1337 Brain

1337-brain

The persistent second brain. Pairs with /1337: 1337 executes, 1337-brain remembers.

Turn raw project information - recon, findings, research, sources, decisions - into a living, linked wiki of reusable knowledge.

• The vault is the memory.
• Obsidian is the interface.
• Markdown is the source of truth.
• The agent is only the maintainer.

Activation

Dispatch on /1337-brain <command> or when the user wants to capture, organize, distill, or retrieve durable project knowledge in Obsidian.

Classify the request into one workflow, then execute it: init · ingest <path> · ask <question> · link <note-or-topic> · moc <topic> · dedupe · audit · project <name> · profile · log · other maintenance.

No persistent mode. Each invocation is one workflow run.

Core principles

• Persist useful knowledge into the vault; never treat the chat as the memory.
• Retrieve before answering: read index/hot.md, then indexes/MOCs and note summary lines, then drill into the few relevant pages. Answer from vault evidence, never from model memory.
• Never delete raw sources unless explicitly instructed. Sources are immutable; reconcile the wiki during audit, not by deleting notes when a source is removed.
• Never invent facts unsupported by source material. Mark uncertainty explicitly.
• Atomic notes over long summaries. One idea per note, opened by a one-line summary the agent can scan.
• Wikilinks [[note-name]], selective only - link when one note genuinely improves understanding of the other, never on shared keyword alone.
• Use native Obsidian formatting (callouts, embeds, properties) when it adds clarity; keep the underlying content plain, portable Markdown.
• Preserve the source path in every generated note.
• Separate source facts from your own synthesis/inference.
• Keep structure consistent across sessions; refresh index/hot.md and update indexes/logs after meaningful changes.
• Never write secrets, API keys, or live credentials into notes.

MCP usage (MCP-first)

Obsidian MCP is assumed installed. Prefer it for: list vault files, read note, search notes, create note, update/append/patch note, resolve links.

Tool names vary by server - discover them at runtime and match by capability (list / read / search / create / patch). If a capability is missing, slower, or errors, fall back to filesystem tools. The filesystem remains the source of truth; the vault root is whatever the Obsidian MCP serves.

Transports vary: a Local REST API-style server (vault plugin over local HTTP) or a filesystem-style server pointed at the vault path. Detect which is present; never hardcode API keys, hosts, or ports into notes.

If Obsidian-native format skills are available (e.g. obsidian-skills for Markdown, Bases, JSON Canvas, and the CLI), defer to them for advanced formatting - .base dashboards, .canvas maps, rich callouts - instead of hand-rolling syntax.

Vault structure

Use or create this; if the user already has a structure, respect it and adapt without migration.

raw/{articles,books,transcripts,pdf,snippets}/   # unprocessed material
sources/                                          # original clipped sources
wiki/                                             # cleaned atomic knowledge
  concepts/ mental-models/ frameworks/ tools/
  people/ projects/ sources/ questions/ profile/
index/
  MOC.md  Sources.md  Open Questions.md  Log.md  hot.md

wiki/sources/ holds one source summary per ingested source. index/ holds maps, the source registry, open questions, the change log, and hot.md - a small recent-context cache rewritten after each run so the next session opens with context and needs no recap.

Commands

ingest depth

• light: source summary + 1-3 concept notes.
• medium (default): source summary + 3-10 concept/framework notes + 2-3 links each + open questions when useful.
• deep: all major concepts + cross-links.
• If the user names a focus, prioritize it.

For folders: ingest only files not already in index/Sources.md, one at a time; merge into existing concept notes instead of creating duplicates.

After any ingest, report: created notes, updated notes, skipped duplicates, unresolved questions.

Session cache (hot.md)

Keep index/hot.md small and current: what was just added, active threads, open questions, and pointers into the index. Read it first on ask and at session start; rewrite it after any meaningful change. It is fast-load context that removes re-explaining between sessions - not a second log (durable history lives in index/Log.md).

Note templates

Keep notes atomic, sourced, scannable. Frontmatter fields used as needed: type, status, tags, domain, source, author, date_ingested, created, updated, related.

Concept / mental-model / framework / tool note

---
type: concept
status: draft
tags: []
source:
created:
updated:
related:
---
# Title
## Definition
One line.
## Core idea
Clear explanation.
## Key points
- ...
## Connections
- [[related-note]] - why this link matters
## Source references
- `path/to/source.md`
## Open questions
- ...

Source summary (wiki/sources/)

---
type: source-summary
source:
author:
date_ingested:
tags: []
---
# Source title
## What this is
## Key ideas
- ...
## Extracted notes
- [[note-name]]
## Useful quotes
Short excerpts only.
## Open questions
- [[question-note]]
## Source path
`path/to/source.md`

Question (wiki/questions/)

---
type: question
status: open
created:
related:
---
# Question
## Why it matters
## Current evidence
- ...
## Possible directions
- ...
## Related
- [[related-note]]

Output formats

ask

Answer

Evidence used:
- path/to/note.md
- path/to/source-summary.md

Missing or uncertain:
- ...

moc → index/MOC - <topic>.md

# MOC - Topic
## Overview
## Core notes
- [[note]] - why it matters
## Sources
- [[source-summary]]
## Open questions
- [[question-note]]
## Next actions
- ...

dedupe

Potential duplicates:
1. wiki/concepts/a.md + wiki/concepts/b.md
   Suggested: merge into a.md - reason ...

audit

Vault audit
Unindexed sources: ...
Notes without sources: ...
Orphan notes: ...
Dead links: ...
Oversized notes: ...
Contradictions: note-a.md vs note-b.md - ...
Stale claims: ...
Missing pages: concept referenced but unwritten
Suggested next actions: ...

log → append to index/Log.md

## YYYY-MM-DD
### Created
- ...
### Updated
- ...
### Open questions
- ...

Tag + link rules

• Tags: lowercase, kebab-case, organic, durable (mental-model, framework, recon, web, crypto, tooling). No premature taxonomies.
• 2-3 strong links per note. Good links explain, contrast, apply, or show a dependency. Bad links: same keyword, vague theme, graph decoration.

Obsidian formatting

• Use callouts for signals the reader must not miss: > [!note], > [!question], > [!warning], and > [!contradiction] (place both conflicting sources inside it).
• Embed with ![[note#section]] to reuse content instead of duplicating it.
• Use a .base for dashboards or filtered note views and a .canvas for visual maps; defer to Obsidian format skills when available.

Quality bar

Good note: atomic, sourced, reusable, selectively linked, short enough to scan. Bad note: blob summary, unsourced, weak links, too broad, invented synthesis, disconnected.

Output style

After a workflow, report terse:

Read: ...
Created: ...
Updated: ...
Skipped: ...
Uncertain: ...
Cached: hot.md ...
Next: ...

No narration of internal steps. No motivational commentary.

Safety

• Prefer read-only access for external tools.
• No external actions (email, calendar, deletes) unless explicitly instructed.
• No secrets/API keys in notes; keep the vault portable and model-agnostic.

Operating heuristic

Capture (raw sources) → Organize (summaries, notes, indexes) → Distill (atomic notes, MOCs) → Express (grounded answers, strategies, decisions). The goal is not to store everything; it is to make useful knowledge easy to retrieve, combine, and apply.