ThomasMoreAI/legal-skills-open

Law Firm Wiki Compiler

When to Use

• Adding new cases or old case archives to the wiki
• Recompiling after activity log updates
• Querying the wiki for institutional knowledge
• Running lint/health checks on wiki articles
• Generating Hermes skills from wiki articles

Excel Ingestion (FileVine Activity Exports)

When Aaron sends an Excel spreadsheet of activity logs from FileVine:

Expected format

• Sheet columns: Project Name | Note Text | Created At | (empty)
• Project Name = "Client Name CaseType MM/DD/YYYY" (e.g., "Amy Stich WC 01/17/2024")
• Note Text = markdown-formatted activity notes (may contain FileVine links, strikethroughs)
• Created At = datetime

Conversion steps

1. pip install openpyxl if needed
2. Load with openpyxl.load_workbook(path, read_only=True)
3. Slugify case names per FirmVault rules (lowercase, strip apostrophes/quotes, & → and, non-alnum → hyphens)
4. Group entries by case, then by date within each case
5. Write to FirmVault/cases/<slug>/Activity Log/<YYYY-MM-DD>.md with frontmatter:

   schema_version: 2
   date: "YYYY-MM-DD"
   category: imported
   subcategory: settlement_activity_export
   

6. Use the subcategory: settlement_activity_export tag to identify imported-from-Excel cases later

Multiple files in one session

Aaron often sends multiple Excel files in sequence. Process each one fully (convert → batch → compile → rebuild index) before asking for the next. The converter handles deduplication automatically — if a case dir already exists, new logs append; if a log file for that date exists, it appends an "Imported Entries" section.

Sizing reference (2026-04-12 imports)

• File 1 (settlement_1): 17,639 rows → 198 cases → 6,221 log files (13.7 MB)
• File 2 (settlement_2): 22,182 rows → 169 cases → 7,341 log files (12.9 MB)
• File 3 (settlement_3): 688 rows → 8 cases → 158 log files (small)
• File 4 (closing): 9,363 rows → 125 cases → 2,924 log files
• Conversion takes ~2 seconds per file
• Duplicate detection: compare row count + first/last row to identify resends

Batch size decisions

• >50 cases: 3 parallel subagents (split evenly by log count)
• 10-50 cases: 1-2 subagents depending on log volume
• <10 cases: Single subagent with targeted article updates only. Do NOT have it read all existing articles — point it at the 5-6 most likely articles to update. Set max_iterations=30 to avoid running out of turns on reading.

Reusable converter script

Save to /tmp/convert_excel.py, swap the path for each new file. The script:

• Uses openpyxl (pip install if missing)
• Slugifies per FirmVault rules
• Groups by case → date → writes markdown with frontmatter
• Reports new vs updated case dirs

Architecture

Karpathy's 3-layer pattern: raw sources → LLM compiler → structured wiki

Layer 1: Raw (immutable)
  cases/*/Activity Log/*.md  — 21K+ activity logs
  cases/*/*.md               — case files
  
Layer 2: Wiki (LLM-maintained)
  wiki/
    Home.md          — Obsidian dashboard
    index.md         — master catalog
    log.md           — compilation history
    concepts/*.md    — atomic knowledge articles (63 as of 2026-04-12)
    connections/*.md — cross-cutting insights (26 as of 2026-04-12)
    AGENTS.md        — compiler schema (the spec)
    SPEC.md          — architecture doc
    
Layer 3: Consumers
  Hermes semantic skills, OpenClaw agents, Aaron via Hermes

Compilation Process

Batch Processing (for bulk cases)

1. Group cases into batches of ~80K tokens
2. Delegate 3 batches in parallel
3. Each subagent reads AGENTS.md, existing articles, case files + sampled logs
4. Subagents UPDATE existing articles (evidence_count++) or CREATE new ones
5. Do NOT let subagents rewrite index.md (race condition) — rebuild after
6. Rebuild index.md from all articles on disk after all batches complete

Key Instructions for Compiler Subagents

• Read AGENTS.md for full schema
• Read ALL existing concept + connection articles before writing
• ANONYMIZE all PII (use "Case A", "Case B", etc.)
• UPDATE existing > CREATE new (upgrading confidence is the goal)
• Confidence: low (<5 cases), medium (5-9), high (10+)
• Use [[wikilinks]] between articles
• Append to log.md, do NOT rewrite index.md

Sampling Strategy

• Large cases (400+ logs): first 40 + last 40 chronologically
• Medium cases (100-400): first 25 + last 25
• Small cases (<100): first 10 + last 10, or all

Subagent Prompt Template

Law Firm Wiki compiler. Read /opt/data/FirmVault/wiki/AGENTS.md.
Read existing articles in wiki/concepts/ and wiki/connections/.
Compile cases: [LIST]. For each: read cases/<slug>/<slug>.md and
sample first N + last N activity logs. UPDATE existing articles
(increment evidence_count, upgrade confidence: 5=medium, 10=high).
CREATE new only for genuinely new patterns. ANONYMIZE PII.
Write to wiki/. Do NOT rewrite index.md. Append to wiki/log.md.

