Work

Knowledge Base Template

A knowledge base is a set of pages, one topic each, that link to each other and stay true. This template gives every page a short answer, an owner, a review date and its links, whether the knowledge base is for a team or only for you. Copy it, or start from the example closest to your situation.

Updated 2026-10-27

Copy and adapt

The template

Knowledge base pageTemplate

[Topic, named the way someone would search for it]

Short answer: [one or two sentences that settle the common case] Owner: [name] | Last verified: {{date}} | Review by: [YYYY-MM-DD] Tags: #[area] #[type: how-to, reference, concept, decision] Up: [[Index note for this area]]

Context

[Who this is for, when it applies, and why it exists]

Details

[Steps, reference facts, or the idea in your own words. One topic per page.]

Sources

[Document, link, conversation or book, with the date you read it]

[[Related page]]: [why someone reading this page would want that one]

5 examples

Examples for different situations

The same structure, filled in for the situations people actually bring to it. Copy the one closest to yours.

1.Team knowledge base: internal how-to

When it fits: Use this when the same question reaches the same senior person every week, the answer lives in their head, and new hires need it written down with someone accountable for keeping it right.

Team knowledge base: internal how-toExample 1

How to get read access to the production database

Short answer: Request the db-readonly role in the access portal. Your manager approves it, then platform grants it within one working day. Owner: Callum Reyes | Last verified: 2026-10-27 | Review by: 2027-01-27 Tags: #platform #how-to Up: [[Engineering handbook]]

Context

For engineers who need to debug data issues. Write access is never granted this way; see [[Production write access]].

Details

Before you start: you need the VPN profile and to have finished security training (check your training dashboard).

Open the access portal and choose Request role.
Pick db-readonly, duration 90 days, and write the ticket or incident you need it for.
Your manager gets an approval request. Platform grants it after approval, usually the same day.
Connect through the bastion host, not directly. Direct connections are blocked.

Check it worked: run select 1 from the bastion. A permission error means the grant has not synced yet; wait 15 minutes.

Sources

Access policy v3, approved 2026-09-14
Platform team channel thread, 2026-10-20 (bastion change)

[[Bastion host setup]]: you need this before step 4.
[[Production write access]]: the stricter process, if read is not enough.

2.Personal wiki for your own life admin

When it fits: Use this when you keep looking up the same household facts (filter sizes, warranty dates, who fixed the boiler last time) and they are scattered across emails, receipts and memory.

Personal wiki for your own life adminExample 2

Furnace and air filter

Short answer: Filter size 16x25x1, MERV 8. Change every 90 days; next change is due 2027-01-15. Owner: me | Last verified: 2026-10-17 | Review by: 2027-01-15 Tags: #home #reference Up: [[House]]

Context

Gas furnace in the basement, installed 2019 by the previous owners. Annual service every October.

Details

Model: Carrier 59SC5, serial number on the label inside the lower door.
Parts warranty runs to 2029-06. Labor warranty has expired.
Last service 2026-10-16 by Brightline Heating (Aurelio). Flame sensor cleaned, nothing replaced, $149.
Filters: bought in packs of 6, last pack 2026-10-17. Two left.
If it short-cycles again (as in Feb 2026), the fix was the flame sensor. Try cleaning it before calling.

Sources

Brightline invoice, 2026-10-16 (attached)
Home inspection report, 2024, page 31

[[Home maintenance calendar]]: the filter change and service visit are scheduled there.
[[Contractors]]: Brightline's number and what they charged before.

3.Zettelkasten note set

When it fits: Use this when you are building ideas rather than storing references: each note is one claim in your own words, has an ID, and earns its place by linking to notes you already have.

Zettelkasten note setExample 3

202610271410 Desirable difficulties slow learning down and make it last

Short answer: Practice that feels harder (spacing, testing, mixing problem types) lowers performance during practice and raises retention later. Owner: me | Last verified: 2026-10-27 | Review by: none, a claim note Tags: #learning #concept Up: [[Learning index]]

Details

Robert Bjork's term (1994). The trap is that the easy method feels like it works. Rereading gives fluency, and fluency is mistaken for knowing.

Sources

Bjork, "Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings," 1994. Read via Make It Stick, ch. 4.

[[202610201955 Fluency is not evidence of learning]]: the reason the trap works.
[[202610271432 Interleaving feels worse and works better]]: one specific desirable difficulty.

202610271432 Interleaving feels worse and works better

Short answer: Mixing problem types in one session beats doing them in blocks, because you have to choose the method, not just apply it. Up: [[202610271410 Desirable difficulties slow learning down and make it last]]

[[202610091120 Choosing the method is the skill exams test]]: why this matters for exams.

4.Second brain for a freelancer

When it fits: Use this when you juggle four clients, every project restarts from old emails, and you want each client and project page to hold the decisions, rates and files you keep hunting for.

