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Rowboat acts as your writing partner, helping you create and edit documents in your knowledge base with context from your notes, always working with the latest version and respecting your editing preferences.

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How It Works

1

Choose your edit mode

Before starting, Rowboat asks: “Should I make edits directly, or show you changes first for approval?”
  • Direct mode: Edits happen immediately, confirmed after
  • Approval mode: Changes are shown first, you approve before editing
2

Find or create the document

Rowboat searches thoroughly for documents using:
  • Filename pattern matching (handles partial matches, different cases)
  • Content search (finds docs mentioning the topic)
  • Common variations (with/without hyphens, spaces, different capitalizations)
If not found, Rowboat asks: “Shall I create [filename]?”
3

Understand your request

Rowboat identifies what you want to do:
  • Direct edits (change title, add section, remove content)
  • Content generation (write intro, draft summary)
  • Review/feedback (what do you think, is this clear)
  • Research-backed additions (add context about a person or company)
4

Search for context

When you mention people, companies, or projects, Rowboat:
  • Searches your knowledge base for relevant notes
  • Reads person, organization, and project files
  • Extracts specific facts, dates, and details to include
5

Execute changes

In direct mode, changes happen immediately with brief confirmation. In approval mode, changes are shown first:
I'll add this after the Overview section:

## Partnership with Acme Corp
[content based on knowledge...]

Ok to add?

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Example Usage

Let's work on the investor update

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Edit Modes Explained

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Direct Mode

Best for: Faster workflow when you trust Rowboat’s judgment User: “Add a section about the Q4 results” Rowboat: Makes the edit immediately
”Added the Q4 results section. Anything else?”

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Approval Mode

Best for: Important documents, or when you want more control User: “Add a section about Q4 results” Rowboat:
“I’ll add this after the Overview section: 
## Q4 Results

Revenue grew 45% QoQ to $2.1M ARR, driven by enterprise 
expansion and the [[TechFlow]] partnership.
Ok to add?” User: “Yes” Rowboat: “Done. What’s next?”
Rowboat strictly follows your chosen edit mode for the entire session. It won’t switch without asking first.

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Key Features

Always current

Before every response, Rowboat re-reads the document to work with the latest version, even if you edited it externally.

Context-aware

When you mention people or companies, Rowboat searches your knowledge base and includes relevant facts and wiki-links.

Concise collaboration

No verbose explanations or unsolicited suggestions. Rowboat asks simple questions and makes targeted changes.

Surgical edits

Changes only what’s needed, preserving your voice and document structure.

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Document Search Process

Rowboat searches thoroughly before saying a document doesn’t exist:
1

Pattern matching

Search by name pattern to handle partial matches:
knowledge/**/*roadmap*
2

Content search

Search document contents for mentions of the topic:
grep "roadmap" in knowledge/
3

Common variations

Try different formats:
  • With/without hyphens: “show-hn” vs “showhn” vs “show hn”
  • Different capitalizations
  • Common subfolders: knowledge/, knowledge/Projects/, knowledge/Topics/
Only after all searches return nothing will Rowboat say the document doesn’t exist.

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Creating New Documents

When creating a new document:
1

Simple confirmation

Rowboat asks: “Shall I create knowledge/roadmap.md?”Default location is knowledge/ root — no questions about folder structure.
2

Minimal starting point

Files are created with just a title:
# Product Roadmap
No pre-populated outlines or assumed structure.
3

Ask what's needed

“Created. What would you like in this?”You guide the content, not Rowboat.
Rowboat never makes unsolicited edits. If you just say “let’s work on the roadmap” without specifying what to do, Rowboat will ask: “What would you like to change?”
Rowboat automatically creates wiki-links to connect related notes: 
We're expanding the partnership with [[Acme Corp]] following 
the successful pilot with [[Sarah Chen]]. The [[Q4 Enterprise]] 
project will launch next month.
Wiki-links:
  • Use [[Name]] syntax for people, organizations, and projects
  • Only link to notes that exist or will be created
  • Make it easy to navigate between related information
  • Build a connected knowledge graph over time

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Best Practices

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Choose the right edit mode

  • Use direct mode when drafting new content or making routine updates
  • Use approval mode for important documents, final versions, or when learning Rowboat’s style

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Be specific about changes

Instead of: “Improve this document”
Try: “Make the executive summary more concise” or “Add metrics to the results section”

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Let Rowboat handle context

When you mention a person or company, Rowboat will automatically:
  • Search your knowledge base
  • Pull relevant facts and history
  • Add wiki-links for navigation
You don’t need to provide the context yourself.

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Work iteratively

Collaborate in small steps:
  1. “Add a section about Q4 results”
  2. “Make the growth metrics more prominent”
  3. “Add context about the TechFlow deal”
This gives you control and makes it easy to adjust direction.

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Document Locations

Documents are stored in ~/.rowboat/knowledge/ with subfolders:

People

Notes about individuals: knowledge/People/Sarah Chen.md

Organizations

Company and team information: knowledge/Organizations/Acme Corp.md

Projects

Project documentation: knowledge/Projects/Q4 Enterprise.md

Topics

Subject matter notes: knowledge/Topics/Market Research.md
General documents can live at the root level: knowledge/Investor Update.md

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Writing Style

Rowboat matches your tone and style:

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Preserves your voice

  • Surgical edits that change only what’s needed
  • No reorganization unless explicitly asked
  • Maintains your document structure and flow

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Uses markdown formatting

  • Headers for structure
  • Bullet points and numbered lists
  • Bold and italic for emphasis
  • Wiki-links for connections

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Stays concise but complete

  • No unnecessary verbosity
  • Includes all relevant information
  • Focused on what matters

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Example Session

User: “Let’s work on the investor update” Rowboat: “Should I make edits directly, or show you changes first?” User: “Directly is fine” Rowboat: Searches and finds the document
”Found knowledge/Investor Update Q1.md. What would you like to change?” User: “Add a section about our new partnership with Acme Corp” Rowboat: Searches knowledge base for Acme Corp context, makes the edit
”Added the partnership section with context from [[Acme Corp]] notes. Anything else?” User: “Make the metrics section more prominent” Rowboat: Adjusts formatting and structure
”Moved metrics to the top and added visual emphasis. What’s next?” User: “Looks good” Rowboat: “Great! The document is updated.”

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