Popular prompts, copy-paste starters, and workflows

What this page is: A single place to find MCP prompt names (for clients that support them), copy-paste text you can use in any chat (Cursor, Copilot, web LLMs, etc.), and CLI one-liners—plus a short plain-English take on wiki-style linking, synthesis pages, and surfacing disagreements in your notes.

Where the short version lives in the app: Hub → How to use → Knowledge & agents (summary + link here).

1. Four ways assistants connect to your vault

Skill packs (e.g. under .cursor/skills/packs/) are longer playbooks—how to behave in a domain, which searches to run, which MCP prompts to prefer. They are not a fourth transport; they guide the same three layers above.

2. Wiki-style expansion, synthesis pages, research (plain language)

• Wiki-style expansion — You link notes with [[Another note]] (Obsidian-style). The system can list backlinks (who links here) and show graph relationships. You are building a web of ideas in your vault, not one long file.
• Synthesis pages — A short “current story” note: what you believe so far on a topic, with links to source clips and related pages. Raw material stays in source or inbox notes; synthesis is rewritten as you learn, so you are not re-deriving everything from scratch every time.
• Research — Not a separate product. It is a project (project: in frontmatter or a projects/<name>/ folder) plus habits: import → search → relate → optional synthesis note. Templates and skill packs (e.g. research-oriented) make that easier; they are optional.
• Surfacing disagreements — If two sources conflict, you can (a) log both and add a line in a synthesis or sidecar note “Tension: A says …, B says …”, (b) use memory consolidation with the optional Discover pass (works on memory topic summaries—see MEMORY-CONSOLIDATION-GUIDE.md), or (c) paste the contradiction audit starter below and point the model at a folder of notes.

3. Built-in MCP prompt IDs (server-side; data-aware)

After MCP connects, these prompt names are what clients list (some may be role-gated on hosted—see AGENT-INTEGRATION.md § Hosted MCP).

Implementation: mcp/prompts/register.mjs.

4. Copy-paste starters (work in any LLM; adapt paths)

When you do not have MCP, combine these with manual steps: you search in the Hub or run knowtation search in a terminal, paste snippets into chat, then save the result yourself—or use proposals if your agent is wired to the Hub.

Check a long note before reading it all

Use this when search finds a promising long note and you want structure before spending tokens on the full body.

First inspect the note headings with `get-note-outline` / `get_note_outline`.
Use `get-document-tree` / `get_document_tree` when parent-child heading hierarchy matters.
Use the heading list to decide whether the note is relevant.
Only fetch the full note body if the outline confirms it is needed.
Do not summarize or infer from headings alone; treat the outline or tree as navigation.

Wiki + synthesis (first-time layout)

I'm building a personal wiki in my Knowtation vault. Conventions:
- Raw clips and PDFs live under `projects/MYPROJECT/sources/`.
- Short "what I think so far" lives under `projects/MYPROJECT/synthesis/` with links to sources using [[note name]].
- When I add a source, suggest updates to the relevant synthesis file without deleting my raw notes.
Start by asking me the project slug and one topic to draft a synthesis outline.

Knowledge gap (after you paste search results or note titles)

Here are my vault search results (titles/paths) for TOPIC:
[paste list]

What is missing from my note set? What should I read or capture next? List 3 concrete next notes to create.

Contradiction or tension pass

I have several notes in PROJECT/FOLDER that may disagree. I will paste excerpts or paths.
1) List claims that cannot all be true at once.
2) For each, quote or cite the note path.
3) Do not resolve into a single answer—show the tension. Suggest one note title for a "tensions" or "open questions" file.

Daily stand-up from notes

Summarize my focus for today from these note titles and one-line descriptions (paste from list-notes or Hub).
Group: urgent, waiting on others, deep work. If something looks stale, say so.

Meeting → actions (no MCP)

Turn this meeting transcript into:
- Decisions
- Action items (owner, due if known)
- Open questions
I'll save it as a markdown note with YAML frontmatter (title, date, project, tags).
[transcript]

Resume where I left off (when memory is in use on self-hosted / MCP)

Use MCP prompt resume-session if connected. Otherwise:

Here are my last few notes (titles and dates) [paste]. Infer what I was working on and suggest 3 next steps. Ask one clarifying question.

Import and index reminder (for assistants helping setup)

After I import markdown into the vault, remind me to run semantic indexing (`npm run index` or Hub Re-index) so search and agents see new files.

5. High-value CLI one-liners

Run from a machine with config/local.yaml or KNOWTATION_VAULT_PATH set. Shapes: RETRIEVAL-AND-CLI-REFERENCE.md.

# Meaning search, tight limit, JSON for agents
knowtation search "your question" --project myapp --limit 5 --json

# Keyword (literal) when you need exact terms
knowtation search "exact phrase" --keyword --project myapp --limit 20 --json

# List recent notes
knowtation list-notes --project myapp --since 2026-01-01 --json

# Propose a change (needs Hub token for remote)
export KNOWTATION_HUB_URL=https://your-hub.example.com
export KNOWTATION_HUB_TOKEN=…
knowtation propose "inbox/idea.md" --hub "$KNOWTATION_HUB_URL" --body "..." --json

# One-shot memory consolidation (self-hosted; optional passes)
knowtation memory consolidate --json

Doctor check: knowtation doctor (vault path, optional Hub reachability).

6. More “power user” ideas (MCP or CLI)

7. Hosted vs self-hosted (prompts and tools)

• Hosted Hub: connect MCP to your gateway with JWT; prompts list may be scoped by role; some tools (e.g. import with file_base64) are hosted-friendly. See PARITY-MATRIX-HOSTED.md.
• Self-hosted: stdio knowtation mcp with local vault; full tool surface; knowtation://prime for bootstrap.

8. See also

• AI-ASSISTED-SETUP.md — phased copy-paste setup.
• TEMPLATES-AND-SKILLS.md — templates + skills + MCP prompt list.
• AGENT-INTEGRATION.md — CLI, MCP, Hub API, proposals.
• RETRIEVAL-AND-CLI-REFERENCE.md — filters and token levers.
• TOKEN-SAVINGS.md — search-then-open patterns.

This file is the canonical, versioned “long form.” The Hub’s How to use modal points here for the full set.