Second Brain - Art & Philosophy Wiki

A web-published personal knowledge base for collecting, organizing, and sharing interesting information on art and philosophy as an interconnected cultural wiki.

About This Project

This wiki explores the interconnected world of art and philosophy by examining how ideas influence one another across time and disciplines. Rather than organizing knowledge in isolated categories, it emphasizes influences, intellectual lineages, and cultural impact—showing how a philosopher's ideas shaped an artist's work, how a movement in art challenged philosophical assumptions, or how a concept flows through multiple disciplines.

The goal is to create a living map of cultural thinking, making visible the web of inspiration and response that connects thinkers and creators across history.

Features

• 📚 Topic-based organization (People, Concepts, Movements)
• 🏷️ Tag system for cross-referencing content
• 🔗 Wiki-style links ([[concept-name]]) that auto-convert to internal links
• 🔄 Backlinks showing which entries reference each page
• 🔍 Related content suggestions based on shared tags
• 🎨 Tag explorer for discovering and navigating topics
• 📊 Connection graph showing relationships between concepts
• 📅 Dated entries with metadata
• 🎨 Clean, readable web interface
• 📱 Responsive design
• 🚀 Built with modern web technologies (Next.js)
• 🌐 Ready to publish on GitHub Pages or Netlify

Wiki as a Knowledge System

This project is designed as a cultural wiki where concepts, ideas, and people are interconnected through multiple navigation methods:

1. Wiki-Style Links

Write organic connections using [[concept-name]] syntax:

---
title: "Aristotle"
---

## Overview
Aristotle was influenced by [[Plato]] but developed his own philosophy.
His ideas on [[virtue-ethics]] shaped Western thought.

Links automatically convert to internal page links. If a link target doesn't exist, it appears as a broken link indicator.

2. Tags for Discovery

Every entry has tags that group related concepts across categories:

---
title: "Sfumato Technique"
category: "Concepts"
tags: ["renaissance", "painting-technique", "leonardo-da-vinci", "atmospheric-perspective"]
---

Benefits:

• Explore all entries tagged "renaissance" across both Art and Philosophy
• Discover unexpected connections between artists and philosophers from the same period
• Build semantic relationships without rigid hierarchies

3. Backlinks & References

When viewing an entry, see:

• Related Concepts: Other entries sharing tags
• Referenced By: Which entries link to this page via [[wiki-links]]

This creates a bidirectional relationship map of your knowledge.

4. Tag Explorer

Visit /tags to:

• See all tags with frequency counts
• View tag statistics and relationships
• Browse entries by tag
• Discover most-connected concepts

5. Connection Graph

The system maintains a graph of all connections to show:

• Total nodes (entries)
• Total links (relationships)
• Average connections per entry
• Most connected concepts

Project Structure

.
├── content/                    # Content used by the site (markdown + YAML frontmatter)
│   ├── people/
│   │   └── figures/           # Philosophers, artists, other figures (e.g. plato.md, leonardo-da-vinci.md)
│   └── philosophy/
│       └── concepts/          # Philosophical concepts (e.g. existentialism.md, renaissance.md)
├── Philosophy/                # Raw philosophy notes (manual collection; not used by the app)
├── Art/                       # Raw art notes (manual collection; not used by the app)
├── app/                       # Next.js app (pages and components)
│   ├── components/            # React components (Header, Footer)
│   ├── tags/                  # Tag explorer pages
│   ├── [category]/            # Dynamic category routes
│   │   ├── page.tsx
│   │   ├── [subcategory]/
│   │   │   ├── page.tsx
│   │   │   └── [slug]/
│   │   │       └── page.tsx   # Individual entry pages with backlinks
│   ├── layout.tsx             # Root layout
│   ├── page.tsx               # Home page
│   └── globals.css            # Global styles
├── lib/                       # Shared utilities
│   ├── markdown.ts            # Markdown parsing, wiki links, backlinks
│   ├── content.ts             # Content organization, content root path
│   ├── graph.ts               # Connection graph building
│   └── article-suggestions.ts # Article suggestions from broken wiki links + unfilled tags
├── scripts/                   # CLI tools (npm run <script>)
│   ├── suggest-articles.ts    # List suggested new articles (broken links + unfilled tags)
│   ├── generate-article.ts    # Create a draft article from a slug
│   ├── extract-claims.ts      # Extract factual claims (and quotes) for verification
│   ├── apply-fact-check-prompt.ts  # Print prompt to apply fact-check results to an entry
│   ├── tag-stubs-and-unverified.ts # Tag all content with stub/verified for automation
│   ├── automation-full-pipeline.ts # Full pipeline: tag, queues for populate + fact-check
│   ├── automation-fact-check.ts    # Batch fact-check prompt for multiple files
│   ├── automation-unfilled-tags.ts # Optional: generate drafts only (no stub/verified queues)
│   └── test-automation.ts     # Run automation + fact-check tests
├── docs/                      # Documentation (FACT_CHECKING.md, AUTOMATION.md, TAXONOMY.md)
├── package.json
├── next.config.js             # Next.js configuration (static export)
└── tsconfig.json              # TypeScript configuration

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ installed
• npm or yarn

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd second

3. Install dependencies:

   npm install

Development

Run the development server:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 to view it in your browser.