Adapt prompts to data category

Different Excel exports contain different types of data. Add a focus hint:

• Settlement files: "Focus on: settlement patterns, negotiation tactics, treatment timelines, SOL management, adjuster behavior, lien resolution"
• Closing files: "These are CLOSING cases -- look especially for: case closure workflows, decline reasons, final disbursement, file archival, post-closing obligations, client termination patterns"
• Intake files: Focus on onboarding, insurance verification, initial treatment referrals This dramatically improves pattern extraction quality.

Index rebuild

Always rebuild index.md as a separate delegate_task after all compilation batches complete. Even for small batches. The subagent just needs to parse YAML frontmatter from all .md files in concepts/ + connections/ and generate the index per the schema in AGENTS.md. Takes ~60 seconds, max_iterations=15.

Obsidian Vault

The wiki/ directory IS an Obsidian vault:

• .obsidian/ config with graph colors (blue=concepts, orange=connections)
• Home.md as landing page
• [[wikilinks]] use slug names (NOT path-prefixed)
• Graph view shows article interconnections

Wikilink Rules

• Use [[slug-name]] not [[concepts/slug-name]]
• Obsidian resolves by filename, paths break links

Filtering Cases for Compilation

Two approaches — use the Excel file directly (preferred) or scan the vault:

Preferred: Extract slugs from the Excel file itself

# Parse Excel → get unique Project Names → slugify → batch
wb = openpyxl.load_workbook(path, read_only=True)
cases = Counter(str(r[0]).strip() for r in list(wb.active.iter_rows(values_only=True))[1:] if r[0])
slugs = [{"slug": slugify(name), "logs": count} for name, count in cases.items()]

This is precise — only compiles what was just imported.

Fallback: Scan vault by subcategory tag

for slug in os.listdir(cases_dir):
    for logfile in os.listdir(log_dir):
        if "settlement_activity_export" in open(logfile).read(200):
            new_slugs.append(slug)
            break

Do NOT use mtime-based filtering — it picks up every case in the vault (including old ones whose dirs were touched during conversion).

Pitfalls

1. Parallel subagents cause race conditions on evidence_count — accept ±3 variance
2. Don't let subagents rewrite index.md — rebuild it yourself after all batches
3. Large cases (1000+ logs) must be truncated — sample strategically
4. Wikilinks with path prefixes break in Obsidian — strip concepts/ etc.
5. The compile.py script generates prompts but doesn't call the LLM directly — use delegate_task
6. Some articles reference aspirational links (articles not yet created) — that's OK, they'll be created as more cases are compiled
7. mtime-based vault scanning doesn't work for identifying "just imported" cases — conversion touches existing dirs too. Always extract the case list from the Excel file itself.
8. Closing cases are mostly declines, not post-settlement closures. The decline/close workflow gets the biggest evidence boost from closing data, not the settlement disbursement workflow.
9. Small batches (<10 cases) exhaust subagent iterations if you have them read all 89 articles. Point them at specific articles instead.

Multiple-File Workflow

When user sends multiple Excel files, convert all first then compile:

1. Reuse /tmp/convert_excel.py — just patch the filename for each file
2. After all converted, batch the NEW cases only (use slugify + check existence)
3. Compile in 3 parallel batches, then rebuild index once at the end

Duplicate Detection

User may send the same file twice (same name, different doc ID). Compare row counts + first/last row to detect dupes before converting.

Sizing from Imports

• File 1 (settlement_1): 17.6K entries, 198 cases, 6.2K log files
• File 2 (settlement_2): 22.1K entries, 169 cases, 7.3K log files
• File 3 (settlement_3): 688 entries, 8 cases (small — single-batch)
• File 4 (closing): 9.3K entries, 125 cases, 2.9K log files
• Files 5-7 (archived 2,3,4): 64.3K entries, 692 cases, 21K log files Total ingested: ~114K entries, 1,170 cases, ~56K log files → 93 wiki articles

Preferred Batching

• <20 cases: single subagent, no batching
• 20-300 cases: 3 parallel subagents

• 300 cases: 3 parallel subagents with aggressive sampling (first 10 + last 10)

• Always rebuild index.md AFTER all batches complete (never let subagents touch it)

Pitfall: mtime-based filtering unreliable

Don't use file mtime to find "new" cases — convert_excel.py touches existing files too. Instead, extract case names from the Excel directly and slugify to get the target list.

Files

• FirmVault: /opt/data/FirmVault
• Wiki: /opt/data/FirmVault/wiki/
• Schema: wiki/AGENTS.md
• Converter: /tmp/convert_excel.py (patch filename between runs)
• Article counts: 65 concepts + 28 connections = 93 total (as of 2026-04-12)
• Decisions: /opt/data/FirmVault/decisions/ (ADR-000 through ADR-006)
• Audit report: /opt/data/FirmVault/wiki/reports/workflow-vs-wiki-audit.md
• v2 proposal: /opt/data/FirmVault/wiki/reports/PHASE_DAG_v2_proposal.md

Workflow Auditing

After a major compilation round, audit the wiki against the PHASE_DAG:

1. Read PHASE_DAG.yaml (prescribed workflow)
2. Read all wiki articles (observed reality)
3. Compare: contradictions, gaps, redundancies
4. Write audit report to wiki/reports/
5. If changes warranted, draft PHASE_DAG v2 proposal
6. Document decisions as ADRs in decisions/ (cherry-picked from stirps-ai/stirps-gov)

This audit is what turned 93 wiki articles into actionable architectural decisions. The wiki is evidence; the ADRs are commitments.