Keep an AI notebook in the files, not in the last chat

We researched SemVer 2.0.0 precedence in ordinary Markdown notes, wrote the sources into the files, and checked the official text with Claude Code in the Agent Area. The notes were still there after the session.

I wanted a straight answer about version order: does 1.0.0-beta.2 come before 1.0.0-beta.11, and does 1.0.0+build have the same precedence as 1.0.0? A chat can answer that once. What I needed was a notebook I could open again, with the official text still sitting next to my own notes.

I put the official Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 specification into a folder, along with a short source record, and opened that folder in BaseHalf 0.6.0. The text came from the v2.0.0 document, authored by Tom Preston-Werner and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. I did not edit that file. Then I wrote three short notes in my own words: how major, minor, and patch compare; how two pre-releases compare; and the reminder that build metadata does not change precedence. A fourth note, check.md, listed the versions I wanted sorted.

I connected the official text to those notes, and the notes to the check, by writing upstream lists into the Markdown frontmatter. Lines appeared on the canvas between the same files. SOURCE.md, which only records where the spec came from and under what license, sits next to the official text, but I did not connect it. Being nearby is for my eyes. A connection is the context that should stick.

A BaseHalf canvas of the semver-research folder: SOURCE and the official Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 text on the left, my precedence notes in the middle, and the check question on the right, with lines running from the official text into the notes and into the check.

Those lists are part of the files. In Card Detail I opened check.md in the Source view. At the top of the same file, in ordinary YAML, it names semver-2.0.0.md, precedence.md, prerelease.md, and build-metadata.md. Git can diff that block. An agent that opens the file can read it too.

Card Detail open on check.md in the Source view, showing the upstream list in the frontmatter and the question about SemVer precedence below it.

I then selected the check card and started Claude Code in the Agent Area on the right. The status bar showed that agents could see check. The Agent Area is the place the session runs; it is not itself the agent. I asked it to read the official text in the folder, sort the versions in check.md, and say whether 1.0.0+build is equal in precedence to 1.0.0, quoting the spec, and to follow the spec if my notes disagreed.

It loaded the BaseHalf skill, read the files, and after 42 seconds, at 18:05 Asia/Shanghai, gave this order, from lower precedence to higher: 1.0.0-alpha, 1.0.0-alpha.1, 1.0.0-alpha.beta, 1.0.0-beta, 1.0.0-beta.2, 1.0.0-beta.11, 1.0.0-rc.1, 1.0.0. It also said 1.0.0+build and 1.0.0 have the same precedence.

Claude Code in the Agent Area beside the same canvas, with the question submitted, the BaseHalf skill loaded, and the official precedence order listed from the SemVer 2.0.0 text.

I did not stop at the model's wording. I opened semver-2.0.0.md and checked the examples myself. Section 11 gives exactly that order. Section 10 says build metadata should be ignored when deciding precedence, so two versions that differ only by a plus suffix have the same precedence; they are still different version strings. My notes agreed with the spec on the versions I asked about.

I wrote that verification into a new note, verified.md, and listed the official text and the check as its upstream. The card appeared on the same canvas, already connected. After the Claude Code session, the official text, the notes, the question, and the verification were still ordinary files in the folder.

The same canvas after verified.md was added on the right of the check, with lines into it from the official text and the question.

This is not a library that answers questions across every file by itself, and it is not a built-in summary of a notebook. Selection, the thing the status bar is pointing at for this ask, lives only while the window is open. The upstream lists stay in the files. If I close the chat, switch agents, or come back tomorrow, the sources are still in the notes.