Generating New Articles from Connections

The wiki can suggest new articles based on broken wiki links (links that point to pages that don't exist yet):

1. List suggestions (sorted by how many articles reference each):

   npm run suggest-articles

2. Create a draft for any suggested slug (or a new topic):

   npm run generate-article -- <slug>
   # Examples:
   npm run generate-article -- existentialism
   npm run generate-article -- "Eternal Recurrence"

   This creates a new markdown file in the right content/... folder with frontmatter and section stubs (Overview, Key Ideas, Connections, Sources). It will not overwrite existing files.

Fact-checking

Extract factual claims (and blockquotes) from an entry, then verify in Cursor and apply results. See docs/FACT_CHECKING.md for the full workflow.

# Extract claims (JSON or pasteable prompt for Cursor)
npm run extract-claims -- content/people/figures/plato.md
npm run extract-claims -- --cursor content/philosophy/concepts/renaissance.md

# After you have fact-check results, print the apply prompt for the same entry
npm run apply-fact-check -- content/people/figures/plato.md

Adding Content

Creating Entries

Entries are Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. Create files in the appropriate directory:

Structure: content/[category]/[subcategory]/[filename].md (e.g. people/figures, philosophy/concepts).

Example: content/philosophy/concepts/virtue-ethics.md or content/people/figures/plato.md

---
title: "Virtue Ethics"
category: "Concepts"
tags: ["ethics", "aristotle", "character", "eudaimonia"]
date: "2026-02-28"
excerpt: "An approach to ethics emphasizing character development and human flourishing"
---

## Overview

Virtue ethics is a philosophical approach that emphasizes...

## Concepts

### Arete (Excellence)
The concept of [[Arete]] is central to virtue ethics. It refers to...

### Eudaimonia
[[Eudaimonia]], often translated as flourishing or happiness, is...

## Related Philosophers

- [[Aristotle]] - Founder of virtue ethics
- [[Plato]] - Influenced Aristotle's thinking
- [[Stoics]] - Developed their own virtue system

## Connection to Art

The pursuit of excellence ([[Arete]]) in virtue ethics parallels the artist's pursuit of [[Technical Excellence]] in their craft.

---

Frontmatter Fields

• title (required): Name of the entry
• category (required): "People" (figures), "Concepts", or "Movements"
• tags (required): Array of tags for categorization and connection
• date (required): Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD format)
• excerpt (optional): Brief summary shown in lists

Style Guidelines for Works and Dates

• Major Works / Key Works sections: when you list books, dialogues, or artworks, include the year or approximate range in parentheses right after the title.
  • People (e.g. philosophers):
    • - **Republic** (c. 380 BCE) - ...
    • - **Thus Spoke Zarathustra** (1883–1885) - ...
  • Artists (e.g. Leonardo):
    • - *Mona Lisa* (c. 1503–1506) - ...
    • - *Vitruvian Man* (c. 1490) - ...
• Use c. for approximate dates and an en dash – for ranges.

File Naming

Use kebab-case (lowercase with hyphens) for filenames:

• ✅ leonardo-da-vinci.md
• ✅ virtue-ethics.md
• ❌ Leonardo da Vinci.md

Wiki Link Syntax

Use [[concept-name]] to link within your wiki:

• [[Aristotle]] - Links to the Aristotle entry
• [[Virtue Ethics]] - Links to the Virtue Ethics entry
• Links work across categories (Philosophy and Art)
• If a link doesn't match any entry, it appears as a broken link

Tags Best Practices

• Use lowercase with hyphens: renaissance-art, ancient-philosophy
• Create bridges between categories: Use same tag for Philosophy and Art content
• Use period tags: ancient-greece, renaissance, modern-era
• Use method tags: phenomenology, dialectic, empiricism
• Use connection tags: Link related people/movements (e.g. plato-and-renaissance-art)
• Avoid overly narrow role tags as standalone concepts (e.g. italian-artist, artist, observation). These can still be tags, but the automation will not generate dedicated pages for them; prefer deeper conceptual bridges like scientific-observation, art-and-knowledge, or art-philosophy-dialogue.

