About

Imported from akillness/jeo-skills (.agent-skills/obsidian-second-brain/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add akillness/jeo-skills --skill obsidian-second-brain. Copyright stays with the author.

obsidian-second-brain

Name: obsidian-second-brain
Author: akillness

A routing-first front door for obsidian-second-brain — an evolution of Karpathy's LLM-Wiki pattern into a vault that rewrites itself. Where the LLM-Wiki appends new pages, this skill REWRITES existing ones: people get updated, claims revised, stale facts replaced, contradictions reconciled automatically, and cross-source patterns synthesized on their own — while you sleep.

Keyword: obsidian second brain · self-rewriting vault · obsidian-save · obsidian-ingest

One codebase, four CLIs (Claude Code · Codex CLI · Gemini CLI · OpenCode), same brain.

When to use this skill

The user wants an Obsidian vault that maintains itself instead of a static filing cabinet.
The user wants to capture work into the vault: save a conversation, ingest a URL / PDF / audio / screenshot, log a session, create daily notes, track tasks/people/decisions.
The user wants the vault to reconcile contradictions and synthesize cross-source patterns automatically.
The user wants thinking tools that push back: challenge a decision against their own history, convene a perspective panel, surface unnamed patterns, bridge unrelated domains.
The user wants research pulled into the vault: deep-read an X post, scan X trends, web research with citations, vault-first deep research, source-grounded NotebookLM synthesis, YouTube/podcast transcripts.
The user wants to install the second-brain skill on Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, or OpenCode (incl. open models like Hermes).
The user wants to scan a codebase and write maintained architecture notes into the vault (/obsidian-architect).

Route out when the real job is narrower:

obsidian — Obsidian plugin development, CLI automation, URI handoff, JSON Canvas, Bases content patterns.
llm-wiki — the underlying raw/wiki markdown layer, source summaries, query filing, lint passes.
okf — exporting the vault as a portable, vendor-neutral Open Knowledge Format bundle.
notebooklm — standalone source-grounded NotebookLM queries outside a vault workflow.
scrapling — adaptive web scraping when you only need raw content extraction, not vault ingestion.

Invoking in jeo — the `$` entrypoint

In jeo-code (jeo) a skill loads only through the $ entrypoint, never through /slash typing. The aliases: frontmatter still publishes all 45 names into jeo skills, the skill picker, and shell autocomplete for discovery, but the live trigger is:

$obsidian-second-brain <command-or-intent> [args]

$obsidian-s (or any unambiguous prefix) resolves too; bare $obsidian does not — that exact-matches the separate obsidian skill. Everything after the skill token is handed to this file as the intent. Dispatch the intent deterministically:

Explicit command — if the first intent word matches one of the 45 command names (with or without a leading / and with or without the obsidian- prefix), run that exact command and treat the rest of the line as its arguments. All of these route to /obsidian-ingest:

$obsidian-second-brain /obsidian-ingest https://example.com/post
$obsidian-second-brain obsidian-ingest https://example.com/post
$obsidian-second-brain ingest https://example.com/post

More examples:

$obsidian-second-brain save                    → /obsidian-save
$obsidian-second-brain reconcile               → /obsidian-reconcile
$obsidian-second-brain challenge "migrate to X" → /obsidian-challenge
$obsidian-second-brain research-deep "rag eval" → /research-deep
$obsidian-second-brain world                   → /obsidian-world
$obsidian-second-brain x-read <url>            → /x-read

The non-prefixed names that stay literal (no obsidian-): create-command, idea-discovery, notebooklm, podcast, research, research-deep, vault-deep-synthesis, x-pulse, x-read, youtube.

Natural-language intent — if the first word is not a command name, classify the request through Step 1 below (layer → command) and state the route before acting, e.g. $obsidian-second-brain save everything from this chat → "Operations → /obsidian-save".

The chosen command's behavior, the AI-first vault rule, and propagation are identical to the slash version — only the trigger surface ($ instead of /) differs. Full command table in references/commands.md.

Instructions

Step 1 — Classify the request into one of the 4 layers

The skill is organized into four layers plus an always-on automation tier. Pick the layer first, then the command. Full command table in references/commands.md.