Second brain for a freelancerExample 4

Halden Bakery: website rebuild

Short answer: Five-page site on their existing domain. Fixed fee $6,400, half paid. Launch 2026-12-01, before the holiday orders open. Owner: Ingrid Solberg | Last verified: 2026-10-26 | Review by: 2026-12-08 (archive after launch) Tags: #project #client Up: [[Projects]]

Context

Owner is Petra Halden. She decides on copy; her son Elias handles the domain and hosting logins. Second project with them (first was the 2025 menu redesign, [[Halden Bakery: menu 2025]]).

Details

Scope: home, menu, order form, about, contact. A blog was asked for and declined on 2026-10-02; it can be a separate quote.
Decisions: order form uses their existing payment provider, no new accounts (2026-10-09, because Petra does not want another dashboard).
Open: photos. Petra promised them by 2026-10-31. Without them, launch slips.
Send Petra the photo shot list @due(2026-10-27)
Second invoice on launch @due(2026-12-01)

Sources

Signed proposal, 2026-09-28
Kickoff call notes, [[2026-10-02 Halden kickoff]]

[[Halden Bakery]]: the client page, with contacts and all past projects.
[[Small business site checklist]]: the resource page I reuse on every launch.

5.Index page for a personal research wiki

When it fits: Use this when a personal knowledge base has grown past 200 notes, search finds pages but not the shape of a topic, and you need one page that maps the area and shows what is missing.

Index page for a personal research wikiExample 5

Urban heat: index

Short answer: Everything I have on why cities run hotter than their surroundings and what reduces it. Start with the three overview pages below. Owner: Wen Hao | Last verified: 2026-10-24 | Review by: 2027-01-24 Tags: #research #index Up: [[Thesis index]]

Context

Background reading for chapter 2 of my master's thesis. 46 linked pages as of today.

Details

Start here

[[Urban heat island, definition and measurement]]
[[Why surface and air temperature differ]]
[[Heat and health outcomes]]

Interventions

[[Street trees and canopy cover]]: 11 sources, strongest evidence.
[[Cool roofs]]: 6 sources, mostly modeling studies.
[[Cool pavements]]: 2 sources, contested. Gap.

Open questions

Does canopy cover reduce heat equally in dry and humid cities? Nothing on humid cities yet.

Sources

Reading log: [[Thesis reading log]]

[[Thesis chapter 2 outline]]: which index sections feed which part of the chapter.

Two kinds of knowledge base

Search for a knowledge base template and most results are help-center article formats: how-to, FAQ and troubleshooting articles for a support team. Search for a personal wiki or second brain template and you get note-taking setups. They are the same idea at different scales. A knowledge base is a set of pages, one topic each, that someone can trust and navigate.

The template on this page works for both. A team uses it for internal how-tos and reference pages; the first example is a classic help-center style article with prerequisites, steps and a success check. An individual uses it for life admin, research or client work, as the other examples show. The fields that make a team knowledge base reliable (owner, review date, sources) are the same ones that make a personal one worth keeping.

What every page needs

A title in the reader's words. The person searching does not know your internal name for the thing.
A short answer. One or two sentences that settle the common case. If you cannot write it, the page covers two topics.
Owner and dates. Who keeps it right, when it was last checked, and when it should be checked again.
An up-link. Every page links to the index of its area, so nothing is orphaned.
Sources. Where the information came from, with a date, so a reader can judge whether it is still true.
Related pages, with reasons. The link is the structure; the reason is what makes the structure readable.

Links instead of folders

Folders force every page into exactly one place. Knowledge does not work that way: the database access page belongs to onboarding, security and the platform team at once. Wikilinks let a page sit in several places, and backlinks show you, from any page, everything that points to it.

A practical setup for both team and personal knowledge bases:

A few areas, each with an index page (the last example is one).
Pages that link up to their index and sideways to related pages.
Tags for page type (how-to, reference, concept, decision), not for topic. Topic lives in the links.

Zettelkasten, second brain, personal wiki: what differs

Personal wiki: reference pages for facts you look up. Optimized for finding things fast. Pages change when the facts change.
Second brain: organized around action. Projects with deadlines, areas you maintain, resources you reuse, and an archive. The freelancer example is a project page in that style.
Zettelkasten: one claim per note, in your own words, linked to the notes it builds on. Optimized for thinking, not lookup. Notes rarely change; new notes are added instead.

You can run all three in one place. Many people keep a zettelkasten for reading and a second brain for work, with links between them where an idea meets a project.

Keeping it from going stale

This is the part most knowledge base templates leave out, and the reason most knowledge bases fail. Pages are written once and decay quietly. A procedure changes, a price goes up, a person leaves, and the page still says what it said in March.

Review by date, monthly. List pages whose review date has passed and check them, most-used first.
Update on change, not on schedule. When you change a process, the page is part of the change.
Delete or archive freely. A small, current knowledge base beats a large one nobody trusts. A wrong page is worse than a missing one.
Write sources with dates. When two pages disagree, the dated source settles it.

