{"id":47668092,"url":"https://github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter","last_synced_at":"2026-04-07T23:03:19.299Z","repository":{"id":345768022,"uuid":"1187300022","full_name":"michaeljauk/brain-starter","owner":"michaeljauk","description":"Claude Code-powered second brain template for Obsidian — skills, auto-linking, and conventions","archived":false,"fork":false,"pushed_at":"2026-03-24T20:10:04.000Z","size":175,"stargazers_count":0,"open_issues_count":0,"forks_count":0,"subscribers_count":0,"default_branch":"main","last_synced_at":"2026-04-03T00:44:28.933Z","etag":null,"topics":["ai-tools","claude-code","knowledge-management","markdown","obsidian","obsidian-plugin","ollama","personal-knowledge-management","second-brain"],"latest_commit_sha":null,"homepage":null,"language":"Shell","has_issues":true,"has_wiki":null,"has_pages":null,"mirror_url":null,"source_name":null,"license":"mit","status":null,"scm":"git","pull_requests_enabled":true,"icon_url":"https://github.com/michaeljauk.png","metadata":{"files":{"readme":"README.md","changelog":"CHANGELOG.md","contributing":null,"funding":null,"license":"LICENSE","code_of_conduct":null,"threat_model":null,"audit":null,"citation":null,"codeowners":null,"security":null,"support":null,"governance":null,"roadmap":null,"authors":null,"dei":null,"publiccode":null,"codemeta":null,"zenodo":null,"notice":null,"maintainers":null,"copyright":null,"agents":null,"dco":null,"cla":null}},"created_at":"2026-03-20T15:10:05.000Z","updated_at":"2026-03-24T20:10:24.000Z","dependencies_parsed_at":null,"dependency_job_id":null,"html_url":"https://github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter","commit_stats":null,"previous_names":["michaeljauk/brain-starter"],"tags_count":3,"template":true,"template_full_name":null,"purl":"pkg:github/michaeljauk/brain-starter","repository_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/michaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter","tags_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/michaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter/tags","releases_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/michaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter/releases","manifests_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/michaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter/manifests","owner_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners/michaeljauk","download_url":"https://codeload.github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter/tar.gz/refs/heads/main","sbom_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/michaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter/sbom","scorecard":null,"host":{"name":"GitHub","url":"https://github.com","kind":"github","repositories_count":286080680,"owners_count":31532342,"icon_url":"https://github.com/github.png","version":null,"created_at":"2022-05-30T11:31:42.601Z","updated_at":"2026-04-07T16:28:08.000Z","status":"ssl_error","status_checked_at":"2026-04-07T16:28:06.951Z","response_time":105,"last_error":"SSL_connect returned=1 errno=0 peeraddr=140.82.121.5:443 state=error: unexpected eof while reading","robots_txt_status":"success","robots_txt_updated_at":"2025-07-24T06:49:26.215Z","robots_txt_url":"https://github.com/robots.txt","online":false,"can_crawl_api":true,"host_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub","repositories_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories","repository_names_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repository_names","owners_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners"}},"keywords":["ai-tools","claude-code","knowledge-management","markdown","obsidian","obsidian-plugin","ollama","personal-knowledge-management","second-brain"],"created_at":"2026-04-02T12:05:53.230Z","updated_at":"2026-04-07T23:03:19.293Z","avatar_url":"https://github.com/michaeljauk.png","language":"Shell","funding_links":["https://buymeacoffee.com/michaeljauk"],"categories":[],"sub_categories":[],"readme":"# brain-starter\n\nAn opinionated, Claude Code-powered second brain template built on Obsidian.