Update Content Skill

Generic file update Skill that respects RULE.md constraints and maintains format consistency.

When to use this Skill

• User says "update", "edit", "modify", "change"
• User references existing file or content
• User requests content revision
• User mentions specific file to update

Workflow

1. Identify Target File

If user provides file path:

• Verify file exists
• Confirm with user if ambiguous

If user provides topic/title only:

• Search for file using Grep or Glob
• Pattern: **/*keyword*.md
• If multiple matches: present list, ask user to choose
• If no matches: report not found, offer to create instead

Search strategies:

1. Filename match: find . -name "*keyword*"
2. Content match: grep -r "keyword" .
3. README.md index: Search README.md files for references

2. Read Current Content

Load existing file:

• Use Read tool to load full content
• Understand current structure:
  • Frontmatter (if present)
  • Section headings
  • Content organization
  • Formatting style

Analyze format:

• Identify markdown structure
• Note any special formatting
• Detect metadata or frontmatter
• Understand content layout

3. Read Directory RULE.md

Locate and read RULE.md:

1. Check file's directory for RULE.md
2. If not found, check parent directories (inheritance)
3. Parse RULE.md for update rules

Check for:

• Are updates allowed? (some directories may be append-only or immutable)
• Format requirements to maintain
• Required fields that must be preserved
• Update workflow (e.g., "always add changelog entry")
• Versioning requirements

Example RULE.md update rules:

## Update Rules
- Preserve frontmatter fields: title, date, tags
- Add "Last updated" timestamp to frontmatter
- Append changes to "Changelog" section
- Maintain markdown heading structure

4. Execute Update

Apply requested changes:

• Use Edit tool for targeted changes
• Or Write tool for complete rewrites (if needed)
• Maintain existing format per RULE.md
• Preserve required fields/structure

Update modification metadata:

• Update "Last updated" field (if present)
• Update modification timestamp in frontmatter
• Add changelog entry (if RULE.md requires)
• Preserve original creation date

Maintain consistency:

• Keep same formatting style (indentation, line breaks, etc.)
• Preserve markdown structure (headings hierarchy)
• Maintain frontmatter format (if present)
• Keep cross-references valid

5. Governance Update

Update README.md:

1. Read current README.md
2. Find entry for this file
3. Update description if content changed significantly
4. Update "Last modified" timestamp
5. Add to "Recent Changes" section
6. Save README.md

Update parent README.md if needed:

• If file significance changed
• If file moved to different category

Verify updates:

• Check README.md is valid markdown
• Ensure timestamps are current
• Verify file is still listed correctly

6. Report to User

Confirm update complete:

✅ File updated successfully

File: [path to file]
Changes: [summary of changes made]
Format: [maintained per RULE.md]

README.md updated:
- [directory]/README.md

What changed:
[Brief description of modifications]

Special Cases

Frontmatter Updates

If file has YAML frontmatter:

---
title: Original Title
date: 2025-10-20
updated: 2025-10-28  # ← Update this
tags: [ai, ml]
---

[Content]

Update process:

1. Parse frontmatter
2. Preserve required fields (per RULE.md)
3. Update modification fields
4. Update content
5. Regenerate frontmatter with updates

Versioned Content

If RULE.md requires versioning:

## Changelog

### v1.2.0 (2025-10-28)
- [Changes made]

### v1.1.0 (2025-10-25)
- [Previous changes]

Update process:

1. Read current version
2. Increment version number (per RULE.md versioning scheme)
3. Add changelog entry
4. Update content
5. Update version in frontmatter

Structured Content

If content has specific structure (sections, tables, etc.):

Preserve structure:

1. Identify section to modify
2. Update only targeted section
3. Maintain heading hierarchy
4. Keep other sections unchanged
5. Ensure valid markdown

Append-Only Updates

If RULE.md specifies append-only (like logs):

## RULE.md says: "This directory is append-only"

Update process:

1. Read current content
2. Append new content at end
3. Don't modify existing content
4. Add timestamp for new entry
5. Update README.md

Cross-Reference Updates

If file contains links to other files:

After update:

1. Verify cross-references still valid
2. If file renamed/moved: update references
3. Check both directions (incoming and outgoing links)
4. Report any broken links

Error Handling

File Not Found

User: "Update the transformer note"
→ Search for file with "transformer" keyword
→ No matches found
→ Ask: "I couldn't find a file about transformers. Would you like to create one instead?"