Common mistakes

One page per document instead of per topic. A 40-page onboarding doc pasted in is a file, not a knowledge base.
Folders five levels deep. Nobody remembers the path. Links and an index are easier to navigate.
No owner. "The team" owns nothing.
Links without context. A list of 15 related pages is skipped. Three with a reason each are read.

When to use a different template

For a repeatable process with numbered steps that people follow exactly, the SOP template adds roles, frequency and sign-off. For passing ongoing work to someone else, use the handoff document template. For notes taken while reading sources, before they become knowledge base pages, the research notes template fits better. For using an LLM as the maintainer of a wiki like this, read the LLM wiki.

Customization tips

Title pages the way people search
"How to get read access to the production database" is found by the person who needs it. "DB access policy (v3)" is found by the person who wrote it. Use the question or the noun someone would type.
Put the answer in the first line
Most visits to a knowledge base page are someone checking one fact. A short answer at the top serves them in five seconds; the details below are for the reader who needs more.
Every page needs an owner and a review date
A page without an owner is the page that is quietly wrong in a year. For a personal wiki the owner is you, and the review date is still worth setting for anything that changes, like prices, logins or warranties.
Explain each link
A bare list of links becomes noise. Writing one line about why the related page matters ("you need this before step 4") tells the reader whether to click, and tells you later why you connected them.
Drop the review date for idea notes
In a zettelkasten, a claim note records what you thought about a source on a given day. It does not expire like a how-to. Keep the ID and the links, and drop the owner and review fields.
Keep one index page per area
Once an area has more than about 20 pages, give it an index page that groups them and lists the gaps. Every page links up to its index, so the index's backlinks double as a check that nothing is orphaned.

In the app

How to do this in Scribelet

Open Desk Settings, then Templates, tap Add Template, paste the template above and choose the General category. Keep {{date}} in the Last verified field so it fills in when you create the page.
Type [[ to link a page; autocomplete finds existing pages as you type. Every page has a backlinks panel, so an index page or client page lists everything that links to it without you maintaining the list.
On Pro, the auto-linker suggests links between related pages you have not connected yet, and the stale checker flags pages that need review.
Ask the AI chat "how do new engineers get database access?" and it answers from your pages with citations, so you can check the source page and its review date.
Moving from Obsidian? Import the vault and your wikilinks come with it. Coding agents can search and update the same pages through Scribelet's MCP server, in the desks you allow.

Templates, template variables and AI generation are documented in Note templates.

Frequently asked questions

What should a knowledge base template include?

A title in the reader's words, a short answer, the details, sources, related links, and three fields most templates skip: an owner, a last-verified date and a review date. Without those, a knowledge base drifts out of date one page at a time and nobody notices until someone follows a wrong instruction.

What is the difference between a knowledge base, a wiki and a second brain?

They are the same structure for different readers. A team knowledge base answers other people's questions, a personal wiki stores facts you keep looking up, and a second brain (a term popularized by Tiago Forte) organizes your projects, areas and resources so past work is reusable. A zettelkasten is narrower: atomic idea notes in your own words, linked to build arguments.

How do I organize a knowledge base?

Group pages into a few areas, give each area an index page, and link every page up to its index. Use tags for type (how-to, reference, concept) rather than for topic, and let links carry the topic structure. Avoid deep folders; a page usually belongs in more than one place, and links allow that.

How do I keep a knowledge base up to date?

Give every page an owner and a review date, and review by date once a month, starting with the pages people use most. When something changes, update the page the same day. More on why notes go stale in knowledge decay.

Can I use this as a zettelkasten template?

Yes, with two changes. Add a timestamp ID to the title (for example 202610271410), and drop the owner and review fields, because a claim note does not expire like a how-to page. The third example shows a small zettelkasten note set. See also zettelkasten with AI.

A knowledge base that tells you when it is wrong

Write your pages in Scribelet with wikilinks and backlinks, give each one an owner and review date, and ask your knowledge base questions with answers cited back to the page. Free to start; the stale checker is on Pro.

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Work

SOP Template (Standard Operating Procedure)

An SOP is only useful if a person who has never done the task can follow it and get the same result. This template puts the trigger, the checks and the escalation path next to the steps, and gives every procedure an owner and a review date so it does not quietly go stale.

Work

Handoff Document Template

A handoff fails on the things nobody wrote down: the promise made in a hallway, the decision half made, the warning sign only the outgoing person knows. This handoff document template has a section for each, and ends with a read-back so you know the handover landed. Copy it, or start from the handover notes example closest to yours.

Research

Research Notes Template

Research notes go wrong in two ways: you cannot tell where a claim came from, or you cannot tell whether it is still true. This template ties every finding to a source and a confidence level, keeps observation apart from interpretation, and records when you last checked.

Article

Zettelkasten with ai

From the Scribelet blog

Article

Llm wiki

From the Scribelet blog

Article

Knowledge decay

From the Scribelet blog