\n\n[![\"Buy Me A Coffee\"](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/assets/img/custom_images/orange_img.png)](https://buymeacoffee.com/michaeljauk)\n\n[![GitHub Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/michaeljauk/brain-starter?style=flat\u0026label=latest)](https://github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter/releases)\n[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](LICENSE)\n\n---\n\n## What this is\n\nA ready-to-fork template that turns a markdown vault into an **AI-augmented knowledge system** using **[Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code)** and **[Obsidian](https://obsidian.md)**. Extracted from a real daily-driver vault - not a toy example.\n\n### Opinions baked in\n\n- **Everything is a markdown file** - no databases, no proprietary formats, no lock-in\n- **Conventional commits on a knowledge repo** - your brain deserves the same discipline as your code\n- **AI does the grunt work** - classifying notes, linking projects, prepping meetings - you focus on thinking\n- **Obsidian is the interface, git is the backbone** - version-controlled knowledge with graph view on top\n- **Plugins install themselves** - brain-starter ships only vault-native skills; everything else is a plugin you add when you need it\n\n### What's included\n\n- 15 vault-native Claude Code skills - session wrap-up, article ingestion, vault health, semantic search, project sync, and more\n- MANIFEST.md indexes - auto-generated directory indexes for LLM two-tier retrieval\n- Conventional commits - enforced via commitlint + husky\n- Pre-commit meta-doc sync warning - warns if project files changed but README/AGENTS.md weren't updated\n- Obsidian-native - wikilinks, frontmatter, callouts, Bases, JSON Canvas, graph view as first-class citizens\n- Integration guides - Telegram Channels, Obsidian CLI, QMD, Google Calendar, and more in [`docs/integrations.md`](docs/integrations.md)\n- Structured directories - projects, research, knowledge, decisions, meetings, and archive\n\n---\n\n## Quick start\n\n```bash\n# 1. Use this template (click \"Use this template\" on GitHub, or clone)\ngit clone https://github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter.git my-brain\ncd my-brain\n\n# 2. Install dependencies (commitlint + husky)\npnpm install\n\n# 3. Open in Obsidian\n#    File \u003e Open Vault \u003e select the my-brain directory\n```\n\n### Bootstrap your brain\n\nAfter cloning, open Claude Code in your vault directory and paste this prompt to personalize everything:\n\n```\nI just forked brain-starter. Help me set it up:\n\n1. Update CLAUDE.md with my identity (name, role, company, stack defaults)\n2. Create my first project file in projects/\n3. Set up qmd for semantic search: `bun install -g @tobilu/qmd \u0026\u0026 qmd collection add . --name brain \u0026\u0026 qmd embed`\n4. Create knowledge/me.md with background context about me\n5. Run a test: /wrap-session-up\n\nHere's who I am: [tell Claude about yourself, your role, your projects]\n```\n\nClaude Code will walk you through personalizing the vault, installing tools, and creating your first notes.\n\n---\n\n## Directory structure\n\n```\nmy-brain/\n├── projects/       Project knowledge, one subdir per project\n│   ├── my-saas/    Overview, decisions, working files\n│   └── side-project/\n├── research/       Non-project research, topic-grouped\n│   ├── ai-agents/\n│   └── infrastructure/\n├── knowledge/      Curated long-lived reference material\n├── decisions/      Cross-cutting decisions (project-specific live in projects/)\n├── docs/           Repo meta, conventions, templates, skill output\n├── meetings/       Meeting notes (manual or auto-synced)\n├── tasks/          Task manager sync (if applicable)\n├── sources/        Third-party reference material (gitignored)\n├── tmp/            Truly ephemeral files with no project association\n├── archive/        Done/inactive projects\n├── .claude/        Skills + memory for Claude Code\n└── .husky/         Git hooks (commitlint + meta-doc sync)\n```\n\n\u003e **Tip:** Run `bash docs/scripts/generate-manifests.sh` to generate `MANIFEST.md` index files for each directory. These give the LLM a table of contents for efficient two-tier retrieval.