---
type: Section
title: Motivation
---

# Motivation

The space of knowledge representation for AI agents is evolving quickly, and many incompatible conventions are emerging. OKF takes the position that knowledge is best represented in commonly accessible, established formats that are:

- **Readable** by humans without tooling.
- **Parseable** by agents without bespoke SDKs.
- **Diffable** in version control.
- **Portable** across tools, organizations, and time.

Increasingly, a knowledge corpus is not authored once and then read: it is **continuously written and maintained by agents**. When most concepts are machine‑generated, a consumer needs answers that a plain markdown‑plus‑frontmatter convention does not make first‑class:

1. What was this created from, and how was it verified? (**provenance**)
2. How much should I trust it? (**trust**)
3. Is it still true? (**freshness**)
4. Is it the current version? (**lifecycle**)
5. Was this number produced the way we said it must be? (**attestation**)