trace

Trace — Idea Evolution Tracker

Show how a specific idea or topic has evolved across King's vault over time.

Input

The user provides a topic after the command: /trace [topic] If no topic given, ask: "What idea do you want to trace?"

Process

1. Search broadly — grep all .md files in the vault for the topic (and synonyms/related terms)

   grep -ril "[topic]" ~/Documents/Obsidian/personalOS/ --include="*.md"
   

2. Collect matches — read each matching file, extract:

   • The file path and folder (tells you context: daily note vs knowledge vs project)
   • The frontmatter date or created field
   • The surrounding paragraph(s) where the topic appears

3. Sort chronologically — by date/created frontmatter, or by filename for daily notes (YYYY-MM-DD.md)

4. Trace the arc — look for:

   • First mention: what was the original framing?
   • How did the language/framing shift over time?
   • What other concepts got linked to it?
   • Where does it sit now — active project, knowledge note, daily thought?

Output Format

---

Tracing: [topic] Found in [N] notes across [date range]

First appearance — [date], [file]

[quote or paraphrase]

Evolution

• [date] — [file type] — [how the idea shifted]
• [date] — [file type] — [new angle or connection]
• ...

Current state — [where it lives now, how it's framed]

Connected to

• [[note]] — [why it's connected]

Observation — [one insight about how this idea has grown or changed]

---

Rules

• Pull direct quotes where possible — King's own words, not summaries
• Chinese content in daily notes: include it, translate inline
• If topic appears in only 1-2 notes, say so — the trace may be short
• Don't force connections that aren't there