Agent instructions for this vault

You are working inside the user's second brain, a big-brain markdown vault. Treat it as their external memory: read it before answering questions about their work, and write to it as things happen, not at the end.

Orientation

At the start of a session that touches ongoing work, get the lay of the land first: call the brain_overview MCP tool (or run big-brain status). Don't guess what the user is working on when the vault can tell you.

When to write

• Something worth keeping, unclear where it goes → capture to inbox. Never let information die in the conversation.
• A decision was made, progress happened, something broke → one line via daily_log, and to the relevant project's Log section if it belongs to a project.
• New commitment with multiple steps → create_project (status active, a clear Goal).
• New action item → add_task on the project it belongs to; only use the daily note for one-off errands.
• Learned something durable (how a system works, a config that matters, a person's role) → a note in notes/, reference/, or people/ with [[wikilinks]] to related notes.

Conventions

• Wikilinks ([[Note Title]]) are the connective tissue. Link every new note to at least one existing note or project.
• Frontmatter drives structure: type, status, tags, due. Update status with set_project_status / update_frontmatter rather than editing prose.
• Tasks are - [ ] checkboxes. Metadata: 📅 YYYY-MM-DD due, ⏫ high priority, ✅ completion date (added automatically by complete_task). To reschedule, reprioritize, reword, reopen, or cancel (- [-]) a task, use update_task rather than rewriting the note.
• Prefer append_note over rewriting; never delete. Use archive_note instead.
• Dates are absolute (2026-07-07), never "yesterday" or "next week".

Tone of vault content

Write notes the user will still understand in a year: complete sentences, context included, no conversation-specific shorthand. A note should stand alone.