Agents navigate by deciding what to read next
Type: kb/types/note.md · Status: current · Tags: links
An agent has a task and needs information she doesn't yet have. She can't read everything, so at every step she encounters pointers — links, index entries, search results, skill descriptions — and decides which to follow. That decision is the fundamental unit of navigation.
What makes the decision tractable
Every pointer asks the same question: should I follow this? The agent can never be sure before following — the content might not deliver. So the decision is always probabilistic: how likely is this pointer to lead somewhere relevant, and what does it cost to find out?
What makes it tractable is context — information surrounding the pointer that hints at what the target contains. A bare filename forces the agent to load the target just to judge relevance. A pointer embedded in explanatory prose lets her judge without paying that cost. The more context a pointer carries, the cheaper the navigation decision.
Context varies by navigation mode
Different pointer types carry different amounts of context. Inline links carry the most — the surrounding prose explains both what the target contains and why it matters. Search results carry the least — the agent has only titles and descriptions. Since link-following and search impose different metadata requirements, the knowledge system must invest in different metadata for each mode: surrounding prose for link-following, titles and descriptions for search, and both for indexes that bridge the two.
Design implication
If navigation is deciding what to read, the knowledge system should make that decision as cheap as possible. Title as claim is the shortcut that works across all pointer types. When the title carries the argument, the pointer itself becomes the hint — every link text, every search result, every index entry does navigation work for free.
Relevant Notes:
- link-following and search impose different metadata requirements — extends: decomposes the context-varies-by-pointer observation into two navigation modes with distinct metadata needs
- title as claim enables traversal as reasoning — foundation: claim titles carry the argument in the pointer itself, reducing the cost of the navigation decision
- Agentic Note-Taking 23: Notes Without Reasons — validates (negative case): first-person testimony of what breaks when pointers lack context — embedding-generated links carry no reasons, making relevance estimation impossible before following