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 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

• Casual chat without information value
• Temporary queries ("what time is it")
• Information easily searchable online

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

• Dump everything to Inbox/
• Don't organize — just capture

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 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

• Folders: kebab-case/
• Files: kebab-case.md
• Dates: YYYY-MM-DD.md
• People: firstname-lastname.md

References

• Structure Guide — Detailed folder breakdown
• Workflows — Daily/weekly/monthly workflows
• Templates — Note templates