Layer	Purpose	Pick when the user wants to…
1 · Operations (28 cmds)	Claude remembers	save, ingest, reconcile, export, daily notes, tasks, people, decisions, calendar, project/vault maintenance, architecture notes
2 · Thinking Tools (7 cmds)	Claude thinks with you	challenge an idea, convene a panel, surface patterns, bridge domains, deep-synthesize a topic, rank next directions, graduate an idea into a project
3 · Context Engine (1 cmd)	Claude knows who you are	load identity + state with progressive token budgets (`/obsidian-world`)
4 · Research Toolkit (7 cmds)	Claude pulls knowledge in	X read/pulse, web research, vault-first deep research, NotebookLM, YouTube, podcast
Always On	Vault stays alive	background agent (post-compaction) + 4 scheduled agents (morning/nightly/weekly/health) + save reminders

State the route explicitly before acting, e.g. "Operations → /obsidian-ingest" or "Research → /research-deep (vault-first)".

Step 2 — Honor the AI-first vault rule on every write

This is the core invariant — it applies on every note write, regardless of model:

Each note opens with a ## For future Claude preamble (what this note is, why it matters, how to use it).
Frontmatter is for LLM retrieval, not human review (type, tags, recency markers, sources verbatim).
Rewrite, don't append: when a source adds depth or contradicts a page, rewrite that page and record why.
Bi-temporal facts: track when a fact was true AND when the vault learned it ("You believed X on Tuesday; after ingesting Y on Wednesday, you shifted to Z").
Two-Output Rule: every answer also updates the relevant pages.
raw/ is immutable — original sources are never edited, only summarized/rewritten into wiki/.

Step 3 — Run the matching command and propagate updates

For the high-leverage flows:

/obsidian-save — pull every decision, person, task, and idea out of the conversation; distribute each to the right note.
/obsidian-ingest <url|file|image|audio> — saves the original to raw/ (immutable), then REWRITES 5–15 entity/concept pages, resolves contradictions, creates synthesis pages, updates index.md / log.md / daily note.
/obsidian-reconcile — find contradictions across the vault and resolve them, documenting why.
/obsidian-synthesize — find unnamed cross-source patterns and write synthesis pages.
/obsidian-challenge — search the vault for past failures/reversed decisions on the topic and push back with the user's own words.
/research-deep <topic> — scan the vault first, identify gaps, fill only the gaps via Perplexity (web) + Grok (X) or free key-less sources, then propagate updates across people/projects/ideas. Vault-first means it never re-researches what you already know.

Step 4 — Install / build for the target CLI when asked

Install path differs per CLI; vault behavior is identical. Full matrix + research-toolkit key table in references/install.md.

Plugin (recommended for this jeo-skill front door): npx skills add https://github.com/akillness/jeo-skills --skill obsidian-second-brain (or bash scripts/install.sh).
jeo-code (jeo): discovered automatically. Invoke via the $ entrypoint — $obsidian-second-brain <command-or-intent> (see Invoking in jeo); the 45 names from the aliases: frontmatter surface in jeo skills / picker / autocomplete for discovery, but jeo never loads a skill from /slash typing. JEO=1 VAULT=<dir> bash scripts/install.sh also registers an advisory write-time AI-first validator as a post-turn hook (jq-merged with backup, append-only, idempotent; remove with UNINSTALL=1). The Claude-only / palette, SessionStart loader, and PostCompact agent are not ported — jeo lacks those hook events.
Upstream Claude Code: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/akillness/obsidian-second-brain/main/scripts/quick-install.sh | bash, then /obsidian-init.
Upstream Codex / Gemini / OpenCode: git clone then bash scripts/build.sh --platform <codex-cli|gemini-cli|opencode> and copy dist/<platform>/ into the vault. Codex needs bash scripts/install-codex-wrappers.sh for named command shims.
Research toolkit (optional): cp .env.example ~/.config/obsidian-second-brain/.env, add keys, uv sync. Or bash scripts/install.sh and answer "y" to the research prompt. /research + /research-deep work key-less.

Step 5 — Set up automation when the user wants the vault to stay alive

Background agent fires after every context compaction (PostCompact → headless claude -p → vault updated).
Scheduled agents: morning (8 AM daily note + overdue), nightly (10 PM consolidation: close + reconcile + synthesize + heal orphans + rebuild index), weekly (Fri 6 PM review), health (Sun 9 PM audit).
Save reminders: nudge /obsidian-save after 10+ exchanges or on "done"/"thanks".

Vault layout, presets (executive / builder / creator / researcher), and agent details live in references/vault-architecture.md.

