BrainRepo

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.

Security Scan

The skill generally matches a local markdown-backed knowledge repository, but it auto-creates and manages a fixed folder in your home directory and runs git workflows (commit/push) without a configurable path or explicit per-install consent — this design decision is risky and should be reviewed before installing.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description match behavior: captures, organizes, and retrieves notes as .md files in a git-backed repository. No unrelated binaries, env vars, or external endpoints are requested.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs the agent to check for and, if missing, automatically create ~/Documents/brainrepo/ (non-configurable), populate templates, initialize git, and run commits/pushes as part of workflows — which can overwrite or create files in the user's home without explicit, per-run confirmation.

Install Mechanism

Instruction-only skill with no install spec or downloads; lowest install risk because nothing is written by an installer. All behavior is via runtime file operations.

Credentials

No env vars or external credentials are requested, which is appropriate. However, the skill relies on git commands (commit/push) that may use the user's git credentials/config or attempt network pushes to configured remotes — this is proportional to a git-backed repo but has privacy/exfiltration implications if remotes are present.

Persistence & Privilege

Does not request always:true and is user-invocable. It does write persistent files under a fixed path and performs git operations; autonomous invocation combined with automatic onboarding could let the agent create/modify files without explicit user approval each time.

Scan Findings in Context

[no-findings] expected: Regex scanner found nothing because this is an instruction-only skill (no code files). That absence is expected but does not guarantee safety — the SKILL.md itself is the primary surface to review.

What to consider before installing

What to consider before installing: 1) Backup or inspect ~/Documents/brainrepo/ if it already exists — the skill uses that exact, non-configurable path and may create/overwrite files. 2) Prefer running onboarding manually the first time rather than letting the agent auto-run it, so you can review created files and templates. 3) Check your git remotes and credentials: daily/weekly workflows call git commit and git push which could transmit repository contents to configured remotes. If you keep sensitive data, remove or avoid pushing it. 4) If you want less risk, request a configurable path or run the skill in a sandbox folder you control. 5) Consider limiting autonomous invocation or monitoring the agent's first runs to confirm behavior matches expectations.

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