BrainRepo

---

name: brainrepo

description: >

Your personal knowledge repository — capture, organize, and retrieve everything using PARA + Zettelkasten.

Triggers on: "save this", "remember", "note", "capture", "brain dump", daily/weekly

reviews, searching stored knowledge, managing projects/areas/people. Works with any AI agent that reads

markdown. Stores everything as .md files in a Git repo for Obsidian, VS Code, or any editor.

---

# BrainRepo

Your personal knowledge repository. Capture fast, organize automatically, retrieve instantly.

Brain Location

**Fixed path:** `~/Documents/brainrepo/`

This is not configurable. All brain data lives here.

First Run Check

**Before any action**, check if brainrepo is initialized:

1. Check if `~/Documents/brainrepo/` exists with expected structure (Inbox/, Projects/, Areas/)

2. If NOT found → **Run onboarding automatically**

3. If found → Proceed with user request

Onboarding

Triggers automatically on first interaction, or when user says "set up brainrepo":

1. Create brain at `~/Documents/brainrepo/`

2. Create the folder structure:

mkdir -p <path>/{Inbox,Projects,Areas/personal-growth,Areas/family,Notes,Resources,Journal,People,Tasks,Archive}

3. Create initial files from templates in `assets/templates/`:

- `Tasks/index.md` — task hub

- `Areas/personal-growth/index.md` — personal growth area

- `Areas/family/index.md` — family area

4. Initialize git (optional):

cd <path> && git init && git add -A && git commit -m "init: brainrepo"

5. Confirm setup and show quick start commands

Core Concept

**DUMP → PROCESS → RETRIEVE**

1. **Dump** — Capture everything to Inbox/ (don't organize yet)

2. **Process** — Evening review: Inbox → permanent home

3. **Retrieve** — Ask AI to find anything

Repository Structure

brainrepo/
├── Inbox/          # Quick capture (clear daily)
├── Projects/       # Active work with deadlines
├── Areas/          # Ongoing responsibilities (no deadline)
├── Notes/          # Permanent atomic knowledge
├── Resources/      # External links, articles, references
├── Journal/        # Daily notes (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
├── People/         # One note per person
├── Tasks/          # Centralized task tracking
└── Archive/        # Completed projects

See [references/structure.md](references/structure.md) for detailed breakdown.

Capture Rules

What to Capture (Immediately)

| Type | Destination | Example |

|------|-------------|---------|

| Quick thought | `Inbox/` | "Maybe we should..." |

| Decision made | `Inbox/` or `Notes/` | "Decided to use Next.js" |

| Person info | `People/` | New contact or update |

| Project update | `Projects/<name>/` | Meeting notes, progress |

| Task/Todo | `Tasks/index.md` | "Need to finish X" |

| Link/Article | `Resources/` or `Inbox/` | URL with context |

| Personal growth | `Areas/personal-growth/` | Health, habits, learning |

| Family info | `Areas/family/` | Important dates, notes |

What NOT to Capture

Note Format

Every note uses minimal frontmatter:

---
created: YYYY-MM-DD
tags: [tag1, tag2]
related: ["[[Other Note]]"]
---

# Title

Content here. Link to [[Related Notes]] freely.

Use templates from `assets/templates/` when creating new notes.

Daily Workflow

During Day

Evening (5-10 min)

Process Inbox/:

1. Each item → permanent home or delete

2. Update `Journal/YYYY-MM-DD.md` with summary

3. `git commit -am "daily processing"`

Weekly Review (Sunday, 15 min)

1. Review all Projects/ — still active?

2. Check Areas/ — anything neglected?

3. Move completed projects to Archive/

4. Update `Tasks/index.md`

See [references/workflows.md](references/workflows.md) for detailed workflows.

Commands

| User says | Action |

|-----------|--------|

| "Set up brainrepo" | Run onboarding, create structure |

| "Save this: [text]" | Capture to Inbox/ |

| "New project: [name]" | Create Projects/name/ with template |

| "Add person: [name]" | Create People/name.md with template |

| "What do I know about X?" | Search & retrieve |

| "Daily review" | Process Inbox/, update Journal/ |

| "Weekly review" | Full system review |

Linking

Use `[[wiki-links]]` to connect notes:

Met with [[People/john]] about [[Projects/acme/index|ACME Project]].
Relevant insight: [[Notes/negotiation-tactics]]

Projects vs Areas

| Projects | Areas |

|----------|-------|

| Have deadlines | No end date |

| Can be "done" | Maintained forever |

| Specific outcome | Standard to uphold |

File Naming

References