Git as Wiki Backend#
Think of it like a Time Machine for Your Brain#
Every time you INGEST a source, the script runs git add and git commit. This is like taking a photograph of your sticky-note wall at that moment.
Why do this? Three reasons:
1. Undo (The Safety Net)#
You're refining a wiki page about "Indonesian Tax Calculations". You accidentally delete the entire section about PBJT (10%). Without git, that knowledge is gone — you'd have to find the original source and re-ingest.
With git:
git log --oneline
git checkout <hash-before-the-accident> -- wiki/indonesian-tax.md
Five seconds, fixed. Like rewinding time for a single page.
2. See What Changed Over Time#
git log --oneline -- wiki/frontmatter.md
Shows every ingest that touched that page. You can see: - When was this concept first added? - What sources contributed to it? - When was it last updated?
This is epistemic provenance — the full history of how a piece of knowledge entered your brain.
3. Experiment Without Fear#
Want to try a radical restructuring? Create a branch:
git checkout -b restructure-tax-pages
# ... make big changes ...
# If it sucks: git checkout main
# If it works: git checkout main && git merge restructure-tax-pages
Your knowledge base becomes safe to play with. No more "I won't touch it in case I break something."
What About Conflicts?#
Since you're the only person editing your wiki, merge conflicts are rare. They can happen if: - You edit a page manually while a script also tries to update it - You merge two branches that both changed the same page
Handle it like any git conflict: open the file, look for <<<<<<<, keep the right version, remove the markers, commit.
The Key Insight#
Git is not just "backup". Backup saves the latest version. Git saves every version with a message explaining why it changed. Your wiki doesn't just grow — it accumulates a searchable history of your learning journey.
Remember: Every commit is a breadcrumb. Months from now you'll run git log and see exactly when you learned each concept and from where.