Vault Orphan Cleanup

Resolve orphaned notes in ~/.rho/vault/ -- notes that exist but have no inbound [[wikilinks]] from any other note.

Step 1: Detect Orphans

Run the detection script to get the current orphan list:

bash
TMPDIR="$PREFIX/tmp"

# All note slugs
find ~/.rho/vault -name "*.md" -not -name "_inbox.md" | while read f; do
  basename "$f" .md
done | sort -u > "$TMPDIR/vault-slugs.txt"

# All wikilink targets
rg -oN '\[\[([^\]]+)\]\]' ~/.rho/vault --no-filename -r '$1' | sort -u > "$TMPDIR/vault-links.txt"

# Orphans: notes with zero inbound links
comm -23 "$TMPDIR/vault-slugs.txt" "$TMPDIR/vault-links.txt" | grep -v "^_index$"

Step 2: Triage Each Orphan

For each orphaned note, read it with vault read and classify it:

A. Connect It (most common)

The note has value but nobody links to it. Fix by:

1. Find the right MOC or parent note (check _index, project notes, topic MOCs)
2. Add a [[slug]] wikilink from the parent to the orphan
3. If the orphan's own ## Connections section is missing links, add those too

B. Merge It

The note duplicates content already in another note. Fix by:

1. Identify the canonical note
2. Move any unique content from the orphan into the canonical note
3. Delete the orphan file: rm ~/.rho/vault/<type>/<slug>.md

C. Promote It

The note is important enough to be a new section in _index.md. Fix by:

1. Add it to the appropriate section in _index.md (Projects, References, Concepts, Patterns, Logs)
2. Ensure the note has a proper ## Connections section linking back

D. Delete It

The note is stale, empty, or no longer relevant. Fix by:

1. Verify it's truly not needed (check if any task or active project references it)
2. Delete: rm ~/.rho/vault/<type>/<slug>.md
3. Clean up any outbound links from _index or other notes that might reference it

Step 3: Verify

After processing, rerun the detection script. Orphan count should decrease. Report: how many connected, merged, promoted, deleted.

Batch Processing

When running during heartbeat, process max 5 orphans per cycle to stay lightweight. Prioritize by:

1. Notes linked from _index.md that don't exist yet (broken links) -- create stubs
2. Recently created orphans (likely just missed during initial capture)
3. Older orphans (may be stale, more likely to delete)

Common Orphan Patterns

• Date-prefixed notes (e.g. 2026-02-05-email-rollback): Usually operational runbooks. Connect to the relevant project note.
• Draft content (e.g. reddit-localllama-draft, x-drafts): Connect to a drafts MOC or the project they support.
• Generic names (BACKLOG, TODO, ENGINEERING): Often subdirectory artifacts from project imports. Usually merge into the project note or delete if redundant.
• Newly captured notes: Just need a link from _index.md or the relevant MOC.

Guardrails

• Never delete a note without reading it first
• If unsure whether to delete, connect it instead (safe default)
• Always update _index.md when promoting
• After edits, verify the note renders correctly with vault read