Example tags for natural connections:

# Leonardo da Vinci entry
tags: ["renaissance", "italian-artist", "scientific-observation", "anatomy", "engineering"]

# Leo's anatomy notes entry
tags: ["renaissance", "scientific-observation", "anatomy", "leonardo-da-vinci", "observation-method"]

# Aristotle entry
tags: ["ancient-greece", "philosopher", "observation-method", "ethics", "metaphysics"]

People viewing "Renaissance" tag will see both art and philosophy entries. Those viewing "observation-method" will see Leonardo and Aristotle connected conceptually.

Publishing to the Web

Option 1: GitHub Pages (Free)

1. Push your repository to GitHub:

   git init
   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/second-brain.git
   git push -u origin main

2. Go to your GitHub repository Settings → Pages

3. Set Source to "GitHub Actions"

4. The repository includes a workflow file (.github/workflows/deploy.yml) that will automatically build and deploy on each push

5. Your site will be published at https://yourusername.github.io/second-brain

Option 2: Netlify (Free Tier)

1. Push your repository to GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket

2. Connect your repository to Netlify at netlify.com

3. Build settings:

   • Branch: main
   • Build command: npm run build
   • Publish directory: out

4. Deploy!

Option 3: Vercel (Free Tier - Optimal)

1. Visit vercel.com

2. Click "New Project" and import your GitHub repository

3. Vercel will auto-detect Next.js and configure itself

4. Deploy with one click!

Building for Production

npm run build

This creates an optimized build ready for deployment.

Commands

• npm run dev - Start development server
• npm run build - Build for production (static export to out/)
• npm start - Run production build locally
• npm run export - Same as build (static HTML for GitHub Pages / Netlify)
• npm run suggest-articles - List suggested new articles from broken wiki links
• npm run generate-article -- <slug> - Create a draft article from a slug
• npm run extract-claims -- [--cursor] <file.md> - Extract claims for fact-checking; see docs/FACT_CHECKING.md
• npm run apply-fact-check -- <file.md> - Print prompt to apply fact-check results to an entry
• npm run tag-stubs-and-unverified - Tag all content with stub/verified
• npm run automation-full-pipeline - Full pipeline (populate + fact-check queues); see docs/AUTOMATION.md
• npm run automation-fact-check -- <file.md> [...] - Batch fact-check prompt for multiple files
• npm run test-automation - Run automation and fact-check tests
• npm run automation-unfilled-tags - Optional: generate drafts only (no stub/verified queues)

Customization

Styling

Edit app/globals.css to customize the appearance. The current style uses:

• Clean, minimalist design
• Inter font family
• Blue accent colors
• Responsive grid layouts

Adding New Categories

1. Create new folder structure in content/:

   content/category-name/
   ├── subcategory1/
   └── subcategory2/
   

2. Add markdown files in the subcategory folders

3. The navigation will auto-update

Modifying the Layout

• Header (with Wiki link): app/components/header.tsx
• Footer: app/components/footer.tsx
• Home page: app/page.tsx
• Tag explorer: app/tags/page.tsx

Tips for Building Your Cultural Wiki

• Be consistent: Use similar formatting and structure across entries
• Cross-reference strategically: Use [[wiki-links]] to show relationships
• Tag generously: Think about how concepts might be browsed together
• Build semantic connections: Use tags to bridge Art and Philosophy entries
• Create entry clusters: Related entries grouped by shared tags help discovery
• Write excerpts: Help readers quickly understand entry content
• Update regularly: Add new insights and observations as you learn
• Test links: Remember [[broken-links]] appear in red - fix them!

Understanding the Wiki Graph

The system automatically builds a knowledge graph showing:

• Nodes: Each entry (philosopher, artist, concept, movement)
• Links: Connections based on shared tags
• Depth: How far related concepts extend

Visit /tags to see graph statistics:

• Total entries and connections
• Average connections per entry
• Most frequently used tags
• Most interconnected concepts

This helps identify:

• Well-developed topic areas
• Gaps in your knowledge
• Natural clusters of related ideas
• Bridge concepts that connect domains

Future Enhancements

• Interactive connection graph visualization
• Full-text search across entries
• RSS feed generation
• Social sharing buttons
• Comment/discussion functionality
• Graph visualization with D3.js
• Related entries sidebar on every page
• Most recent entries feed

Technologies Used

• Next.js 14 - React framework for production
• TypeScript - Type-safe JavaScript
• gray-matter - YAML frontmatter parsing
• marked - Markdown to HTML parsing
• CSS - Pure CSS, no frameworks (minimal footprint)

License

This is your personal knowledge base. Use it however you like!

Credits

Built to be a flexible, publishable personal knowledge management system with wiki-style linking and discovery features.

---

Happy learning and sharing! 🧠✨

Start by exploring the /tags page to understand how the wiki works, or dive into Philosophy or Art to begin reading and adding content.