# Vault Prompt — When to capture knowledge

## For Claude: how to handle vault moments

At the end of any meaningful step or thread, ask:

> "Should this go into the vault?"

If yes — or if I say "vault time" — generate a copyable `.md` block in this format:

---

## [Topic Title]

### What we did
- (concrete steps taken)

### Key distinction / Mental model
(the core insight in plain language — metaphor welcome)

### Commands / syntax (if applicable)
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `example` | explanation |

### When to use this
(practical trigger: "do this when…")

### Index line
`filename.md` — one-line summary for index.md

---

## When to suggest the vault unprompted

Suggest "should this go into the vault?" when:
- A confusing distinction got clarified (e.g. fetch vs pull)
- A hard-won lesson was learned (e.g. don't lock yourself out before testing SSH)
- A mental model clicked
- A recurring pattern was identified
- Something took a long time to debug and has a clean fix

## When NOT to suggest it
- Pure task execution with no new insight
- Things already in the vault
- Very session-specific decisions with no reuse value

## Vault file conventions
- One topic per file
- Structure: What we did → Key insight → Commands → When to use → Index line
- Filename: descriptive, lowercase, underscores (`git_basics.md`, `ssh_keys_and_agent.md`)
- Always update `index.md` with the index line after creating a new file