against the toc. `model` is defined narrowly as how a domain is structured, its parts and how they relate. `inventory` gets a definition.
Every kind becomes a record in a registry with its own schema. One source of truth, but a large step before the flow is proven.

Option B aligns the knowledge kinds with the guided flow and removes the two hand-kept files that can drift. The cost is a change to the build code so the tracker is generated.

## The folder structure stays

A knowledge base keeps three folders: authored content, generated views and planning. The guided flow connects an activity to them through front-matter fields rather than moving folders, because nothing indicates the structure is the problem. See [Integrating documents into the knowledge base](integrating-documents-into-the-knowledge-base.md).

Part of the apparent difference between knowledge work and other work is only location: planning files live in the knowledge base's build folder, but appear as ordinary documents inside an activity.