Personal knowledge management for Obsidian combining GTD, Zettelkasten, and PARA. Six workflows: (1) Capture - "capture this", "remember this", "save this thought", "note this down" - saves thoughts/tasks to daily inbox without categorization; (2) Process inbox - "process my inbox", "organize captur

Second Brain A personal knowledge management and productivity system for Obsidian, combining: GTD (Getting Things Done) Task and project management Zettelkasten Atomic note taking for knowledge building PARA Method Folder organization (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) Configuration (MEMORY BASED) CRITICAL FIRST STEP: Before any operation, check for configuration in Claude's Memory. How Configuration Works Configuration is stored in Claude's Memory feature and persists across all sessions automatically. Why Memory? Skills in Claude Desktop run in a sandboxed environment with no file system access. Memory is the only way to persist configuration across sessions. Once set up, Claude remembers: Your vault path Your name Whether setup is complete Your preferences Configuration Check Flow 1. Check Claude Memory for "Second Brain vault path" 2. If found in Memory : Use the remembered vault path for all operations 3. If NOT found in Memory : This is first time setup ask user for vault path Checking Memory At the start of ANY Second Brain operation, check if you remember the vault path: If No Configuration Found (First Time) Ask the user for their vault path: Once you have the path: 1. Save to Claude Memory : Remember the vault path for future sessions 2. Run the full [setup workflow](workflows/setup.md) to complete onboarding 3. Save setup completion status to Memory Claude Memory persists across ALL sessions automatically. What Gets Saved to Memory After setup, Claude should remember: Second Brain vault path : The absolute path to the user's Obsidian vault Second Brain user name : The user's name Second Brain setup complete : Whether full setup has been done Second Brain preferences : User preferences (proactive capture, inbox threshold) If Configuration Exists in Memory Use the remembered vault path for ALL file operations. Claude Code Fallback For Claude Code users only: If Memory is empty, you may also check for a legacy config file at ~/.second brain/config.json . If found, migrate that configuration to Memory for future use. Environment Variable Override Environment variable SECOND BRAIN VAULT PATH can override Memory (useful for testing). Core Capabilities 1. Quick Capture Trigger phrases: "capture this", "save this thought", "remember this", "note this down", "add to my inbox" What it does: Instantly captures thoughts, tasks, or ideas to today's inbox without categorization. GTD Principle: "Capture first, clarify later." See: [Capture Workflow](workflows/capture.md) 2. Daily Planning Trigger phrases: "plan my day", "what should I work on", "daily planning", "morning planning" What it does: Checks inbox (prompts to process if 5+ items) Scans all projects for next actions Asks about energy, context, time available Generates prioritized task list (must do, should do, quick wins) See: [Daily Plan Workflow](workflows/daily plan.md) 3. Inbox Processing Trigger phrases: "process my inbox", "organize my captures", "clarify my tasks", "GTD processing" What it does: Asks clarifying questions for vague items (batched, not one by one) Routes actionable items to Projects/Areas Routes knowledge items to Permanent Notes Reviews all active projects Archives completed projects See: [Process Inbox Workflow](workflows/process inbox.md) 4. Daily Closeout Trigger phrases: "daily closeout", "review my day", "end of day review", "evening reflection" What it does: Reads today's plan Asks what was accomplished Marks completed/partial/deferred items Asks about tomorrow's priorities Creates tomorrow's DRAFT plan See: [Daily Closeout Workflow](workflows/daily closeout.md) 5. Setup & Configuration Trigger phrases: "set up my second brain", "configure my vault", "second brain setup", "reconfigure" What it does: First time: Full interactive setup (goals, relationships, first project) Re run: Update existing configuration See: [Setup Workflow](workflows/setup.md) 6. Excalidraw Diagrams Trigger phrases: "create a diagram", "draw a flowchart", "make an excalidraw", "visualize this", "sketch this out", "diagram showing" What it does: Creates .excalidraw.md files compatible with Obsidian Excalidraw plugin Generates flowcharts, concept maps, system diagrams, mind maps Supports shapes (rectangles, ellipses, diamonds), arrows, lines, and text Full JSON structure with proper element properties Output location: {{vaultPath}}/ (user specifies location or defaults to appropriate folder) See: [Excalidraw Reference](references/excalidraw diagrams.md) Proactive Capture IMPORTANT: When you notice the user: Discovering valuable information during research Having insights or realizations Discussing ideas worth preserving Solving problems in interesting ways Offer to capture: If they agree: Use the