Obsidian AI OS
Setup Guide
A complete AI-powered Second Brain for Obsidian. Clone the repo, open in Obsidian, run one command, choose your vault mode, answer two questions. Your entire vault is built, personalised, and operational in 15 minutes.
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Choose your Second Brain mode
During setup you pick one of two modes. This determines how your Second Brain is structured: the folder layout, context files, and features available. You can switch anytime by re-running /setup.
Solopreneurs / Professionals
Best for solo founders, freelancers, consultants, and creators. Blends professional and personal work.
- Context/me.md: who you are
- Context/strategy.md: vision and goals
- Context/business.md: company context
- Context/brand.md: voice and tone
- Projects/: active work
- Intelligence/meetings/: calls and standups
- Intelligence/decisions/: decision records
- Daily/: session logs
- Resources/: prompts, frameworks, swipe files
- Skills/: your custom skill references
Business / Teams
Best for teams and companies. Includes departments, org structure, stakeholders, and SOPs.
- Context/operator.md: your role and authority
- Context/organization.md: company info and structure
- Context/team.md: team members
- Context/strategy.md: OKRs and department goals
- Context/stakeholders.md: partners, investors, board
- Departments/: department charters and KPIs
- Teams/: team overviews and person profiles
- Intelligence/processes/: SOPs and runbooks
- Intelligence/meetings/: standups, board reviews, all-hands
- Onboarding/: onboarding documentation
Before you start
Claude Pro or Max
For Claude Code
Required
Node.js 18+
To install Claude Code
Required
Git
To clone the vault
Required
TaskNotes plugin
For task management
Recommended
Installation: 4 steps
Install Obsidian
The app where your vault lives. Free, no account needed.
- Go to obsidian.md/download — this page shows all platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux) in one place.
- Find your operating system and click the download button for it.
- Mac: Download the .dmg file. Open it and drag the Obsidian icon to your Applications folder. Open Obsidian from Applications.
- Windows: Download the .exe installer. Run it and follow the prompts — Obsidian opens automatically when done.
- Linux: Download the .AppImage file. In your terminal run
chmod +x Obsidian*.AppImage && ./Obsidian*.AppImage, or install via Flatpak:flatpak install flathub md.obsidian.Obsidian. - You do not need to create a vault or log in yet. Just install and open the app.
Already have Obsidian installed? Skip to Step 2.
Install Claude Code
The AI that powers the entire system.
- You need Node.js 18+ and Git installed first. Download both from their official sites if you don't have them.
- Open your terminal and run the command below.
- When prompted, log in with your Anthropic account. No account yet? Create one at claude.ai.
- Claude Code requires an active Claude Pro or Max subscription (from USD 20/month).
$npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Clone the vault
Downloads the complete Second Brain to your machine.
- The vault is hosted on GitHub at github.com/matheusvizotto/build-with-matt.
- Open your terminal. Navigate to where you want your vault to live — Desktop, Documents, or anywhere you prefer.
- Run the command below. It creates a folder called my-vault. Rename it to anything you like.
$git clone https://github.com/matheusvizotto/build-with-matt.git my-vault
Want a different folder name? Replace my-vault in the command with whatever you prefer.
Open Claude Code inside the vault and run /setup
One command. Claude handles everything from here.
- Mac: open Terminal. Windows: open Command Prompt or PowerShell.
- Navigate into the vault folder and run
claudeto start. - Inside Claude Code, type
/setupand press Enter. - Claude will ask two questions: your vault mode (Professional or Business) and a bit about you and your projects. Answer or skip — both work.
- From here, Claude walks you through opening the vault in Obsidian and installing the TaskNotes plugin. You can also just ask it to do anything else you need.
$cd my-vault$claude
Claude Code must be opened from inside the vault folder. You can re-run /setup at any time to update your context or switch modes.
After setup — your Second Brain is live
Once the vault is set up, everything runs through Claude Code opened from inside your vault folder. Your Second Brain remembers context, manages tasks, processes meetings, and runs 40+ skills. Here is what you can do from day one.
/assistant resumeStart every session
Your daily standup. Claude reads your context, the last 3 daily notes, and your open tasks, then presents a briefing: what was in progress, what is pending, what is due this week. One command to get back into the work.
/assistant saveEnd every session
Compresses the session into your daily note: decisions made, lessons learned, files modified, tasks created, and a raw summary. Runs automatically before the context window closes too.
