Structuring Your Knowledge Base

Why This Structure Works: Designing for People and AI

A company's file system is no longer just a digital filing cabinet for people; it is the contextual brain for your AI agents. This structure is deliberately designed to make finding relevant information effortless for both.

The "Canon" vs. "WIP" Principle

One of the biggest challenges with AI (and human onboarding) is outdated, speculative, or half-baked information. If an AI reads a brainstorm document from two years ago, it might hallucinate incorrect company policies.

This folder structure solves this by isolating work states:

• The Canon (_index.md, 01_Team_Wiki, 04_Data_and_Reports): These folders act as the single source of truth. AI agents are built to weigh documents in these paths heavily. This is the finalized, approved, and "canon" knowledge base of the company.
• The Sandbox (02_Drafts_and_WIP, 03_Meeting_Notes): These folders contain active, ongoing work. Because of their naming, AI systems know to exclude these folders from standard knowledge-retrieval queries to prevent unfinished ideas from polluting factual answers (unless you explicitly ask the AI to summarize a recent meeting).

Naming Conventions

Consistent naming is critical. It prevents duplicate folders (e.g., Marketing vs Marketing_Team) and helps algorithms accurately parse context from the file path.

Here are three recommended approaches you can adapt for your files and folders:

Option 1: The Ordered Prefix (Recommended for Folders)

• Format: [Number]_[Category]_[Name] (e.g., 01_Company_Hub, 02_Marketing)
• Why use it: It forces your operating system and web UI to sort folders in priority order, rather than alphabetically. It guides the user’s eye exactly where you want it.

Option 2: The Date-Driven Log (Best for Notes & Reports)

• Format: [YYYY-MM-DD]-[Topic] (e.g., 2024-10-24-Q3-Review.md)
• Why use it: Essential for folders like 03_Meeting_Notes. It ensures documents sort chronologically and gives AI exact temporal context without needing to read file metadata.

Option 3: Kebab-Case (Best for Developer-Heavy Teams)

• Format: lowercase-with-dashes (e.g., brand-assets, team-wiki)
• Why use it: Clean, URL-friendly, and standard in software engineering. Good if your file system directly maps to a web portal or repository.

Valstorm Folder Structure

Root
├── 01_Company_Hub
│   ├── _index.md
│   ├── 01_Vision_and_Strategy
│   ├── 02_Culture_and_HR
│   ├── 03_Brand_and_Assets
│   ├── 04_Templates
│   ├── 05_Announcements
│   └── 06_IT_and_Tools
├── 02_Departments
│   ├── 02_Marketing
│   │   ├── 01_Team_Wiki
│   │   ├── 02_Drafts_and_WIP
│   │   ├── 03_Meeting_Notes
│   │   └── 04_Data_and_Reports
│   ├── 01_Sales
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   ├── 01_Team_Wiki
│   │   ├── 02_Drafts_and_WIP
│   │   ├── 03_Meeting_Notes
│   │   └── 04_Data_and_Reports
│   ├── 03_Engineering
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   ├── 01_Team_Wiki
│   │   ├── 02_Drafts_and_WIP
│   │   ├── 03_Meeting_Notes
│   │   └── 04_Data_and_Reports
│   ├── 04_Service
│   │   ├── _index.md
│   │   ├── 01_Team_Wiki
│   │   ├── 02_Drafts_and_WIP
│   │   ├── 03_Meeting_Notes
│   │   └── 04_Data_and_Reports
│   └── 05_Finance
│       ├── _index.md
│       ├── 01_Team_Wiki
│       ├── 02_Drafts_and_WIP
│       ├── 03_Meeting_Notes
│       └── 04_Data_and_Reports
│           └── 01_Bank_Transactions
├── 03_Cross_Functional_Projects
│   ├── 01_Clients
│   │   ├── Client_Alpha
│   │   └── Client_Beta
│   │       └── 01_Data_Migration
├── 00_John_Doe
│   ├── Partner_Testing
│   └── local test
├── 00_jane_doe
└── 01_John_and_Jane

Visual Folder Structure

To illustrate the hierarchy without overwhelming the viewer, this chart shows the top-level structure and expands the Sales department as a representative example of the standard folder template.

graph LR
    %% Root
    Root[Root]
    
    %% Level 1
    Root --> Hub[01_Company_Hub]
    Root --> Depts[02_Departments]
    Root --> CrossFunc[03_Cross_Functional_Projects]
    Root --> Users[User Workspaces]

    %% 01_Company_Hub (Summary)
    Hub -.-> HubDocs[Company-wide Docs, Assets, HR]

    %% 02_Departments (Show Sales as standard template)
    Depts --> Dept_Mktg[02_Marketing]
    Depts --> Dept_Sales[01_Sales]
    Depts --> Dept_Eng[03_Engineering]
    Depts --> Dept_Service[04_Service]
    Depts --> Dept_Finance[05_Finance]

    %% Expand Sales as Template
    Dept_Sales --> Sales_Wiki[01_Team_Wiki]
    Dept_Sales --> Sales_Drafts[02_Drafts_and_WIP]
    Dept_Sales --> Sales_Notes[03_Meeting_Notes]
    Dept_Sales --> Sales_Data[04_Data_and_Reports]

    %% Cross Functional
    CrossFunc --> Proj_Clients[01_Clients]
    Proj_Clients --> Client_A[Client_Alpha]
    Proj_Clients --> Client_B[Client_Beta]

    %% Users
    Users --> John[00_John_Doe]
    Users --> Jane[00_jane_doe]