Guide · Agent skill

How to use the Grounded Vault agent skill

Updated 2026-10-29 · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

The grounded-vault skill teaches an AI agent to keep a Markdown knowledge store in three layers: raw sources that are never edited, compiled wiki pages, and an archive for outdated pages. It is aimed at developers maintaining documentation that must match code, and at researchers who need every figure in a summary checkable against its source. After this guide you will know what the skill changes about the agent's behaviour, how to install it, how to trigger it, and what it needs to run.

Grounded Vaultwshobson/agents · MIT Download the skill

Quick start

1Download and unzip. Download the grounded-vault ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ or a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
2Confirm requirements. Make sure the vault is a git repository and Python 3 is available.
3Set up the three layers. Create raw/, wiki/ and archive/ at the vault root, with index.md and log.md.
4Ingest sources. Add new material to raw/ under a dated or sourced filename, never editing existing raw files.
5Compile with a header. Write wiki pages with the header block, a source link on every claim and the commit fingerprint.
6Run the checks. Run the drift check and python3 scripts/check_vault.py --strict before committing.

What the grounded-vault skill makes the agent do

Agent skills are instruction packages that an AI agent loads when a task matches their description. This one applies when an agent compiles notes, papers, transcripts, logs or code into wiki pages that later sessions rely on.

Every number, date or quote in a wiki page must link to its source, and the agent checks that the exact text appears in that source. Each page also records the git commit it was written against, so a single git diff shows whether the code it describes has changed since.

raw/ holds source material. People and ingestion add to it; agents never edit a raw file.
wiki/ holds compiled pages with a header block, a source link on every claim, and a fingerprint.
archive/ holds pages that drifted or were superseded. They are moved, never deleted, and the header says why.
index.md maps every current page; log.md records each change and why.

Install the skill from the ZIP or the Claude apps

Download the grounded-vault ZIP from this page and unzip it. For a personal setup, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

You can also upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Personal: ~/.claude/skills/grounded-vault
Project: .claude/skills/grounded-vault inside your repository

Check the requirements before you start

The skill needs a git repository and Python 3. The repository must be under git, because the drift check depends on commit history. Python 3 runs scripts/check_vault.py, which the skill references; that script is not included in the reviewed files, so confirm it exists in your vault before relying on the commit gate.

The skill does not use the network.

git: required for fingerprints and drift checks
Python 3: required to run scripts/check_vault.py
Projects not stored in git are a poor fit

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. Ask for work that matches the skill's purpose, and the agent loads it when the request fits the description. Name the vault, the sources and the code paths so the agent can set up the header block correctly.

Compile the notes in raw/notes/ into a wiki page on authentication, and link every number to its source.
Check whether the wiki pages about the payments service still match the code since their fingerprints.
Archive wiki/billing-retries.md because src/billing/retry.ts changed, and update index.md and log.md.

Read the page header and the grounding rule

Every wiki page opens with a header. Raw lists the sources, Fingerprint gives the short commit hash the page was compiled against, Monitored lists the code paths it describes, and Status is Current, Outdated or Disputed.

A compiled page states only what a source supports. A gap in the sources is written into the page as a gap, not filled by guessing. A grounding miss blocks the commit, and the fix goes at the source rather than by weakening the claim.

> Raw: [raw/notes/auth-v1.md](../raw/notes/auth-v1.md), [raw/adr/0007-jwt.md](../raw/adr/0007-jwt.md)
> Fingerprint: git:5b237fa
> Monitored: src/auth/jwt.ts, src/auth/session.ts, package.json
> Status: Current

Run the drift check and the commit gate

To check drift, compare the fingerprint with the current tree instead of rereading monitored code. Empty output means the page still matches the code. Any output means the page needs recompiling: reread only the changed files, update the page and stamp the new fingerprint.

Run both checks from a pre-commit hook or CI step with the script the skill references.

The drift check runs in milliseconds and uses no model tokens.
Garbage collection: change the status, move the page to archive/, and record the reason.

git diff --stat 5b237fa..HEAD -- src/auth/jwt.ts src/auth/session.ts package.json

python3 scripts/check_vault.py --strict

What people use it for

Keeping architecture notes for an auth service in sync with the code they describe.
Compiling a research summary where each figure links to the paper it came from.
Maintaining project knowledge that agents update while the full history stays in git and archive/.
Flagging wiki pages as Outdated when monitored source files change.

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the grounded-vault skill?

Download the grounded-vault ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

What does grounded-vault require?

It requires a git repository, because fingerprints and drift checks use commit history, and Python 3 to run scripts/check_vault.py. The skill does not use the network.

Is the grounded-vault skill free?

The item is listed under the MIT licence. The source does not mention pricing, so check the repository for licence terms before reuse.

Can I use it for casual note-taking?

Not well. The header, link and check rules add overhead that is wasted on simple notes. It suits documentation or research where each claim must be verifiable.

Why does the drift check fail or show output?

Any output from git diff --stat between the fingerprint and HEAD means a monitored file changed after the page was compiled, so the page needs recompiling or archiving. Make sure the project is a git repository, since the check depends on commit history.

What are the alternatives to this skill?

The source says session state, task queues and conversation continuity belong to other tools, such as the context-management or conductor plugins. For plain notes without provenance checks, a simple Markdown folder is enough.

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Our verdict

Use grounded-vault if you maintain documentation or research summaries that must match code or sources, and your project is in git. Pick something simpler if you only need casual notes, a non-git project, or session memory and task tracking.

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