A vault is a personal knowledge base an agent can actually work: plain markdown in a git repo, structured so filing, finding, and triage are things you can delegate. Every habit gets its own step; this paste bootstraps the whole shape at once, confirming each file before it’s written.
What it sets up (each explained in its own step):
- Plain files in a repo (step 1)
- Lifecycle directories: location is state (step 2)
- An inbox for frictionless capture (step 3)
- A daily log (step 4)
- A CLAUDE.md that teaches the agent the shape (step 5)
The paste
Set up a personal vault for me. Work one step at a time, show me every
file before writing it, and wait for my ok between steps.
1. Create a directory "vault" (ask me where) and git init it. Layout:
inbox/ unprocessed captures
active/ projects with current focus
later/ simmering, not now
archived/ done or dormant (read-only by convention)
log/ daily notes, log/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD.md
Add a .gitignore (OS junk, tmp/) and an initial commit.
2. Conventions, kept minimal: all markdown; kebab-case filenames;
frontmatter only when it earns its place (title, created, tags,
status). A project is a folder with an index.md once it outgrows a
single file.
3. Write CLAUDE.md at the vault root teaching an agent the shape:
what each directory means, the conventions above, and three
working agreements: file into the structure (never invent new
top-level dirs without asking), moves are proposals (show the list
before moving anything), archived/ is read-only.
4. Interview me for three things I'm currently working on, and file
each as active/<slug>/index.md with a title, a one-line goal, and
a next action.
5. Start today's log at log/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD.md with one line:
vault created.If you’d rather go manual
Read step 1 and step 3. A folder of markdown plus a capture habit is already a working vault; the rest layers on.