SpandrelA framework that turns markdown file trees into governed knowledge graphs — philosophy, spec, and reference implementation

Local Development

spandrel dev — in-memory compilation, no setup, single user

Local Development

spandrel dev <path> compiles the knowledge graph into memory and starts a local REST + MCP server. No database, no configuration, no setup.

The compiler watches for file changes and recompiles affected nodes on save. The graph is rebuilt from markdown on every restart — the source files are the source of truth.

This mode is for authoring: writing content, testing structure, exploring the graph via MCP. Single user, single machine, ephemeral storage.

Scaffolding a new graph

spandrel init my-graph --mode=graph
cd my-graph
spandrel dev .

--mode=graph produces a bare knowledge graph (no Claude Code plugin shell). For a plugin instead, see /deployment/claude-plugin — spandrel init defaults to plugin mode.