Integrity guardrails

Never fabricate vault facts, citations, or research sources. Research notes record sources verbatim with recency markers (as of YYYY-MM, source.com).
Rewrite over append, but never silently destroy an opposing claim — reconcile it and keep the audit trail (bi-temporal facts).
Respect raw/ immutability — original sources are read-only.
Open models follow instructions less reliably than Claude. Prefer Claude or hermes-4-405b for the synthesis-heavy commands (/obsidian-architect, /obsidian-reconcile, /research-deep); the AI-first vault rule still applies on every write.
API keys stay local — ~/.config/obsidian-second-brain/.env, chmod 600, never committed.

Reference files

references/commands.md — all 45 commands grouped by layer, with triggers and what each does.
references/install.md — 4-CLI install matrix, Hermes/open-model setup, research-toolkit key table.
references/vault-architecture.md — vault layout, presets, background + scheduled agents, the AI-first vault rule.

Upstream: akillness/obsidian-second-brain (origin: eugeniughelbur/obsidian-second-brain, MIT).

Use it

Copy one of these into your project. Installing also returns the manifest and these snippets.

yaml

targets:
  - https://api.opensmartroute.ai/api/v1/registry/akillness-jeo-skills-obsidian-second-brain/manifest   # or paste the manifest below

Manifest

An Open Capability Manifest: the router reads it to know what this does, what it costs and when to pick it.

akillness-jeo-skills-obsidian-second-brain.ocm.jsonjson

{
  "ocm": "1",
  "id": "akillness-jeo-skills-obsidian-second-brain",
  "kind": "skill",
  "name": "obsidian-second-brain",
  "description": "Routing front door for obsidian-second-brain — a self-rewriting Obsidian vault that evolves Karpathy's LLM-Wiki pattern. Every source REWRITES existing pages instead of appending: people updated, claims revised, contradictions reconciled, patterns synthesized automatically. 45 commands across 4 layers, background + 4 scheduled agents, 4 role presets, AI-first write validator. Cross-CLI: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode.",
  "publisher": "akillness",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "capabilities": {
    "domains": [
      "coding"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "skill-md",
      "obsidian-second-brain",
      "obsidian",
      "second-brain",
      "llm-wiki",
      "knowledge-vault",
      "note-taking",
      "self-rewriting",
      "contradiction-reconciliation",
      "synthesis"
    ],
    "languages": [
      "en"
    ]
  },
  "quality_prior": 0.6,
  "examples": [
    "Routing front door for obsidian-second-brain — a self-rewriting Obsidian vault that evolves Karpathy's LLM-Wiki pattern. Every source REWRITES existing pages instead of appending: people updated, claims revised, contradictions reconciled, patterns synthesized automatically. 45 commands across 4 layers, background + 4 scheduled agents, 4 role presets, AI-first write validator. Cross-CLI: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode."
  ],
  "primary": false,
  "metadata": {
    "source": {
      "provider": "skills.sh",
      "repository": "https://github.com/akillness/jeo-skills",
      "path": ".agent-skills/obsidian-second-brain/SKILL.md",
      "ref": "HEAD",
      "url": "https://github.com/akillness/jeo-skills/blob/HEAD/.agent-skills/obsidian-second-brain/SKILL.md",
      "key": "akillness/jeo-skills/.agent-skills/obsidian-second-brain/SKILL.md"
    },
    "compatibility": "Cross-CLI — one codebase builds dispatchers for Claude Code (CLAUDE.md), Codex CLI / OpenCode (AGENTS.md), and Gemini CLI (GEMINI.md). The vault behavior is identical across all four; only the install",
    "allowed_tools": [
      "Read",
      "Write",
      "Edit",
      "Bash",
      "Grep",
      "Glob",
      "WebFetch"
    ]
  },
  "instructions": "# obsidian-second-brain\n\nA routing-first front door for [**obsidian-second-brain**](https://github.com/akillness/obsidian-second-brain)\n— an evolution of [Karpathy's LLM-Wiki pattern](https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f)\ninto **a vault that rewrites itself**. Where the LLM-Wiki appends new pages, this\nskill REWRITES existing ones: people get updated, claims revised, stale facts\nreplaced, contradictions reconciled automatically, and cross-source patterns\nsynthesized on their own — while you sleep.\n\n> **Keyword**: `obsidian second brain` · `self-rewriting vault` · `",
  "cost": {
    "context_tokens": 2882
  }
}

Fetch it by URL: GET /api/v1/registry/akillness-jeo-skills-obsidian-second-brain/manifest?version=1.0.0

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