diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7543bbf..c1345e6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 !README.md
 !knowledge/**/*.md
 !services/comms/knowledge/**/*.md
+!services/atlasbot/knowledge/**/*.md
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
 .pytest_cache
diff --git a/services/atlasbot/knowledge/INDEX.md b/services/atlasbot/knowledge/INDEX.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fac9153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/atlasbot/knowledge/INDEX.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Atlas Knowledge Base (KB)
+
+This folder is the source-of-truth “memory” for Atlas/Titan assistants (and for humans). It is designed to be:
+- Accurate (grounded in GitOps + read-only cluster tools)
+- Maintainable (small docs + deterministic generators)
+- Safe (no secrets; refer to Secret/Vault paths by name only)
+
+Layout
+- `knowledge/runbooks/`: human-written docs (short, chunkable Markdown).
+- `knowledge/catalog/`: generated machine-readable facts (YAML/JSON).
+- `knowledge/diagrams/`: generated Mermaid diagrams (`.mmd`) derived from the catalog.
+
+Regeneration
+- Update manifests/docs, then regenerate generated artifacts:
+  - `python scripts/knowledge_render_atlas.py --write`
+
+Authoring rules
+- Never include secret values. Prefer `secretRef` names or Vault paths like `kv/atlas/...`.
+- Prefer stable identifiers: Kubernetes `namespace/name`, DNS hostnames, Flux kustomization paths.
+- Keep each runbook small; one topic per file; use headings.
+- When in doubt, link to the exact file path in this repo that configures the behavior.
+