OKF · Intro
What Google OKF v0.2 is, when to use it with the ods CLI, and how it differs from ODS.
OKF · Intro
Open Knowledge Format (OKF) v0.2 is a Markdown + YAML convention for knowledge concepts: metrics, tables, playbooks, policies, and attested computations—with first-class provenance, trust, freshness, and lifecycle.
The ods CLI supports OKF natively as an extra dialect:
ods init --okf ./bundle
ods lint --okf
ods context --okf <concept>There is no ods okf namespace. ODS remains the default product when no flag is passed.
Upstream-oriented full write-up (long form): docs/other-specs/okf-0.2.md.
Key dictionary for this dialect: keys.md.
Compare with ODS: docs/other-specs/frontmatter-keys-ods-vs-okf.md.
When to use OKF vs ODS
| Use OKF when… | Use ODS when… |
|---|---|
| Docs describe data/knowledge assets (tables, metrics, catalogs) | Docs describe software systems (services, guides, RFCs, APIs) |
| You need trust / provenance / staleness signals | You need typed graph edges and code bindings |
Bundle root carries okf_version: "0.2" |
Workspace root carries ods: 0.1 |
| Relationships are mainly prose links | Relationships are depends / related arrays |
Hybrid trees may declare both markers; bare ods lint stays ODS-first unless specs.okf.enabled: true on the root index.
Core ideas
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bundle | Self-contained tree of knowledge documents (unit of distribution). |
| Concept | One Markdown document describing an asset or idea. |
| Concept ID | Path without .md (same path-id idea as ODS). |
| Root marker | Root index.md / index.ods.md with okf_version: "0.2". |
OKF standardizes a small frontmatter surface so agent-maintained corpora stay trustable without a central schema registry.
What to read next
- keys.md — OKF key dictionary with examples
docs/other-specs/okf-0.2.md— full OKF v0.2 prose (upstream-aligned)- ../ods/intro.md — ODS intro