kb-moc

KB MOC

Generate and maintain Maps of Content (MOCs) — curated index notes that organize vault content by topic with grouped wikilinks, cross-references, and gap analysis.

Workflow

Creating a new MOC

1. Identify scope — accept a topic from the user, or identify clusters from obsidian tags and folder contents
2. Search the vault — find all notes related to the topic using obsidian search, obsidian tags, and obsidian backlinks
3. Read and classify — read matched notes to understand their content and group by sub-theme
4. Generate the MOC under 00-mocs/ with this structure:

   ---
   title: "Topic MOC"
   type: moc
   topics:
     - relevant-topic
   date-added: 2026-03-22
   last-updated: 2026-03-22
   ---
   

   Followed by:
   • Brief overview of the topic (2-3 sentences)
   • Grouped sections with wikilinks to related notes, each with a one-line description
   • Related MOCs section cross-referencing other MOCs where topics overlap
   • Gaps section noting areas with thin or missing coverage
5. Use silent flag when creating to avoid switching focus in Obsidian

Updating an existing MOC

1. Read the existing MOC with obsidian read
2. Search for notes added since last-updated
3. Add new notes to the appropriate sub-theme group
4. Update the last-updated property
5. Revise the Gaps section based on new coverage

MOC structure example

# Consensus algorithms

Overview of consensus mechanisms in distributed systems, covering theory and practical implementations.

## Foundational theory

- [[DDIA - Chapter 9 Consistency and Consensus]] — Kleppmann's treatment of linearizability, ordering, and the FLP impossibility result
- [[Raft Paper Notes]] — Understandable consensus, leader election, log replication

## Practical implementations

- [[etcd Consensus Notes]] — Raft in practice, leader leasing
- [[Kafka KRaft Migration]] — From ZooKeeper to Raft-based metadata

## Related MOCs

- [[Distributed Systems MOC]]
- [[Replication and Consistency MOC]]

## Gaps

- No notes yet on Viewstamped Replication
- Byzantine fault tolerance coverage is thin

Commands

# Search for notes by topic
obsidian search query="consensus" limit=20
obsidian tags sort=count counts

# Read notes to classify them
obsidian read file="DDIA - Chapter 9 Consistency and Consensus"

# Find related notes via backlinks
obsidian backlinks file="Raft Paper Notes"

# Create the MOC
obsidian create name="Consensus Algorithms MOC" content="..." path="00-mocs/Consensus Algorithms MOC.md" silent

# Update an existing MOC
obsidian append file="Consensus Algorithms MOC" content="- [[New Note]] — description"

Conventions

• MOCs live in 00-mocs/ — named as <Topic> MOC.md
• Every entry has a one-line description — not just a bare wikilink, but context for what the note covers
• Group by sub-theme — don't just list notes alphabetically; organize them into meaningful sections
• Cross-reference other MOCs — if topics overlap (e.g. consensus and distributed systems), link to related MOCs
• Always include a Gaps section — identify areas where vault coverage is thin to guide future ingestion
• Update last-updated — always set this property when modifying a MOC
• Distinguish source types in descriptions — note whether a link points to book content, personal notes, or articles when it adds useful context