Org-roam Knowledge Management System

Overview

Personal Knowledge Management: Jeff uses org-roam for bidirectional linking, daily journals, and agenda/task management.

Core principle: Atomic notes + bidirectional links + daily journals + agenda integration = knowledge system

When to Use

Use this skill when:

•Creating/modifying org-roam notes
•Working with daily journal entries
•Setting up capture templates
•Debugging agenda file issues
•Understanding directory structure

Quick Reference

Key Functions

Task	Function	Keybinding
Find/open note	`org-roam-node-find`	`C-c n f`
Insert link	`org-roam-node-insert`	`C-c n i`
Create note	`org-roam-capture`	`C-c n c`
Today's journal	`org-roam-dailies-goto-today`	`C-c n d`
Refresh agenda	`jf/refresh-org-agenda-files`	`C-c r`
Open agenda	`org-agenda`	`C-c a`
Show backlinks	`org-roam-buffer-toggle`	(manual)

Directory Structure

code

~/org/
├── roam/                      # org-roam-directory
│   ├── dailies/{hostname}/    # Machine-specific journals (YYYY-MM-DD.org)
│   └── *.org                  # Knowledge notes (timestamp-slug.org)
└── agenda/                    # Other org files

Agenda scans: ~/org/ and ~/src/dotfiles/emacs/ recursively

Core Workflows

Daily Journal

•C-c n d opens today's journal
•Location: ~/org/roam/dailies/{hostname}/YYYY-MM-DD.org
•Template: Meetings, Worklog, Tasks sections
•Machine-specific (work/home separation)

Knowledge Notes

•C-c n c creates note with timestamp + slug filename
•C-c n i links to existing note (creates if missing)
•C-c n f finds and opens notes
•Backlinks via org-roam-buffer-toggle

Capture Templates

Standard (org-roam-capture-templates):

•"d" default: Basic note
•"f" foo: Structured template from file

Web (org-roam-capture-ref-templates):

•"r" ref: General web reference
•"b" browser-history: Browser integration with URL refs

Template structure:

elisp

'(("key" "description" plain "%?"
   :if-new (file+head "path/${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
   :unnarrowed t))

Configuration

Key Variables

•org-roam-directory: ~/org/roam/
•org-roam-dailies-directory: dailies/{hostname}/
•find-file-visit-truename: Follow symlinks
•org-roam-completion-everywhere: Enable in all org files

Agenda System

•Auto-refresh on agenda mode entry
•Manual refresh: C-c r
•Scans directories recursively
•Priority-based views available

Node Properties

Property	Purpose	Example
`#+title:`	Note title	`#+title: Emacs Configuration`
`ROAM_REFS`	External URLs	`:ROAM_REFS: https://example.com`
Tags	Categorization	`#+filetags: :emacs:config:`

Org-roam Protocol (Web Capture)

Setup: Requires (server-start) in config Usage: Browser bookmarklet → captures page with URL as ROAM_REFS Integration: Works with browser-hist for history analysis

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Why Bad	Fix
Agenda files stale	Missing TODOs	Run `C-c r` to refresh
Wrong dailies directory	Can't find journals	Check `org-roam-dailies-directory` matches hostname
No backlinks	Isolation, no connections	Use `C-c n i` to create links
Server not running	Protocol won't work	Add `(server-start)` to config
Absolute paths in templates	Breaks portability	Use relative paths or variables
Not using machine-specific dailies	Work/personal mixing	Use `{hostname}` in dailies path

Best Practices

•Atomic notes: One concept per note
•Link liberally: Use C-c n i frequently
•Daily capture: Use journals for temporal entries
•Regular review: Check agenda for tasks
•Web integration: Capture URLs with context
•Backlink review: Discover connections via org-roam buffer