FAQ

FAQ

General Questions

Q: What is AI4PKM?
A: AI4PKM is a Personal Knowledge Management system designed for the AI era, combining human curation with AI-powered automation to build and maintain your knowledge base.

Q: What tools do I need?
A: At minimum, you need:

• Obsidian (for the vault interface)
• One of the AI CLI tools (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or Codex CLI)
• Python 3.8+ (if using the automation CLI)

Q: Can I use this without the CLI tool?
A: Yes! You can manually run prompts through Claude Code in Cursor or directly in your AI tool of choice. The CLI is optional but recommended for automation.

Q: Which AI agent should I use?
A: Each has strengths:

• Claude Code: Best for general analysis and writing
• Gemini CLI: Best for multilingual content and large files
• Codex CLI: Best for code-related tasks

You can switch between them freely with ai4pkm -a [agent].

Setup & Configuration

Q: How do I get started?
A: Follow the Getting Started guide on the homepage. Key steps:

1. Clone the repo
2. Open in Obsidian
3. Install CLI (optional)
4. Run your first workflow

Q: Where are the configuration files?
A:

• AI agent config: _Settings_/ai4pkm_config.json
• Cron schedules: cron.json (root directory)
• Prompts: _Settings_/Prompts/
• Templates: _Settings_/Templates/

Q: How do I configure cron jobs?
A: Edit cron.json in the root directory. See Workflow Automation for examples.

Using Workflows

Q: What’s the difference between DIR, WRP, and CKU?
A:

• DIR: Daily processing of new content
• WRP: Weekly review and planning
• CKU: Continuous hourly maintenance

See Workflows for detailed explanations.

Q: Can I run workflows manually?
A: Yes! Use commands like:

ai4pkm -p "DIR for today"
ai4pkm -p "WRP for this week"
ai4pkm -p "CKU for hourly run"

Q: How often should I run each workflow?
A: Recommended schedule:

• CKU: Every hour
• DIR: Once daily (evening)
• WRP: Once weekly (Sunday)

Troubleshooting

Q: EIC is timing out on large files
A:

1. Try using Gemini or Claude instead of your current agent
2. For files >50KB, consider manual processing following the EIC prompt
3. Gemini provides content but can’t directly modify files - apply changes manually

Q: My agent isn’t working
A:

1. Check agent availability: ai4pkm --list-agents
2. Verify installation of the CLI tool (claude, gemini, codex)
3. Check your API keys and authentication
4. Try switching to a different agent: ai4pkm -a [agent]

Q: Broken wiki links in my vault
A: The CKU workflow includes link fixing. Run:

ai4pkm -p "CKU for hourly run"

Q: Where are my generated files?
A:

• Daily/Weekly roundups: AI/Roundup/
• Research outputs: AI/Research/
• Photo logs: Ingest/Photolog/Snap/
• Life logs: Ingest/Limitless/

Q: Can I customize prompts?
A: Yes! All prompts are in _Settings_/Prompts/ as markdown files. Edit them to suit your needs. Follow the standard Prompt Template structure.

Advanced Usage

Q: Can I add custom workflows?
A: Yes! Create new prompt files in _Settings_/Prompts/Adhoc/ following the template structure, then reference them in commands or cron jobs.

Q: How do I integrate new data sources?
A: Add new ingestion steps to the DIR workflow, or create custom prompts for processing specific sources.

Q: Can I use this for team knowledge management?
A: The current system is designed for personal use. Team usage would require additional setup for shared vaults and coordination.

Q: How do I backup my knowledge base?
A: The vault is a git repository. Regular commits and pushes to a remote (GitHub/GitLab) provide version control and backup.

Still Have Questions?

• Check the Guidelines for system architecture
• Review Prompts for detailed prompt documentation
• See Workflows for workflow specifics
• Read the CLI Tool for command reference
• Open an issue on GitHub for technical problems

Contributing

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Check existing issues first
2. Create a detailed issue or pull request
3. Follow the existing code and documentation patterns