Move Content Skill

Generic file move/rename Skill that respects both source and target RULE.md requirements.

When to use this Skill

• User says "move", "relocate", "transfer", "rename"

• User requests reorganization

• User wants to reclassify content to different directory

Workflow

1. Identify Source File

If user provides file path:

• Verify file exists

• Confirm file identity

If user provides topic/title only:

• Search for file using Grep or Glob

• Pattern: **/keyword.md

• If multiple matches: present list, ask user to choose

• If no matches: report not found

Search strategies:

• Filename match: find . -name "keyword"

• Content match: grep -r "keyword" .

• README.md index: Search README.md files for references

2. Determine Target Location

If user specifies target:

• Parse target path

• Verify target directory exists (or offer to create)

• Confirm target path with user

If user doesn't specify target:

• Analyze content (read source file)

• Scan available directories

• Read RULE.md files to understand purposes

• Recommend target directory based on content

• Ask user for confirmation or alternative

Recommendation logic (similar to add-content):

• Analyze file content

• Read RULE.md of potential target directories

• Match content to directory purposes

• Rank by suitability

• Present top recommendation

3. Read Both RULE.md Files

Read source directory RULE.md:

• Check if moving out is allowed

• Check if any special handling required (e.g., "notify when file moved")

• Understand current file format

Read target directory RULE.md:

• Check if moving in is allowed

• Check file format requirements

• Check naming conventions

• Check if transformation needed

• Understand target directory structure

Compare requirements:

• Source format vs target format

• Source naming vs target naming

• Compatibility check

4. Check Compatibility

Format compatibility:

• Both use markdown → Compatible

• Source has frontmatter, target doesn't require → Compatible (but may want to remove)

• Source plain, target requires frontmatter → Needs transformation

• Different metadata requirements → Needs update

Naming compatibility:

• Source: topic-name.md

• Target requires: YYYY-MM-DD-topic-name.md

• → Needs rename during move

Structure compatibility:

• Source is single file

• Target requires directory structure (file + metadata)

• → Needs structure creation

Identify required transformations:

• Rename (filename format change)

• Format conversion (add/remove frontmatter)

• Structure change (file → directory with multiple files)

• Content adaptation (modify to fit target requirements)

5. User Confirmation

Present move summary:

📦 Move confirmation

Source: [source path] Target: [target path]

Compatibility check: ✅ Format: Compatible (or ⚠️ Needs transformation) ✅ Naming: Compatible (or ⚠️ Will rename to: [new name]) ✅ Structure: Compatible (or ⚠️ Will restructure)

RULE.md policies:

• Source: [policy summary]
• Target: [policy summary]

Transformations needed:

• [List of changes required]

Cross-references:

• files reference this content

Proceed with move?

• Yes (execute move with transformations)
• No (cancel)
• Show me what will change

If transformations needed:

• Explain each transformation clearly

• Show before/after examples

• Get explicit confirmation

6. Execute Move

Basic move (no transformation needed):

mv [source path] [target path]

Move with rename:

mv [source path] [target directory]/[new filename]

Move with transformation:

• Read source file

• Apply transformations:

• Add/remove/modify frontmatter

• Adjust content format

• Update internal references

• Write to target location with new format

• Verify target file created successfully

• Delete source file (only after target verified)

Move with restructure:

• Create target directory structure

• Split/reorganize content per target RULE.md

• Create all required files in target

• Verify all files created successfully

• Delete source file/directory

Preserve metadata (when possible):

• Modification timestamps

• Creation date (in frontmatter if present)

• Author information

• Tags and categories

7. Update Cross-References

Find references to moved file:

grep -r "[old path]" . grep -r "[old filename]" .

Update strategies:

• Relative paths: Update to new relative path

• Absolute paths: Update to new absolute path

• Title references: No change needed if file title unchanged

Offer to update:

Found references in:

• [file1.md] (line 45)
• [file2.md] (line 12, 89)

Would you like me to update these references?

• Yes, update all
• Yes, but let me review each
• No, I'll update manually

Execute reference updates:

• Use Edit tool to update each file

• Change old path to new path

• Verify updates successful

• Report which files were updated

8. Governance Update

Update source directory README.md:

• Read source README.md

• Remove entry for moved file

• Add to "Recent Changes": "Moved filename.md to [target]"

• Update "Last updated" timestamp

• Save source README.md

Update target directory README.md:

• Read target README.md

• Add entry for moved file (with description)

• Add to "Recent Changes": "Added filename.md from [source]"

• Update "Last updated" timestamp

• Save target README.md

Update parent README.md files if needed:

• If directories changed significance

• If directory now empty/no longer empty

Verify updates:

• Both README.md files valid markdown

• Entry removed from source, added to target

• Timestamps current

9. Report to User

Confirm move complete:

✅ File moved successfully

From: [old path] To: [new path]

Transformations applied:

• [List of changes]

Cross-references updated:

• files updated
• [List of files]

README.md updated:

• [source directory]/README.md (removed entry)
• [target directory]/README.md (added entry)

Note: [Any important notes, e.g., "Format changed to match target requirements"]

Special Cases

Rename in Same Directory

If user only wants to rename (not move):

User: "Rename transformer-draft to transformer-architecture"

Process:

• Identify source file

• Check RULE.md for naming conventions

• Verify new name follows conventions

• Execute rename: mv old-name.md new-name.md

• Update references to this file

• Update README.md (change entry name)

• Report rename complete

Move Entire Directory

If user wants to move entire directory:

User: "Move the AI research folder to Projects"

Process:

