Para Second Brain

PARA Second Brain

Your agent's memory just got a massive upgrade. Full semantic search across your entire knowledge base — not just MEMORY.md.

What's New in v2.0

Before v2.0: memory_search only found content in MEMORY.md and daily logs. Your entire notes/ folder was invisible to search. You had to manually know where to look.

After v2.0: One symlink command makes your entire PARA knowledge base searchable. Ask about anything in your notes — it finds it. Plus session transcripts and memory flush protocol to prevent context loss.

What This Does

Creates a "second brain" structure that separates:

• Raw capture (daily logs) from curated knowledge (MEMORY.md)
• Active work (projects) from ongoing responsibilities (areas)
• Reference material (resources) from completed work (archive)

How This Differs from Other Second Brain Skills

There's another popular second-brain skill powered by Ensue. Both are great — they solve different problems:

Use this skill if: You want file-based memory that works offline, costs nothing, and tracks ongoing work context.

Use Ensue's skill if: You want a cloud-hosted knowledge base optimized for semantic "what do I know about X" queries.

Use both if: You want PARA for work context + Ensue for evergreen knowledge. They complement each other.

Quick Setup

1. Create Directory Structure

workspace/
├── MEMORY.md              # Curated long-term memory
├── memory/
│   └── YYYY-MM-DD.md      # Daily raw logs
└── notes/
    ├── projects/          # Active work with end dates
    ├── areas/             # Ongoing life responsibilities  
    ├── resources/         # Reference material
    │   └── templates/     # Content templates
    └── archive/           # Completed/inactive items

Run this to scaffold:

mkdir -p memory notes/projects notes/areas notes/resources/templates notes/archive

2. Make Notes Searchable (The Symlink Trick)

By default, memory_search only indexes MEMORY.md and memory/*.md. Your entire notes/ folder is invisible to semantic search!

Fix this with one command:

ln -s /path/to/your/workspace/notes /path/to/your/workspace/memory/notes

Example:

ln -s /Users/yourname/clawd/notes /Users/yourname/clawd/memory/notes

What this does: Creates a symbolic link so memory/notes/ points to your actual notes/ folder. Now Clawdbot's memory_search sees all your PARA notes.

Verify it worked:

ls -la memory/notes  # Should show: memory/notes -> /path/to/notes

Test the search: Ask your agent something that's in your notes but NOT in MEMORY.md. If it finds it, the symlink is working.

Why this matters:

3. Enable Session Transcript Indexing

Make your past conversations searchable too. Add this to your Clawdbot config:

"memorySearch": {
  "sources": ["memory", "sessions"],
  "query": {
    "minScore": 0.3,
    "maxResults": 20
  }
}

What this does: Indexes your conversation transcripts alongside your notes. Now when you ask "what did we discuss about X last week?" — it can actually find it.

4. Initialize MEMORY.md

Create MEMORY.md in workspace root - this is your curated long-term memory:

# MEMORY.md — Long-Term Memory

## About [Human's Name]
- Role/occupation
- Key goals and motivations
- Communication preferences
- Important relationships

## Active Context
- Current focus areas
- Ongoing projects (summaries, not details)
- Deadlines or time-sensitive items

## Preferences & Patterns
- Tools and workflows they prefer
- Decision-making style
- Pet peeves and likes

## Lessons Learned
- What worked
- What didn't
- Principles discovered

## Key Dates
- Birthdays, anniversaries
- Recurring events
- Important milestones

5. Add to AGENTS.md

Add these instructions to your AGENTS.md:

## Memory

You wake up fresh each session. These files are your continuity:
- **Daily notes:** `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md` — raw logs of what happened
- **Long-term:** `MEMORY.md` — curated memories (like human long-term memory)
- **Topic notes:** `notes/` — organized by PARA structure (all searchable via memory_search)

### Writing Rules
- If it has future value, write it down NOW
- Don't rely on "mental notes" — they don't survive restarts
- Text > Brain 📝

### PARA Structure
- **Projects** (`notes/projects/`) — Active work with end dates
- **Areas** (`notes/areas/`) — Ongoing responsibilities (health, finances, relationships)
- **Resources** (`notes/resources/`) — Reference material, how-tos, research
- **Archive** (`notes/archive/`) — Completed or inactive items

### Memory Flush Protocol
Monitor your context usage with `session_status`. Before compaction wipes your memory, flush important context to files:

| Context % | Action |
|-----------|--------|
| < 50% | Normal operation |
| 50-70% | Write key points after substantial exchanges |
| 70-85% | Active flushing — write everything important NOW |
| > 85% | Emergency flush — full summary before next response |
| After compaction | Note what context may have been lost |

**The rule:** Act on thresholds, not vibes. If it's important, write it down NOW.

Memory Flush Protocol (Critical!)

