---
type: guide
title: OKF Bundle Maintenance
description: Keep your OKF knowledge bundle from rotting — change tracking, frontmatter discipline, staleness detection, and automation.
tags:
  - okf
  - maintenance
  - documentation
  - best-practices
  - unverified
timestamp: 2026-10-19
---

# OKF Bundle Maintenance

Knowledge bundles rot. It is the nature of knowledge to attract cobwebs, much like an unvisited pantry attracts spiders that are frankly doing you a favor by reminding you it has been a while. An OKF bundle maintained by agents is no exception — files drift out of sync, frontmatter becomes decorative, and `index.md` turns into a ghost town where links go to die.

**The core principle:** if you do not track changes, you do not know when they happened. If you do not have a changelog, you are the person who finds the broken thermostat and wonders why it is set to "volcano."

---

## Change Tracking with `log.md`

Every OKF bundle has a `log.md` file. It is not optional. It is the bundle's memory.

**Format:** Date-grouped entries, newest first. One line per change with timestamp, file path, and what changed.

```markdown
# Bundle Change Log

## 2026-01-15
- `/docs/ghostty.md` — Updated keybind table after v1.2 release
- `/docs/pi-permission-system/` — Added `policy.md` and `audit.md`
- `/docs/index.md` — Synced with directory contents
```

**Rules:**
- **Newest entries first.** Putting old entries at the top inverts the timeline and makes it impossible to see what just happened.
- **One line per change.** A single line is sufficient. The git history is there if someone wants the gory details.
- **Group by date.** Batch all changes from the same day together.
- **Always date-stamp the section.** Use `## YYYY-MM-DD`.
- **Mention `index.md` whenever you change a bundle.** If you added or removed a file, update the index and note it in the log.

### Common Mistakes

- ❌ Writing `"Updated ghostty.md"` — Updated it with what? Be specific.
- ❌ Forgetting to write to `log.md` — This is the equivalent of doing surgery without keeping a record.
- ❌ Using relative paths — Use absolute paths (`/docs/ghostty.md`).
- ❌ Leaving stale entries from manual edits — The log is the single source of truth.

---

## Frontmatter Discipline

Frontmatter is the metadata layer. It is not decoration.

### Required field:
- `type` — The concept type. The only strictly required frontmatter field.

### Strongly recommended:
- `description` — The preview text. Without it, the file is invisible and confusing.
- `tags` — Use for cross-cutting concerns. Tags hold things together across categories.
- `timestamp` — Include for staleness detection. A file with a timestamp from 2023 is more likely stale than one from 2026.
- `title` — Optional but helpful.

### Rules:
- ✅ Every concept file must have a `description`.
- ✅ Use `tags` liberally but consistently.
- ✅ Include `timestamp` on every file.
- ✅ Pick descriptive `type` values: `reference`, `guide`, `configuration`, `tutorial`.
- ❌ Don't use `type: file` or `type: document` — be specific.
- ❌ Never leave `description` blank or copy the title.

---

## One Thing Per File

OKF is built on the principle that a file is one concept.

**Splitting criteria:**
- ✅ One topic, one file. If the content can be summarized in one sentence without using "and," it belongs in one file.
- ✅ Give each file its own `type`.
- ✅ Keep each file between 1 and 500 lines. Under 1 = over-split. Over 500 = under-split.
- ❌ Don't create a file called `misc.md` — `misc` is a graveyard, not a category.
- ❌ Don't use `# Other` or `# Additional Notes` sections — these are taping things to the wall.

---

## Auto-Generation Strategies

### Index files as living documents:

```bash
find docs/bundle-name/ -name '*.md' ! -name 'log.md' -type f | \
  sort | \
  awk '{print "- " $0}' > docs/bundle-name/index.md
```

### Staleness detection:

```bash
# Find files older than 90 days
find docs/ -name '*.md' ! -name 'index.md' ! -name 'log.md' \
  -mtime +90 -type f -print

# Find files missing timestamp
find docs/ -name '*.md' ! -name 'index.md' ! -name 'log.md' \
  -type f -exec grep -L '^timestamp:' {} \;

# Find files missing description
find docs/ -name '*.md' ! -name 'index.md' ! -name 'log.md' \
  -type f -exec grep -L '^description:' {} \;
```

---

## Version Control Best Practices

- ✅ One logical change per commit
- ✅ Write meaningful commit messages ("Updated file" is not a commit message. It is a shrug in text form.)
- ❌ Don't commit entire bundle dumps — a commit touching 50 files is a data dump, not a change

### Useful git commands:

```bash
git blame -L 1,30 docs/ghostty.md          # Who changed what and when
git log --oneline -n 10 -- docs/pi-permission-system/  # Last commits in a directory
git status --short                            # What is uncommitted
```

---

## Knowing When Something Is Stale

| Signal | Threshold | Action |
|--------|-----------|--------|
| `timestamp` field older than 6 months | Auto-flag | Review and update or archive |
| File not modified in 12 months | Auto-flag | Assess whether still relevant |
| `index.md` count differs from file count | Always | Fix immediately |
| `log.md` has no entries for 30+ days | Context-dependent | Normal if no changes made |


---

## Automated Gates (this bundle)

Two mechanical checkers live in `scripts/`; both exit non-zero on violations.
Run both before committing any `omp-docs/` change; `tests/kb-lint.bats` pins
their behavior.

```bash
bash scripts/kb-lint.sh omp-docs         # OKF conformance
python3 scripts/kb-coverage.py omp-docs  # index coverage doctrine
```

- **kb-lint** — OKF v0.1 rules: non-empty `type` frontmatter on every
  non-index file, no frontmatter on `index.md`, resolvable wikilinks and
  relative links, reserved names (`index.md`/`log.md`), `YYYY-MM-DD` log
  headings.
- **kb-coverage** — the AGENTS.md anti-rot mechanism: every directory has an
  `index.md`, and that index links every sibling file and subdirectory.

---

## See Also

- [OKF v0.1 Specification](okf-spec.md) — The complete format specification.
- [Root Index](/index.md) — This bundle's structure and navigation.