Multiple Matches

User: "Update the transformer note"
→ Find 3 files with "transformer":
  1. Research/AI/2025-10-28-transformer-architecture.md
  2. Research/AI/2025-10-20-transformer-applications.md
  3. Work/Projects/transformer-project.md
→ Present list: "I found 3 files. Which one?"
→ User selects → Proceed

RULE.md Forbids Updates

RULE.md says: "This directory is immutable"
→ Warn user: "RULE.md indicates this directory should not be modified"
→ Ask: "Do you want to proceed anyway (override rule)?"
→ If yes: update and note rule override in README.md
→ If no: cancel operation

Format Unclear

Current file has unusual format
→ Ask user: "This file has custom formatting. Should I:
  1. Maintain exact current format
  2. Apply standard format per RULE.md
  3. Let you specify format"

Conflicting Changes

File was modified since user last viewed
→ Warn: "This file was modified recently (timestamp)"
→ Show recent changes
→ Ask: "Proceed with update or review changes first?"

Update Breaks Structure

Proposed update would break markdown structure or frontmatter
→ Warn: "This update would create invalid structure"
→ Suggest: "I can apply a modified version that maintains structure"
→ Ask for confirmation

Integration with Governance

This Skill automatically invokes the governance protocol:

Before update:

• Locate and read RULE.md
• Validate update is allowed
• Check format requirements

During update:

• Maintain format per RULE.md
• Preserve required fields
• Follow update workflows

After update:

• Update README.md
• Update modification timestamps
• Verify structure maintained

Examples

Example 1: Simple Update

User: "Update the transformer architecture note with new information about attention mechanisms"

Skill workflow:

1. Searches for file → Finds Research/AI/2025-10-28-transformer-architecture.md
2. Reads current content
3. Reads Research/AI/RULE.md → Updates allowed, maintain frontmatter
4. Applies changes using Edit tool
5. Updates "updated" field in frontmatter to 2025-10-28
6. Updates Research/AI/README.md timestamp
7. Reports: "✅ Updated transformer-architecture.md with attention mechanisms section"

Example 2: Append-Only Log

User: "Add today's entry to my worklog"

Skill workflow:

1. Finds Work/WorkLog/2025/Q4/10-October/2025-10-28.md
2. Reads current content
3. Reads Work/WorkLog/RULE.md → Append-only, add timestamp
4. Appends new entry at end with timestamp
5. Updates hierarchical README.md files
6. Reports: "✅ Added entry to today's worklog"

Example 3: Versioned Document

User: "Update the project spec with new requirements"

Skill workflow:

1. Finds Work/Projects/project-spec.md
2. Reads current version → v1.1.0
3. Reads Work/Projects/RULE.md → Requires versioning and changelog
4. Increments version → v1.2.0
5. Adds changelog entry:

   ### v1.2.0 (2025-10-28)
   - Added new requirements section
   

6. Updates content
7. Updates frontmatter version field
8. Updates README.md
9. Reports: "✅ Updated project-spec.md to v1.2.0"

Best Practices

1. Always preserve existing structure - Don't reformat unless requested
2. Read RULE.md first - Understand update constraints
3. Use Edit for precision - Target specific changes, don't rewrite entire file
4. Maintain metadata - Update timestamps, versions, changelog
5. Update README.md immediately - Keep index current
6. Verify cross-references - Ensure links still work
7. Report clearly - User should know what changed
8. Handle conflicts gracefully - Warn about concurrent modifications

Notes

• This Skill works with any file structure by reading RULE.md
• Preserves format by default, changes only what's requested
• Respects update rules defined in RULE.md
• Automatically maintains README.md index
• Works in parallel with CLAUDE.md subagents
• Never updates RULE.md itself (that requires explicit permission via governance agent)