# 260614 — Wiki.js deep dive (the storage-module engine that already speaks Git + Markdown)

Date: 2026-06-14

## What this is

A focused study of **Wiki.js** — the modern Node.js server wiki — read through
shard-wiki's lens. Wiki.js is the **closest existing engine to shard-wiki's own design**:
it is DB-canonical (Postgres/MySQL/SQLite) **but abstracts persistence behind pluggable
"storage modules"** — Git, local filesystem, S3, Azure Blob — each acting as **backup or
source of truth**, with the **Git module bidirectionally syncing clean `.md` files (+ YAML
frontmatter)** to a repo. That storage-module interface is, in effect, a shipped version
of shard-wiki's adapter contract — the second concrete prior art after **Foswiki::Store**,
and the closer one (medium = Markdown in Git).

Distinctive material:
- **Architecture** — Node.js/Vue; **GraphQL API** over all resources; DB-canonical;
  Markdown (primary) + HTML + AsciiDoc; path-based hierarchy; modular
  (storage/auth/search/render/editor)
- **Storage modules** — provider connector (Git/FS/S3/Azure) with properties + create/
  update/delete/sync methods, **backup-or-source-of-truth**, `injectMetadata()` YAML
  frontmatter; **Git module commits every change → version-controlled clean Markdown**,
  bidirectional
- **GraphQL** — typed, **introspectable** (capability/schema discovery), **selective-field**
  projection
- **Auth modules** (delegated authn) + **path-based rule ACL**

## Contents

| Path | Role |
|------|------|
| `findings.md` | Architecture, storage modules (≈ adapter contract), Git mirror as attach+write surface, GraphQL, access control, capability profile, INTENT mapping, UC seeds, architecture notes, sources |

## Status

Initial deep dive complete. Two new use cases promoted to `spec/UseCaseCatalog.md` (UC-68
attach an engine-maintained bidirectional Git mirror of clean Markdown, incl. write-by-
commit; UC-69 attach via a typed, introspectable API — GraphQL — for schema discovery +
selective projection); UC-06/36/38/40/42/57 enriched. Logged for `SHARD-WP-0002`
(T11/T14): the **storage-module abstraction as a second adapter-contract prior art** (with
Foswiki::Store), the **engine-maintained Git mirror** as preferred attach+write surface,
and **GraphQL introspection** for capability discovery + selective projection.

**Key takeaway recorded:** Wiki.js is the most shard-wiki-shaped engine yet — its
storage-module interface is near-isomorphic to the adapter contract, and its
Markdown-in-Git mirror is the ideal file-store attach (clean MD, git history,
write-by-commit). **Boundary:** one server-engine candidate shard, DB-canonical with a
maintained Git mirror; don't double-sync; honor its access rules; not the federation layer.
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