Markdown Frontmatter Provenance

When creating any new .md file, include YAML frontmatter with these fields:

---
author: claude
created: YYYY-MM-DD
purpose: |
  <1-2 sentence summary of why this file was created — what the user asked for>
context: |
  <Brief description of what information or instructions the user provided that led to this file>
references:
  - <file paths, URLs, conversation context, or tools consulted to produce this content>
  - <additional sources as needed>
---

Rules

1. Always add frontmatter when using the Write tool to create a new .md file
2. Never add frontmatter when editing an existing file (Edit tool) — do not retroactively stamp files
3. Never add frontmatter to non-.md files
4. Preserve existing frontmatter — if a file already has frontmatter (e.g. from a template), merge the provenance fields into it rather than duplicating the --- block
5. Be specific in purpose — "Created daily review note" not "Created a file the user asked for"
6. Be specific in context — mention the key inputs: "User provided their weekly goals and asked for a structured review template"
7. List real references — file paths read, URLs fetched, tools/MCPs consulted. Use - conversation context only when no external sources were used
8. Use today's date for created (from the system date, not guessed)
9. Author is always claude — if a file was not created by Claude (i.e. the author would be the user), use their configured name or "user"

Example

User asks: "Create a note summarizing the key ideas from Naked Statistics chapter 3"

---
author: claude
created: 2026-05-02
purpose: |
  Summary of key ideas from Naked Statistics chapter 3, as requested by user.
context: |
  User asked for a chapter summary. Content drawn from user's existing notes in the vault.
references:
  - "L&D - Growth/Books/Naked Statistics.md"
---