Obsidian Second Brain Starter

A practical Obsidian starter system for building a second brain without turning note-taking into bureaucracy.

This repository contains a clean, privacy-safe version of a real note-taking workflow based on:

• a small number of folders used as work trays;
• connected notes instead of rigid folder hierarchies;
• Maps of Content (MOCs) as living indexes;
• Obsidian Properties for structure;
• Dataview/Bases-style queries for review;
• templates that force clarity without slowing down writing.
• an optional AI-friendly project memory layer for focused assistant handoffs.

Core Idea

A second brain is not a warehouse. It is a working system for thinking.

The goal is not to save everything. The goal is to transform what you read, watch, study, and experience into notes that you can retrieve, connect, and reuse later.

Suggested Vault Structure

0-Inbox/
1-Templates/
2-Notes/
3-Media/
Home.md

Folders are physical trays:

• 0-Inbox: quick capture and unprocessed material.
• 1-Templates: note templates.
• 2-Notes: real knowledge, MOCs, projects, sources, and processed reflections.
• 3-Media: PDFs, images, drawings, audio, and external files.

The knowledge structure lives in links, properties, aliases, and MOCs.

Note Types

This system keeps the type model deliberately small:

Type	Purpose
note	A concept, explanation, class note, idea, or reusable piece of knowledge.
moc	A Map of Content: an index that organizes related notes.
source	A book, video, article, course, podcast, or external reference.
idea	An early-stage hypothesis, project idea, or possible initiative.
project	A concrete project with a goal, scope, deliverables, and next action.
journal	A private reflection or personal entry that may later produce reusable notes.
dashboard	A navigation or review page powered by links and queries.

Principles

1. Write in your own words.
2. Use folders as trays, not as the main architecture.
3. Use links as living tags.
4. Create specific notes when an idea deserves its own place.
5. Keep metadata useful, not exhaustive.
6. Review the system weekly.
7. Do not publish your personal vault.

Optional AI Project Memory

If you use ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex, or other AI assistants with your notes, the goal is not to paste more vault content. The goal is to make the useful context easier to find.

This starter now includes an optional project-memory module for:

• short project context briefs;
• decision logs;
• action logs;
• failed-attempt notes;
• metadata that helps retrieval without turning every note into a form.

Use it only for projects that span multiple sessions or where you keep re-explaining the same context to an assistant.

Documentation

• Philosophy: the reasoning behind the system.
• Setup: how to create the vault structure.
• Workflow: capture, process, connect, review, and evolve.
• Metadata Model: the recommended properties and when to use them.
• Dataview Examples: practical queries for dashboards and reviews.
• AI-Friendly Project Memory: optional project notes for better AI handoffs and less context waste.
• Privacy Checklist: what to review before publishing anything from a vault.
• References: official docs and conceptual background.

Repository Contents

templates/   Clean reusable Obsidian templates
examples/    Example Home dashboard, Areas MOC, and AI-friendly project memory
docs/        Setup, workflow, metadata, AI context, Dataview, privacy, and references

Recommended Plugins

The system works with Obsidian core features, but these plugins make it stronger:

• Dataview: dynamic tables and task queries.
• Tasks: task review across notes.
• Templates or Templater: quick note creation.
• Obsidian Git: versioning and backup for private vaults.

Do not install every plugin you see. Every plugin should solve a real workflow problem.

Quick Start

1. Copy the files from templates/ into your Obsidian templates folder.
2. Create the four folders shown above.
3. Create an Areas MOC and a Home dashboard using the examples in examples/.
4. Start every new capture in 0-Inbox unless it already has a clear place.
5. During weekly review, delete, connect, or promote inbox notes into 2-Notes.

Languages

Available documentation:

• Español
• English
• Italiano

Privacy Warning

Never publish your real vault without reviewing it first. Personal notes often contain names, emotions, locations, private links, and context that should not be public.

Use this repository as a public template, not as a mirror of your private knowledge base.