Dex Plugin

Dex Plugin

Your AI Chief of Staff as a Claude Code Plugin

This document explains how Dex works as a Claude Code plugin and how to install it.

What This Plugin Provides

Dex is more than a traditional plugin - it's a complete personal operating system that includes:

Skills (60+)

• Daily planning and review workflows
• Meeting intelligence and prep
• Task and project management
• Career development tracking
• Quarterly and weekly planning
• System improvement tools
• Content creation assistants

MCP Servers (9)

• work - Task, priority, and goal management
• calendar - Calendar integration (macOS Calendar.app)
• tasks - Task tracking and completion
• career - Career development and evidence capture
• resume - Resume building and optimization
• onboarding - First-time setup wizard
• beta - Beta feature management
• dex-analytics - Anonymous usage analytics
• dex-improvements - System improvement backlog

Session Hooks

• Automatic context injection (people, companies)
• Daily intelligence updates (meetings, newsletters, YouTube)
• Session startup automation
• Git safety checks

Vault Structure

Dex uses the PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives):

• 00-Inbox/ - Capture zone
• 01-Quarter_Goals/ - Quarterly planning
• 02-Week_Priorities/ - Weekly focus
• 03-Tasks/ - Task backlog
• 04-Projects/ - Active projects
• 05-Areas/ - Ongoing areas (People, Companies, Career)
• 06-Resources/ - Reference material
• 07-Archives/ - Historical data
• System/ - Configuration and learnings

Installation Methods

Method 1: Direct Plugin Installation (Recommended for Claude Code users)

# Install from GitHub
claude plugin install https://github.com/davekilleen/dex

After installation:

1. Navigate to a directory where you want your vault
2. Run the onboarding: /setup (or the skill the plugin provides)
3. Answer the setup questions (name, role, pillars, etc.)
4. The vault structure will be created automatically

Method 2: Clone and Link (For development or customization)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/davekilleen/dex.git
cd dex/dex-core

# Install Python dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Link as a local plugin
claude plugin add . --scope user

Method 3: Marketplace Installation (Coming Soon)

Once Dex is added to a marketplace:

claude plugin install dex@marketplace-name

Post-Installation Setup

1. Python Requirements

Dex MCP servers require Python 3.10+:

# Check Python version
python3 --version

# Install dependencies
pip install anthropic-mcp pyyaml python-dateutil

2. Vault Initialization

The plugin needs to know where your vault is located. This is configured during onboarding via the MCP server, which will:

• Create the folder structure
• Generate configuration files
• Set up your user profile
• Configure MCP server paths

3. Optional Integrations

For full functionality, you can integrate:

• Granola - Meeting recording and transcription
• Gmail API - Newsletter intelligence
• ScreenPipe - Ambient commitment detection (beta)
• Calendar.app (macOS) - Calendar integration

Plugin Architecture

How MCP Servers Work

The plugin's MCP servers use the VAULT_PATH environment variable to find your vault:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "work": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "core.mcp.work_server"],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_PATH": "/path/to/your/vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

During onboarding, Dex automatically configures this path.

How Skills Work

Skills are invoked with /skill-name:

• /daily-plan - Morning planning ritual
• /daily-review - End-of-day review
• /week-plan - Weekly priority setting
• /meeting-prep - Prepare for upcoming meetings
• /project-health - Check project status
• /dex-level-up - Discover unused features

Full list: Run /dex-level-up or check .claude/skills/README.md

How Hooks Work

Session hooks run automatically:

• Startup - Load context, check for updates
• People/Company Context - Inject context when files reference people
• Daily Intelligence - Process YouTube/newsletter/meeting intel

Differences from Traditional Plugins

Most Claude Code plugins provide agents, commands, or skills that augment your workflow.

Dex is different:

• It creates a complete vault structure (folders, files, configuration)
• It manages persistent state (tasks, people, projects, goals)
• It has a learning system that improves over time
• It requires onboarding to tailor the system to your role

Think of Dex as "installing an operating system" rather than "adding a feature".

Customization

After installation, you can customize Dex by:

1. Adding custom skills - Use /create-skill to build your own workflows
2. Editing CLAUDE.md - Add personal instructions in the USER_EXTENSIONS block
3. Configuring pillars - Edit System/pillars.yaml to match your priorities
4. Adjusting settings - Modify System/user-profile.yaml for preferences

Updating

The plugin includes a self-update system:

# Check for updates
/dex-whats-new

# Update Dex
/dex-update

# Rollback if needed
/dex-rollback

Troubleshooting

MCP Servers Not Loading

If MCP servers don't start:

1. Check Python version: python3 --version (need 3.10+)
2. Install dependencies: pip install anthropic-mcp pyyaml python-dateutil
3. Verify vault path in .claude/settings.json

Skills Not Appearing

If skills aren't available:

1. Check plugin is enabled: claude plugin list
2. Enable if disabled: claude plugin enable dex
3. Restart Claude Code

Onboarding Won't Complete

If onboarding gets stuck:

1. Check System/.onboarding/state.json for errors
2. Delete the state file to restart: rm System/.onboarding/state.json
3. Run /setup again

Support

• Documentation: See 06-Resources/Dex_System/Dex_System_Guide.md in your vault
• Issues: Report on GitHub Issues
• Discussions: Join GitHub Discussions

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details