Your agent's context window is finite. When it fills up, older context gets compacted or lost. Don't lose important information.

How to Monitor

Run session_status periodically. Look for:

📚 Context: 36k/200k (18%) · 🧹 Compactions: 0

Threshold-Based Actions

What to Flush

1. Decisions made — what was decided and why
2. Action items — who's doing what
3. Open threads — anything unfinished → notes/areas/open-loops.md
4. Working changes — if you discussed changes to files, make them NOW

Memory Flush Checklist

Before a long session ends or context gets high:

• Key decisions documented?
• Action items captured?
• New learnings written to appropriate files?
• Open loops noted for follow-up?
• Could future-me continue this conversation from notes alone?

Knowledge Quality

The core question: "Will future-me thank me for this?"

What to Save

• Concepts you actually understand (not half-learned ideas)
• Tools you've actually used (not just heard about)
• Patterns that worked (with concrete examples)
• Lessons learned from mistakes

What NOT to Save

• Half-understood concepts (learn first, save after)
• Tools you haven't tried yet (bookmarks ≠ knowledge)
• Shallow entries without the WHY
• Duplicates of existing notes

Quality Gates

Before saving any curated note:

1. Written for future self who forgot context?
2. Includes WHY, not just WHAT?
3. Has concrete examples or key insight?
4. Structured for retrieval (scannable)?

Content Templates

Use these for structured, high-quality entries in notes/resources/:

Concept Template

# [CONCEPT NAME]

## What It Is
[One-line definition]

## Why It Matters
[What problem it solves, when you'd need it]

## How It Works
[Explanation with examples]

## Key Insight
[The "aha" moment — what makes this click]

Tool Template

# [TOOL NAME]

**Category:** [devtools | productivity | etc.]

## What It Does
[Brief description]

## Why I Use It
[What problem it solved for YOU]

## When to Reach For It
[Scenarios where this is the right choice]

## Gotchas
- [Things that tripped you up]

Pattern Template

# [PATTERN NAME]

## Problem
[What situation triggers this pattern]

## Solution
[The approach]

## Trade-offs
**Pros:** [Why this works]
**Cons:** [When NOT to use it]

PARA Explained

PARA is a knowledge organization system created by Tiago Forte, author of Building a Second Brain. It organizes everything into four categories based on actionability:

Projects

What: Work with a deadline or end state Examples: "Launch website", "Plan trip to Japan", "Finish client proposal" File as: notes/projects/website-launch.md

Areas

What: Ongoing responsibilities with no end date Examples: Health, finances, relationships, career development File as: notes/areas/health.md, notes/areas/dating.md

Resources

What: Reference material for future use Examples: Research, tutorials, templates, interesting articles File as: notes/resources/tax-guide.md, notes/resources/api-docs.md

Archive

What: Inactive items from the other categories Examples: Completed projects, outdated resources, paused areas Move to: notes/archive/ when done

Daily Log Format

Create memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md for each day:

# YYYY-MM-DD

## Key Events
- [What happened, decisions made]

## Learnings
- [What worked, what didn't]

## Open Threads
- [Carry-forward items]

The Curation Workflow

Daily (5 min)

• Log notable events to memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md
• File topic-specific notes to appropriate notes/ folder

Weekly (15 min)

• Review the week's daily logs
• Extract patterns and learnings to MEMORY.md
• Move completed projects to archive

Monthly (30 min)

• Review MEMORY.md for outdated info
• Consolidate or archive old project notes
• Ensure areas reflect current priorities

Decision Tree: Where Does This Go?

Is it about today specifically?
  → memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md

Is it a task with an end date?
  → notes/projects/

Is it an ongoing responsibility?
  → notes/areas/

Is it reference material for later?
  → notes/resources/

Is it done or no longer relevant?
  → notes/archive/

Is it a distilled lesson or preference?
  → MEMORY.md

Why Two Memory Layers?

Daily logs are your journal. MEMORY.md is your wisdom.

Principles

1. Quality over quantity — Curated notes beat note hoarding
2. Capture fast, curate deliberately — Daily logs are loose; curated notes are high quality
3. Text > brain — If it matters, write it down
4. Future-me test — "Will future-me thank me for this?"
5. One home per item — Don't duplicate; link instead
6. Include the WHY — Facts without context are useless
7. Flush before you lose — Monitor context, write before compaction

Pairs well with memory-setup for technical config and proactive-agent for behavioral patterns.