CLAUDE.md — Founder OS

Read this file first. This is the instruction layer for all AI agents working with this vault. It tells you how to navigate the second brain, where to find context, and where to save updates.

Who You're Working With

This vault belongs to {{COMPANY_NAME}}. Identify who you're working with at the start of each session and adapt accordingly. Team profiles live in /context/about-founder.md (one file per person) and /teams/.

• Language preference: Communicate in the founder's preferred language. Save all file content as Markdown (.md) in the vault unless explicitly asked otherwise.

What This Vault Is

This is {{COMPANY_NAME}}'s second brain — a persistent, structured knowledge base you should actively read from and write to across all sessions. It eliminates the need to re-explain context in every conversation.

Core principle: Before answering any question or starting any task, check if relevant context exists in this vault. After completing tasks, log key decisions, rules, and updates back to the relevant files.

First run: If the /context/ files are still full of {{PLACEHOLDER}} values, this vault is brand new. Offer to run the brain-setup skill (skills/brain-setup/) — an onboarding interview that fills the context files through conversation — before doing anything else.

Vault Structure & Navigation

/context/ — Always-On Business Context

Read these at the start of any session or when you need foundational understanding.

/daily/ — Session Continuity

Agents log what happened each day/session here. This is what gives you memory between conversations.

• Format: YYYY-MM-DD.md (one file per day, shared across the team)
• At session start: read today's or the most recent daily log to pick up context
• At session end: log key decisions, completed tasks, open threads, and any saved rules
• Per-person tagging (append your section, never overwrite someone else's):

## {{FOUNDER_NAME}}
- [what was worked on]
- [decisions made]

/departments/ — Department-Specific Knowledge

One subfolder per business function with SOPs, working docs, and operational context. content/, product/, sales/, community/, operations/, partnerships/.

/intelligence/ — Accumulated Business Intelligence

Knowledge that builds over time.

• meetings/internal/ and meetings/external/ — meeting notes
• decisions/ — key business decisions logged with context and rationale
• research/ — customer interviews, market insights, trend research
• competitors/ — competitor analysis

/onboarding/ — SOPs for New Team Members

Standard operating procedures. Point new hires here.

/projects/ — Active Project Workspaces

One file or subfolder per project. Each should include: goal, status, next actions, key context.

/resources/ — Reusable Library

templates/, prompts/, frameworks/, tools/.

/skills/ — Reference Files for AI Skills

Shared reference library that AI skills point to. Do not embed context directly inside skill files — save it here and have the skill point to this location. shared/ holds brand/ICP/voice files used by all skills.

/archive/ — Superseded & Retired Content

Content that has been replaced or retired. Preserved for institutional memory.

Agents: never use archive files as current context.

How to Retrieve Context (Read Routing)

How to Update Context (Write Routing)

Truth Hierarchy — Resolving Contradictions

Vaults accumulate contradictions as strategy and thinking evolve. When information conflicts, use this hierarchy to determine current truth:

1. context/          ← canonical truth, always wins
2. projects/         ← current project state
3. departments/      ← active SOPs and department context
4. intelligence/     ← historical record, decisions, meetings
5. daily/            ← session logs, point-in-time snapshots
6. archive/          ← NEVER use as current context

Rules:

• context/ files are the single source of truth for identity, strategy, brand, and ICP.
• When in doubt between two active files, the more recently updated file wins.
• archive/ files describe how things used to be — never apply them as current guidance.
• When a major decision supersedes a previous one, the new file should include: > Supersedes: [path/to/old-file.md]

Agent Rules

1. Always check this vault for context before asking a founder to re-explain something.
2. When a founder says "remember this" or "save this to the second brain", find the right file using the routing tables above and update it immediately.
3. Follow [[wiki links]] in documents — they point to related files with more context.
4. If unsure where something goes, ask once, then add a new routing rule to this file.
5. Date all entries using YYYY-MM-DD format.
6. Keep files concise and scannable — use headers and bullet points.
7. Skills reference files live in /skills/shared/ — never duplicate context across skills, always point back here.

Founder OS — an open-source second-brain template. https://github.com/zenianielsen/founder-os