How do I install the Cortex Mine skill?

Run npx skillmds add majiayu000/cortex-mine in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Cortex Mine safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Cortex Mine?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Cortex Mine free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Cortex Mine?

majiayu000 (@majiayu000) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Cortex Mine by majiayu000 — Agent Skill

Name: Cortex Mine
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: majiayu000

Cortex Mine

Mine Gmail history into a local flat-file knowledge base (~/.cortex/). Use when asked to "run the cortex", "mine emails", "cortex run", "cortex dry run", "set up the cortex", "cortex from DATE", or "mine my inbox". Extracts contacts, clients, communications and knowledge facts into portable JSONL/JSON files. Requires gws CLI and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

majiayu000 c23a441 2 files · 4.2 KB Updated Sep 9, 2026 567 repo stars

File contents

Knowledge Cortex — Mine

Mine your Gmail history into structured flat files — contacts, clients, communications, and key facts — stored in ~/.cortex/. No server required. Files you own.

When invoked

Read {skill_path}/references/file-schema.md for the storage format before any file operations.

Commands

What user says	Action
"run the cortex" / "cortex run"	Run mining pass
"cortex dry run"	Mine without writing — pass `--dry-run`
"cortex from DATE"	Mine from specific date — pass `--from YYYY-MM-DD`
"set up the cortex"	Run first-time setup

Setup (first run)

Check prerequisites:

which gws || echo "MISSING: npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli"
python3 -c "import anthropic" 2>/dev/null || echo "MISSING: pip install anthropic"
ls ~/.cortex/state.json 2>/dev/null || echo "FIRST RUN"

If gws missing: tell user npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli then gws auth setup. If anthropic missing: tell user pip install anthropic (or pip install anthropic --break-system-packages on managed Python). If first run: initialise storage.

mkdir -p ~/.cortex/originals
echo '{}' > ~/.cortex/contacts.json
echo '{}' > ~/.cortex/clients.json
touch ~/.cortex/communications.jsonl ~/.cortex/knowledge.jsonl ~/.cortex/files.jsonl

Write ~/.cortex/state.json:

{"version":"1.0","cursors":{"gmail":null},"last_run":null,"totals":{"contacts":0,"clients":0,"communications":0,"knowledge":0,"files":0},"runs":[]}

Mining

python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py
python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --dry-run
python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --from 2024-01-01
python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --batch-size 25

The script prints a run report on completion. Show it to the user verbatim.

Common errors:

gws: command not found — install gws CLI
AuthError / 403 — run gws auth setup
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not set — set env var or add to ~/.cortex/.env
ModuleNotFoundError: anthropic — pip install anthropic

Scheduling

Claude Code Desktop: Cowork > Scheduled > New Task > Run the cortex-mine skill > Daily
CLI: /loop 24h run the cortex-mine skill
Cron: 0 6 * * * cd ~ && ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... python3 /path/to/cortex-mine.py

Exporting data

See {skill_path}/references/export-adapters.md for patterns to export cortex data to Obsidian, SQLite, Notion, CRM systems, or custom APIs.

Environment

Variable	Default	Purpose
`CORTEX_DIR`	`~/.cortex`	Storage root
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	—	Required for extraction
`CORTEX_BATCH_SIZE`	`50`	Threads per run
`CORTEX_OWNER_EMAIL`	—	Your email — excluded from contacts

References

File schemas: {skill_path}/references/file-schema.md
Pre-filter rules: {skill_path}/references/prefilter-patterns.md
Export patterns: {skill_path}/references/export-adapters.md

---name: cortex-minedescription: Mine Gmail history into a local flat-file knowledge base (~/.cortex/). Use when asked to "run the cortex", "mine emails", "cortex run", "cortex dry run", "set up the cortex", "cortex from DATE", or "mine my inbox". Extracts contacts, clients, communications and knowledge facts into portable JSONL/JSON files. Requires gws CLI and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.--- # Knowledge Cortex — Mine Mine your Gmail history into structured flat files — contacts, clients, communications, and key facts — stored in `~/.cortex/`. No server required. Files you own. ## When invoked Read `{skill_path}/references/file-schema.md` for the storage format before any file operations. ## Commands | What user says | Action | |----------------|--------| | "run the cortex" / "cortex run" | Run mining pass | | "cortex dry run" | Mine without writing — pass `--dry-run` | | "cortex from DATE" | Mine from specific date — pass `--from YYYY-MM-DD` | | "set up the cortex" | Run first-time setup | ## Setup (first run) Check prerequisites: ```bash which gws || echo "MISSING: npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli" python3 -c "import anthropic" 2>/dev/null || echo "MISSING: pip install anthropic" ls ~/.cortex/state.json 2>/dev/null || echo "FIRST RUN" ``` If `gws` missing: tell user `npm install -g @googleworkspace/cli` then `gws auth setup`. If `anthropic` missing: tell user `pip install anthropic` (or `pip install anthropic --break-system-packages` on managed Python). If first run: initialise storage. ```bash mkdir -p ~/.cortex/originals echo '{}' > ~/.cortex/contacts.json echo '{}' > ~/.cortex/clients.json touch ~/.cortex/communications.jsonl ~/.cortex/knowledge.jsonl ~/.cortex/files.jsonl ``` Write `~/.cortex/state.json`: ```json {"version":"1.0","cursors":{"gmail":null},"last_run":null,"totals":{"contacts":0,"clients":0,"communications":0,"knowledge":0,"files":0},"runs":[]} ``` ## Mining ```bash python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --dry-run python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --from 2024-01-01 python3 {skill_path}/scripts/cortex-mine.py --batch-size 25 ``` The script prints a run report on completion. Show it to the user verbatim. **Common errors:** - `gws: command not found` — install gws CLI - `AuthError` / `403` — run `gws auth setup` - `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not set` — set env var or add to `~/.cortex/.env` - `ModuleNotFoundError: anthropic` — `pip install anthropic` ## Scheduling - Claude Code Desktop: Cowork > Scheduled > New Task > `Run the cortex-mine skill` > Daily - CLI: `/loop 24h run the cortex-mine skill` - Cron: `0 6 * * * cd ~ && ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-... python3 /path/to/cortex-mine.py` ## Exporting data See `{skill_path}/references/export-adapters.md` for patterns to export cortex data to Obsidian, SQLite, Notion, CRM systems, or custom APIs. ## Environment | Variable | Default | Purpose | |----------|---------|---------| | `CORTEX_DIR` | `~/.cortex` | Storage root | | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` | — | Required for extraction | | `CORTEX_BATCH_SIZE` | `50` | Threads per run | | `CORTEX_OWNER_EMAIL` | — | Your email — excluded from contacts | ## References - File schemas: `{skill_path}/references/file-schema.md` - Pre-filter rules: `{skill_path}/references/prefilter-patterns.md` - Export patterns: `{skill_path}/references/export-adapters.md`

Frequently asked questions