Knowledge Base

What is the Knowledge Base?

The Knowledge Base is a directory of plain Markdown files stored on your device. It serves two purposes:

1. Noah reads from it to understand your environment — what devices you have, how your network is configured, what issues you've resolved before.
2. Noah writes to it to remember things — when you tell Noah about a new printer, a resolved issue, or a preference, it saves that information for next time.

Every file is a simple .md (Markdown) file. You can read, edit, or create them yourself with any text editor. Noah organizes them into categories using subdirectories.

Categories

Knowledge files are organized into subdirectories by category. Each category has a specific purpose:

You can also create custom subcategories by adding new subdirectories. Noah will discover them automatically.

How Noah uses knowledge

Noah's relationship with the Knowledge Base is woven into every conversation. Here's what happens behind the scenes:

Table of contents

When a conversation starts, Noah's system prompt includes a table of contents listing every knowledge file — the filename, category, and a brief description. This lets Noah know what information is available without loading every file into memory.

LLM tools

Noah has three tools for interacting with the Knowledge Base:

Typical uses

• Remembering device details — "Remember that the conference room printer is an HP LaserJet M404n on 192.168.1.50"
• Tracking resolved issues — After fixing a DNS problem, Noah saves the root cause and solution for future reference
• Storing user preferences — "I prefer you explain things technically, not in simple terms"
• Recording network info — "Our office WiFi is 'CorpNet-5G' and the DNS servers are 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8"
• Software configuration — "We use GlobalProtect for VPN, the portal is vpn.example.com"

Creating knowledge files

There are two ways to add knowledge: ask Noah, or create files manually.

Ask Noah

The easiest way. Just tell Noah something you want it to remember:

"Remember that the office printer is an HP LaserJet M404n"
"Our WiFi password for the guest network is on the whiteboard in Room 3"
"The VPN portal address is vpn.example.com"
"John prefers dark mode and technical explanations"

Noah will use the write_knowledge tool to create a Markdown file in the appropriate category. It picks the category, generates a clean filename, and writes structured content.

Create files manually

You can also drop .md files directly into the knowledge directory. Noah discovers new files automatically — no restart required.

Filename conventions

• Filenames are slugified: lowercase, hyphens instead of spaces, no special characters
• Examples: hp-laserjet-m404n.md, office-wifi-config.md, dns-fix-march-2026.md
• The filename (without .md) serves as the file's identifier
• Keep names descriptive but concise — they appear in the table of contents

Searching knowledge

Noah searches the Knowledge Base automatically when it needs context. You can also ask it to search directly.

Automatic search

When you describe a problem, Noah checks its table of contents for relevant files. If it sees a match, it reads the file for context before responding. For example, if you say "the printer is jammed again," Noah will look for files in devices/ that mention printers.

Direct search

Ask Noah what it knows:

"What do you know about our printers?"
"Search your knowledge for VPN configuration"
"Do you have any notes about the DNS issue from last week?"

How search works

• Keyword matching — Searches both filenames and file content for matching terms
• Wildcard support — Use * to list all files in a category or across the entire knowledge base
• Category scoping — Search can be restricted to a specific category or subdirectory (e.g., only search within devices/)
• Results include previews — Search returns file paths and content snippets so Noah can decide which files to read in full

File format

Knowledge files are plain Markdown (.md) with optional YAML frontmatter. There's no strict schema — Noah is flexible about what it reads and writes.

Basic example

# HP LaserJet M404n

Office printer on the 2nd floor, next to the kitchen.

- **IP Address:** 192.168.1.50
- **Model:** HP LaserJet Pro M404n
- **Serial:** VNB3K12345
- **Toner:** HP 58A (CF258A)
- **Connection:** Ethernet, shared via CUPS

## Notes
- Paper tray holds Letter size only
- Duplex printing enabled by default
- Last serviced: January 2026

With YAML frontmatter

---
title: Office WiFi Configuration
created: 2026-02-15
updated: 2026-03-10
---

# Office WiFi Configuration

## Networks
- **CorpNet-5G** — Main employee network (WPA2-Enterprise)
- **CorpGuest** — Guest network (WPA2-PSK, password on lobby whiteboard)

## DNS Servers
- Primary: 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare)
- Secondary: 8.8.8.8 (Google)

## Notes
- RADIUS auth through Azure AD
- Guest network has 50 Mbps cap
- VPN required for file server access from guest network

Format rules

• File extension: Must be .md
• Frontmatter: Optional. YAML between --- markers at the top of the file. Useful for metadata like creation date or tags.
• Title: The first # Heading in the file is used as the display title in the table of contents
• Content: Standard Markdown — headings, lists, code blocks, links, and so on
• Security: Path traversal protection prevents files from being read or written outside the knowledge directory

Knowledge and playbooks

Playbooks live inside the Knowledge Base at knowledge/playbooks/, but they are a special category with additional capabilities.

What makes playbooks special

For everything about playbooks — how to create them, frontmatter fields, source precedence, fleet delivery, and auto-heal — see the Playbooks documentation.

Data locations

The Knowledge Base is stored inside Noah's application data directory. The exact path depends on your operating system:

Directory structure

knowledge/
  devices/
    hp-laserjet-m404n.md
    conference-room-display.md
  issues/
    dns-resolution-failure-march-2026.md
    outlook-sync-stuck.md
  network/
    office-wifi.md
    vpn-config.md
  playbooks/
    network-diagnostics.md
    printer-repair.md
    setup-ssh-key.md
    ...
  preferences/
    communication-style.md
  software/
    globalprotect-vpn.md
    slack-enterprise.md