Anytype PKM layout — four Spaces in one Vault¶

Terminology (Anytype docs): one Vault; multiple Spaces (Channels) inside it (Vault, Channels, Spaces API).

Machine-readable source of truth for names and agent write policy: ../schemas/spaces.json. This page is the narrative. Do not invent a fifth Space in a skill without updating that file.

Topical tags are not tenancy. Vocabulary: ../schemas/topic-tags.json.

The four Spaces¶

Space name	Domain (filesystem)	Agent read	Agent write
Agent	`personal` (also reference graph)	Full	Full (skills + bounded-edit loop)
Work	`work`	Full	Only with explicit chat approval
Job Hunt	`career`	Full	Only with explicit chat approval
Private	(never via agent)	None	None

Resolve space_id at runtime with API-list-spaces by name. Never hardcode IDs.

Filesystem workspaces live outside git under workspace.data_root (~/tool-chest-data by default): projects/personal/, projects/work/, projects/career/. See new-workspace.

Work¶

Personal notes about employment work: design sketches, anonymizable thinking, meeting follow-ups you authored. Not the employer source of truth. Not a RAG corpus (projects/work/** is on rag_deny_globs).

You create this Space in Anytype desktop (agents cannot be assumed to create Spaces). Suggested name: exactly Work so it matches spaces.json.

Job Hunt Space — collection structure¶

Job Hunt (Space)
├── Collection · Company & role
│     └── Company → Role → (pages/notes per artifact)
└── Collection · Reusable prep
      └── Study tracks, language notes, generic question banks

Keep Job Hunt even after start date — career artifacts are not work-thinking.

Agent Space¶

Canonical agent-owned graph. Collections partition (job hunt prep, patterns pointers, personal projects). Markdown wiki (knowledge/agent-wiki/) stays a parallel artifact: summaries + anytype:<id> (+ data_path: for hybrid workspaces). Wiki stubs for workspaces are pointer-only — no dumped SOWs.

Private Space¶

No agent and no MCP automation reads or writes this Space.

Until Anytype documents per-space API key ACLs, enforce by process:

Never pass this Space’s space_id into MCP tools.
Do not approve MCP edits targeting it.
Optional stronger isolation: a second vault (heavy).

MCP and agent write policy¶

Space	Agent / MCP read	Agent / MCP write
Agent	Full	Full (skills + bounded-edit loop)
Work	Full	Only with your explicit approval per write or batch
Job Hunt	Full	Only with your explicit approval per write or batch
Private	None	None

PKM skills default captures to Agent unless you direct otherwise. Work and Job Hunt writes are approval-gated. Private: never target.

Markdown wiki vs Agent Space¶

Wiki pages: summaries + anytype:<id> (+ data_path for hybrid workspaces).
private_sensitive and work dumps: wiki is pointer-only; Anytype (correct Space) holds private detail.

Decisions¶

Topic	Decision
Vault vs Spaces	Four Spaces in one local Vault.
Tenancy	Space (not tags). Personal-canonical: employer SOT never indexed.
Work writes	Approval-gated, same as Job Hunt.
Tags	Topical vocabulary only (`topic-tags.json`).