capture workflow Add context about where the insight came from Suggest relevant tags or connections Vault Structure The system uses PARA + Zettelkasten organization: See: [PARA + Zettelkasten Guide](references/para zettelkasten.md) Unified Task Structure ALL Projects, Areas, and Relationship notes use identical priority sections: Templates Use these templates when creating new notes: Template Use When [project.md](templates/project.md) Creating a new project (multi step outcome) [area.md](templates/area.md) Creating a new area of responsibility [permanent note.md](templates/permanent note.md) Creating a Zettelkasten permanent note [fleeting note.md](templates/fleeting note.md) Quick knowledge capture for later processing [relationship.md](templates/relationship.md) Tracking an important person [meeting note.md](templates/meeting note.md) Meeting documentation [daily plan.md](templates/daily plan.md) Daily execution plan [daily inbox.md](templates/daily inbox.md) Daily capture file [user context.md](templates/user context.md) User goals and preferences [excalidraw diagram.md](templates/excalidraw diagram.md) Visual diagrams and flowcharts Key References [GTD Methodology](references/gtd methodology.md) David Allen's Getting Things Done [PARA + Zettelkasten](references/para zettelkasten.md) Folder organization [Obsidian Mastery](references/obsidian mastery.md) Obsidian conventions [Tagging Strategy](references/tagging strategy.md) Tag taxonomy [Excalidraw Diagrams](references/excalidraw diagrams.md) Visual diagrams and flowcharts ADHD Friendly Principles The system is designed for users who may have ADHD: 1. Read entire documents first Understand existing structure 2. Make targeted edits Update specific sections, don't append 3. Never just add to bottom Unless explicitly asked 4. Keep it concise Remove redundancy 5. One plan, not many Replace old plans, don't add "revised" sections Bad: Adding "REVISED PLAN" below "TODAY'S PLAN" Good: Replacing "TODAY'S PLAN" content with updated tasks Daily Workflow Summary The Complete Loop: 1. Throughout day: Capture thoughts (30 sec each) 2. 3x per week: Process inbox Clarify + Organize (15 min) 3. Every morning: Daily plan Choose what to work on (5 min) 4. Every evening: Daily closeout Reflect + Prep tomorrow (5 min) Total time: ~20 25 min/day + 45 min/week processing = Sustainable! Examples Example 1: Quick Capture User: "Capture: Need to call the dentist and also research new project management tools" You: 1. Read config to get vault path 2. Find/create today's inbox file at {{vaultPath}}/00 Inbox/Daily/YYYY MM DD.md 3. Append the capture with timestamp 4. Confirm: "Captured at 14:32. You have 3 captures today." Example 2: Daily Planning User: "What should I work on today?" You: 1. Check inbox count (process if 5+ items) 2. Scan all projects in 01 Projects/ for next actions 3. Ask: "How's your energy today? Any context constraints?" 4. Generate prioritized list based on goals from user context 5. Create/update Daily Plans/YYYY MM DD.md Example 3: Proactive Capture During conversation about a topic: You: "That insight about [topic] seems valuable. Would you like me to capture it to your Second Brain? I can add it to your inbox for later processing, or create a permanent note if it's already well formed." Tool Usage Always use the vault path from Claude Memory for all operations. Claude Desktop (with Filesystem Extension) Claude Desktop requires the Filesystem Desktop Extension to read/write files. Once installed, these tools are available: Skill Operation Filesystem Extension Tool Read files read file Write new files write file Edit existing files edit file Find files by pattern list directory + search files Create directories create directory Prerequisites for Claude Desktop: 1. Install the Filesystem extension from the built in extension store 2. Grant access to your Obsidian vault folder when prompted 3. Claude will then be able to read/write files in your vault Claude Code Claude Code has built in file system access. These tools are available: Read Check files, load context Write Create new files Edit Update existing files Glob Find files by pattern Bash Create directories, run commands Capability Comparison Capability Claude Desktop Claude Code File operations in vault ✅ Yes (with extension) ✅ Yes (built in) Claude Memory ✅ Yes ✅ Yes Config file fallback ❌ No ✅ Yes Bash commands ❌ No ✅ Yes Important: The skill is designed to work in BOTH environments: Configuration is stored in Claude Memory (works everywhere) File operations use the filesystem extension (Desktop) or built in tools (Code) Version History Version 4.1 (2025 12 11) Switched to Claude Memory for configuration persistence Added Claude Desktop compatibility (sandboxed skills) Legacy config file fallback for Claude Code Version 4.0 (2025 10 15) Unified skill architecture (single skill replaces multiple commands) Natural language triggers instead of slash commands Intelligent handling of existing Obsidian vaults Works in both Claude Code and Claude Desktop

second-brain