\n\n---\n\n## Included skills\n\nThese ship with brain-starter in `.claude/skills/` and work out of the box:\n\n| Skill | Trigger | What it does |\n|-------|---------|-------------|\n| **wrap-session-up** | `/wrap-session-up` | End-of-session review: replay what happened, commit changes, create tasks for loose ends |\n| **ingest-article** | `/ingest-article [URL]` | Extract knowledge from a URL or text, classify it, place it in the right vault location |\n| **lint-brain** | `/lint-brain` | Vault health check: orphan notes, broken wikilinks, missing frontmatter, staleness |\n| **project-sync** | `/project-sync [name]` | Pull live git/GitHub/Jira data and update project status docs |\n| **save-answer** | `/save-answer` | File conversation outputs (research, analysis) back into the vault |\n| **research-spike** | `/research-spike [topic]` | Chain community research into a structured comparison matrix + recommendation note |\n| **gws-obsidian-prep** | \"prep notes for today\" | Fetch Google Calendar events and create meeting prep notes |\n| **sync-brain-starter** | `/sync-brain-starter` | Sync vault skills and configs to a public template repo |\n| **find-skills** | `/find-skills [query]` | Discover and install community agent skills |\n| **defuddle** | Auto (URL extraction) | Clean web page extraction via Defuddle CLI - removes clutter, saves tokens |\n| **qmd** | Auto (vault search) | Semantic search over the vault via QMD - hybrid BM25 + vector + LLM reranking |\n| **obsidian-markdown** | Auto (.md files) | Obsidian Flavored Markdown guide - wikilinks, callouts, embeds, properties |\n| **obsidian-bases** | Auto (.base files) | Create database-like views with filters, formulas, and summaries |\n| **obsidian-cli** | Auto (vault interaction) | Obsidian CLI reference for reading, creating, searching notes |\n| **json-canvas** | Auto (.canvas files) | Create and edit JSON Canvas files - mind maps, flowcharts, visual connections |\n\n---\n\n## Extend with plugins\n\nbrain-starter is intentionally minimal. Add capabilities by installing plugin skills globally - they'll be available in every repo, not just your brain.\n\n### How plugins work\n\nClaude Code loads skills from two places:\n1. **Project skills** (`.claude/skills/`) - shipped with this template, vault-specific\n2. **Global skills** (`~/.claude/skills/`) - installed once, available everywhere\n\nWhen you install a plugin, it adds its skill to `~/.claude/skills/` and Claude Code picks it up automatically. No changes to brain-starter needed.\n\n### Installing plugins\n\nMost plugins install via `npx skills add`:\n\n```bash\n# Example: install the gstack browser testing skill pack\nnpx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/gstack --agent claude-code --global\n```\n\nSome plugins are standalone CLIs with companion skills. See [`docs/integrations.md`](docs/integrations.md) for setup guides.\n\n### Recommended plugins\n\nThese pair well with a second brain workflow:\n\n| Category | Plugin | What it adds | Install |\n|----------|--------|-------------|---------|\n| **Search** | [QMD](https://github.com/tobi/qmd) | Local semantic search over your vault | `bun install -g @tobilu/qmd` + [setup](docs/integrations.md#qmd--local-semantic-search-optional) |\n| **Research** | [last30days](https://github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill) | Real-time community research (Reddit, X, HN, YouTube) | [setup](docs/integrations.md#last30days--real-time-community-research-optional) |\n| **Calendar** | [gws](https://github.com/googleworkspace/cli) | Google Calendar + Gmail from Claude Code | `npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli` + [setup](docs/integrations.md#google-calendar-via-gws-cli-optional) |\n| **Tasks** | [Todoist CLI](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@doist/todoist-cli) | Manage Todoist tasks from the terminal | `npm install -g @doist/todoist-cli` + [setup](docs/integrations.md#todoist-cli-optional) |\n| **Email** | [m365 CLI](https://pnp.github.io/cli-microsoft365/) | Outlook email triage and management | [setup](docs/integrations.md#microsoft-365-cli-optional) |\n| **Jira** | [acli](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACLI) | Atlassian CLI for Jira/Confluence | [setup](docs/integrations.md#atlassian-cli-optional) |\n| **Browser QA** | [gstack](https://github.com/anthropics/gstack) | Headless browser for QA testing and site dogfooding | [setup](docs/integrations.md#gstack--browser-qa-optional) |\n| **Browser automation** | [browser-use](https://github.com/browser-use/browser-use) | AI-powered browser interactions | `pip install browser-use` |\n| **Documents** | Built into Claude Code | PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX creation and editing | No install needed |\n| **Deployments** | [Render CLI](https://render.com/docs/cli) | Deploy, debug, and monitor Render services | [setup](docs/integrations.md#render-cli-optional) |\n\n\u003e **Tip:** Run `/find-skills [what you need]` to discover more community skills.\n\n---\n\n## Decision logging\n\nSay **\"log decision: [topic]\"** to Claude Code and it will:\n\n1. Ask for context (alternatives, who was involved)\n2. Create `decisions/YYYY-MM-DD-short-slug.md` using the template\n3. Use today's date\n\nTemplates for decisions, meetings, and project briefs are in [`docs/templates.md`](docs/templates.md).\n\n---\n\n## Releases \u0026 commit conventions\n\nConventional Commits are enforced via commitlint. Common patterns for a brain vault:\n\n```bash\ndocs(project): update project status        # project notes\ndocs(decision): log auth provider selection  # decisions\nchore(vault): backup 2026-03-20             # obsidian auto-sync\nchore(skill): improve wrap-session-up        # skill changes\nfeat(skill): add new article-ingest skill    # new skills\n```\n\nThis template is actively maintained. Check the [**Releases**](https://github.com/michaeljauk/brain-starter/releases) page for the latest version, changelog, and downloadable snapshots. Releases are cut automatically from conventional commits - `feat` bumps minor, `fix` bumps patch.\n\n\u003e **Tip:** Watch this repo (Releases only) to get notified when new skills or features land.\n\n---\n\n## Customization\n\n### Add your projects\n\nCreate subdirectories in `projects/` - one per project.\n\n### Configure project sync\n\nCopy `docs/scripts/repos.json.example` to `docs/scripts/repos.json` and add your repos:\n\n```json\n{\n  \"my-project\": {\n    \"repo_path\": \"~/code/my-project\",\n    \"gh_repo\": \"your-org/my-project\",\n    \"status_doc\": \"projects/my-project-status.md\",\n    \"brain_docs\": [\"projects/my-project.md\"]\n  }\n}\n```\n\n### Add your own skills\n\nCreate `.claude/skills/my-skill/SKILL.md` with frontmatter:\n\n```yaml\n---\nname: my-skill\ndescription: What it does and when to trigger it.\n---\n```\n\n## Prerequisites\n\n| Tool | Required | Purpose |\n|------|----------|---------|\n| [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) | Yes | AI assistant that uses the skills |\n| [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md) | Yes | Vault interface |\n| [pnpm](https://pnpm.io) | Yes | Package manager for commitlint/husky |\n| [gh](https://cli.github.com/) | For project-sync | GitHub CLI |\n\nEverything else is a plugin. Install what you need from the [plugin list](#recommended-plugins) or [`docs/integrations.md`](docs/integrations.md).\n\n---\n\n## Recommended Obsidian plugins\n\nThese work well with this vault setup:\n\n- **[Todoist Vault Sync](https://github.com/michaeljauk/obsidian-todoist-vault)** - sync Todoist projects \u0026 tasks as real markdown files\n- **[Granola Sync](https://github.com/mcclellanddj/Granola-to-Obsidian)** - auto-sync AI meeting notes from Granola\n- **[Obsidian Git](https://github.com/denolehov/obsidian-git)** - auto-backup to git on interval\n\n---\n\n## License\n\nMIT - use it, fork it, make it yours.\n\n---\n\nBuilt by [Michael Jauk](https://github.com/michaeljauk). If this saves you time, consider [buying me a coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/michaeljauk).\n","project_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fmichaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter","html_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/projects/github.com%2Fmichaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter","lists_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fmichaeljauk%2Fbrain-starter/lists"}