• Identify source directory

• Read source and target RULE.md

• Check all files in directory for compatibility

• Identify all external references

• Present comprehensive summary

• Request confirmation

• Execute directory move: mv [source dir] [target dir]/

• Update all cross-references

• Update README.md in both locations

• Update parent README.md files

Incompatible Format Requires Manual Intervention

If automatic transformation not possible:

Source: Complex structured data Target: Requires specific format that can't be auto-converted

Process:

• Detect incompatibility

• Warn user: "Automatic conversion not possible"

• Explain what manual changes needed

• Offer: "I can move the file, but you'll need to manually reformat"

• Or: "I can create target structure and copy content, but you'll need to reorganize"

• User decides next steps

Move with Merging

If target already has file with same name:

User: "Move note.md to Research/" Research/note.md already exists

Process:

• Detect name conflict

• Read both files

• Options:

• Rename: "note-2.md" or "note-YYYYMMDD.md"

• Merge: Combine contents (if compatible)

• Replace: Overwrite existing (with backup)

• Present options to user

• Execute chosen strategy

Preserve Directory Structure

If moving subdirectory that has its own structure:

Moving: Research/AI/transformers/ Target: Projects/AIResearch/

Process:

• Check if should preserve subdirectory structure

• Option A: Projects/AIResearch/transformers/ (preserve)

• Option B: Projects/AIResearch/ (flatten)

• Ask user preference

• Execute accordingly

• Update all README.md in hierarchy

Error Handling

Source File Not Found

User: "Move transformer note to Projects" → Search for file → No matches → Report: "I couldn't find transformer note to move"

Target Directory Doesn't Exist

User: "Move file.md to NewCategory/" NewCategory/ doesn't exist → Ask: "NewCategory doesn't exist. Create it?" → If yes: create directory, create RULE.md/README.md, then move → If no: cancel

RULE.md Forbids Moving Out

Source RULE.md: "Files cannot be moved out of this directory" → Warn: "Source RULE.md forbids moving files out" → Ask: "Override this rule?" → If yes: proceed with warning note → If no: cancel

RULE.md Forbids Moving In

Target RULE.md: "Only specific file types allowed" Source file doesn't match → Warn: "Target RULE.md restrictions prevent this move" → Explain restrictions → Suggest: "Convert file format first or choose different target"

Transformation Fails

Attempting to add required frontmatter Transformation fails (invalid YAML, etc.) → Report error → Keep source file intact → Don't create partial target → Suggest manual review

Cross-Reference Update Fails

Move successful but can't update all references Some files locked, permission denied, etc. → Report: "Move complete, but couldn't update all references" → List files that need manual update → Provide old and new paths for manual fixing

Integration with Governance

This Skill automatically invokes the governance protocol:

Before move:

• Read both source and target RULE.md

• Validate move is allowed

• Check compatibility

During move:

• Apply required transformations

• Preserve important metadata

• Execute safely (verify target before deleting source)

After move:

• Update both source and target README.md

• Update cross-references

• Verify complete

Examples

Example 1: Simple Move

User: "Move transformer-draft from Research/AI to Projects/"

Skill workflow:

• Finds Research/AI/transformer-draft.md

• Reads Research/AI/RULE.md → Moves allowed

• Reads Projects/RULE.md → Files named project-name.md , requires frontmatter

• Detects: needs frontmatter addition

• Confirms: "Move to Projects/, will add required frontmatter"

• User confirms

• Reads source file

• Adds frontmatter with title, date, status

• Writes to Projects/transformer-draft.md

• Updates cross-references (found 2)

• Updates both README.md files

• Reports: "✅ Moved with frontmatter added"

Example 2: Move with Rename

User: "Move the old transformer note to ReadLater"

Skill workflow:

• Finds Research/transformer-old.md

• Reads Research/RULE.md and ReadLater/RULE.md

• ReadLater requires: Articles/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD_title/article.md

• Detects: needs complete restructure

• Warns: "Target requires directory structure, not single file"

• Shows transformation: transformer-old.md → Articles/2025/10/2025-10-28_transformer-old/article.md

• User confirms

• Creates directory structure

• Moves and renames file

• Creates metadata.yaml (as ReadLater requires)

• Updates README.md files

• Reports: "✅ Moved and restructured per ReadLater requirements"

Example 3: Directory Move

User: "Move the old-research folder to Archive"

Skill workflow:

• Finds Research/old-research/ (15 files)

• Reads Research/RULE.md and Archive/RULE.md

• Checks all 15 files for external references → Found 3 references

• Confirms: "Move old-research/ (15 files) to Archive/? 3 external references found"

• User confirms

• Executes: mv Research/old-research/ Archive/

• Updates 3 files with broken references

• Updates README.md:

• Research/README.md (removes subdirectory)

• Archive/README.md (adds subdirectory)

• Reports: "✅ Moved 15 files, updated 3 references"

Best Practices

• Check both RULE.md files - Source and target may have different rules

• Verify compatibility - Ensure file can fit in target format

• Transform carefully - Preserve content integrity during format changes

• Update cross-references - Prevent broken links

• Update both README.md - Source (remove) and target (add)

• Verify before deleting source - Ensure target created successfully

• Report transformations clearly - User should know what changed

• Handle errors gracefully - Don't leave partial state

Notes

• This Skill works with any directory structure by reading RULE.md

• Respects both source and target governance rules

• Handles format transformations automatically when possible

• Updates cross-references to prevent broken knowledge base

• Maintains README.md indexes in both locations

• Works in parallel with CLAUDE.md subagents

• Can rename, move, and restructure all in one operation