/assistant morningDaily and weekly reviews
Structured daily and weekly review formats. Reads your notes, tasks, and goals, then produces a review aligned to your vault mode. Solopreneurs get a focus-and-energy format. Business mode gets OKR progress and department status.
paste a transcriptMeeting intelligence
Paste any meeting transcript (or sync from Fireflies) and the system extracts decisions, action items, open questions, and follow-ups. Files the note in the right folder by meeting type. Creates tasks from action items automatically. Works with team standups, client calls, one-on-ones, board reviews, and all-hands.
/assistant tasksTask management
Creates, queries, and updates tasks via the TaskNotes plugin. Say 'create a task for X by Friday' and it creates it. Say 'what are my open tasks?' and it lists them. Tasks are linked back to the projects and meeting notes that created them.
/assistant output styleOutput styles
Switch Claude's writing format for the current session. Built-in styles: conversation (default), YouTube script, meeting summary, SOP, and report. You can also create custom styles. Describe the format once and it saves it to your vault.
/[skill-name]40+ marketing skills
Type any skill name to run it. /linkedin-post, /blog-post, /seo, /email-sequence, /meta-ads, /google-ads, /competitor-intel, /youtube-scripting, /voc-research, and more. The prompt router detects intent from your message and loads the right skill automatically before you even type a slash.
mention an expert50+ expert brains
Say 'use Alex Hormozi's framework for this offer' and the system loads his brain file into context. Same for Justin Welsh, Joanna Wiebe, Perry Marshall, Andrew Foxwell, April Dunford, and 45+ others. Their frameworks, mental models, and how to apply their thinking, all available in every session.
Want to learn all of this with a step-by-step guide?
The guide above gets you installed. The training gives you mastery: real workflows, ready-to-use prompts, and how to use the right agents for every situation. Enrollment coming soon.
How a typical day looks with your Second Brain
Start of day
Resume session
- 1Open Obsidian (optional, to see your vault)
- 2Open terminal inside the vault folder
- 3Run claude
- 4Type /assistant resume
- 5Read the briefing and start working
During the day
Work and capture
- 1Run any /skill for content, SEO, ads, research
- 2Paste meeting transcripts for structured notes
- 3Ask Claude to create tasks, update projects, save decisions
- 4Switch output styles for different content types
- 5Mention any expert to load their framework
End of day
Save session
- 1Type /assistant save
- 2Claude writes the session log to today's daily note
- 3Decisions, lessons, tasks, and files modified are recorded
- 4Next session picks up from exactly here
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to pay for anything?
Obsidian, Git, and the vault are completely free. Claude Code requires a Claude Pro or Max subscription (from USD 20/month). TaskNotes is a free Obsidian community plugin.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You need to be comfortable copy-pasting a few terminal commands. Everything else happens inside Claude Code in plain conversation.
What operating systems are supported?
Mac, Windows, and Linux. The setup is identical on all three. Mac is the most tested environment.
Can I use this alongside an existing Obsidian vault?
Yes. Obsidian supports multiple vaults. Open both and switch between them freely. The AI OS does not affect your existing vault.
What is TaskNotes and do I really need it?
TaskNotes is a free Obsidian community plugin that adds a local task API. The AI uses it to create and query tasks programmatically. Without it, tasks are saved as checkboxes in your notes, still usable but not queryable. It takes 2 minutes to install.
What is Fireflies and how does the sync work?
Fireflies is an AI meeting recorder. If you use it, the AI OS can sync unprocessed transcripts automatically and file them as structured meeting notes in your vault. You need a Fireflies Business plan for the API connection, or you can export transcripts manually from the free plan.
What is the Obsidian CLI and does it need to be installed separately?
The Obsidian CLI is a tool that lets Claude interact directly with a running Obsidian instance, creating notes, appending to daily notes, and searching the vault. It is included in the vault setup. Claude falls back to direct file access when Obsidian is closed.
Can I add my own skills and brains?
Yes. Add skill files to AIOS/skills/ and brain files to 04 Resources/brains/. Update the prompt-router.py to wire them up. The system is fully open and built to be extended. You can also create custom output styles in .claude/output-styles/.
What happens to my data? Is anything sent to the cloud?
Your vault files live entirely on your machine. When you run Claude Code, the content of files you are working on is sent to Anthropic's API to generate responses, the same as using Claude normally. Anthropic's standard privacy policy applies.
Can I re-run /setup if I want to change my mode or update my context?
Yes. Run /setup again from inside Claude Code. You can keep the existing structure and just update the context files with new answers, or do a full reset.
Ready to build your Second Brain?
Everything is free and open source. Follow the 8 steps above and your Second Brain is operational in 15 minutes.