The pen, for readers aged 13 to 18
young-readers/the-penChecked by automation only
still a draft
- 2026-10-27,
noelmcloughlin(a person): carry over four thingsglossary/the-pen.mdsays that this retelling leaves out: thelokf validaterun (:11); moving feedback into.lokf/questions.md(:12); the scheduled-run wrapper andKNOWLEDGE_PEN_DRY_RUN_ONLY(:16); thehandofflines (:16). The :NN numbers count lines ofglossary/the-pen.mdafter its frontmatter.
Written 2026-10-28 by ktl-librarian (automation). Last checked 2026-10-29 by ktl-librarian (automation).
The name the docs give knowledge-apply.sh, the script through which ktl-librarian writes every change to the bundle.
The full record
- Checks
- 2026-10-29 by
ktl-librarian(automation)
- 2026-10-29 by
- Sources
- Derived from
- About
- Related to
- Graph
- Open this concept in the knowledge graph
- IRI
https://w3id.org/ktl/knowledge/young-readers/the-pen- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Files
- MarkdownJSON-LDSource on GitHubHistory on GitHub
This page is for readers aged 13 to 18. It retells the-pen in shorter words. The full page has every detail.
What is the pen?
Section titled “What is the pen?”The pen is the name the docs give knowledge-apply.sh. It is the script through which ktl-librarian writes every change to the bundle (knowledge-bundle).
How does the librarian use it?
Section titled “How does the librarian use it?”ktl-librarian never edits a file under .lokf/knowledge/ by hand. It describes each change as an operation in .lokf/patch.yaml. The pen checks every operation. Then it writes the files, or it refuses the whole file and writes nothing.
What does the pen do with a change?
Section titled “What does the pen do with a change?”- It stamps
generatedfrom the clock. - It keeps a concept’s
descriptionequal to its two index bullets. - It files each line in
log.md. - It runs
lokf validateon every concept a patch would write, when.lokf/.venvholds the toolkit. It does this with--dry-runtoo. - It moves a feedback entry the librarian handled into
.lokf/questions.md. A patch handles ten entries at most.
What does the pen refuse?
Section titled “What does the pen refuse?”The pen refuses:
- a
human:actor, which marks a person’s record; - a rewrite of text a person wrote;
- the deletion of a concept a person confirmed or left a note on.
It also refuses a patch that would add, change or remove a person’s record. That record is a human: event or a person’s note.
What happens in the scheduled run?
Section titled “What happens in the scheduled run?”In the scheduled run, the wrapper applies the patch file after the agent has finished. It refuses a run in which the agent changed any other file.
In the agent’s step, the pen only checks the patch. The wrapper sets KNOWLEDGE_PEN_DRY_RUN_ONLY. So a run without --dry-run writes nothing, and it leaves the patch file for the wrapper.
What can the librarian tell the reviewer?
Section titled “What can the librarian tell the reviewer?”A patch may also carry handoff. These are up to ten lines for the person reviewing the change, in the librarian’s own words. The pen holds each one to one line of printable text, and writes none of them to the bundle. The scheduled pull request shows them under From the librarian.
Who else writes the bundle?
Section titled “Who else writes the bundle?”The pen is the librarian’s only way to write the bundle. A person writes the curator’s verdicts another way, through ktl-curator or the KTL Curator plugin. The architecture page names the pen as the registrar for the librarian.
Open questions
Section titled “Open questions”- 2026-10-27, human:noelmcloughlin: carry over four things
glossary/the-pen.mdsays that this retelling leaves out: thelokf validaterun (:11); moving feedback into.lokf/questions.md(:12); the scheduled-run wrapper andKNOWLEDGE_PEN_DRY_RUN_ONLY(:16); thehandofflines (:16). The :NN numbers count lines ofglossary/the-pen.mdafter its frontmatter.