Digital Cortex — Core
Vision
A personal operating system that reduces friction in capturing ideas, tasks, and information while proactively synthesizing inputs from work tools into actionable daily guidance. Implements PARA for organization and GTD for processing, with Claude as an intelligent layer that prepares briefs, facilitates reviews, and maintains the system.
Core Principles
- •Frictionless capture — any thought enters the system with minimal effort
- •Async processing — captures accumulate; Claude processes them on schedule
- •Proactive synthesis — Claude pulls from external sources and prepares actionable briefs
- •Explicit memory — all configuration, prompts, and preferences are visible and editable
- •Graceful degradation — system works offline and tolerates partial failures
- •Portability — no hardcoded personal data; everything configurable via
9_Meta/config.yaml
Architecture
CAPTURE LAYER (Share Extension, Quick Capture, Voice Memo)
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OBSIDIAN VAULT (0_Inbox → 6_Archive, organized by PARA)
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CLAUDE CODE LAYER (Rituals, Processing, Queries)
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EXTERNAL SOURCES (Gmail, Calendar, Slack, P2, Linear, Reminders)
Vault Structure
| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
0_Inbox/ | Daily notes + unprocessed captures |
1_Fleeting/ | Processed notes without a home yet |
2_Drafts/ | Work-in-progress posts (folders) |
3_Projects/ | Active projects (folders with index) |
4_Areas/ | Ongoing responsibilities (files) |
5_Resources/ | Reference material |
6_Archive/ | Completed/processed items; Daily Notes/YYYY/MM/ |
7_Assets/ | Linked files (images, PDFs, etc.) |
8_People/ | One markdown file per person (PRM) |
9_Meta/ | Config, Prompts, memory, state |
Configuration
On activation, read 9_Meta/config.yaml to understand:
- •User profile: name, email, timezone
- •Enabled sources: which external services are connected
- •Vault settings: daily note format, archive path, stale thresholds
- •Behavior modes: suggestion vs autonomous, retry settings
Resolve {{variables}} in templates using config values and computed dates.
See References/config-schema.md for the full schema,
variable syntax, state tracking, and template format.
Feature Skills
Each feature is a separate dc:* skill. Dispatch to the appropriate one based on context.
| Skill | Feature | Handles |
|---|---|---|
dc:vault-structure | F01 | Vault scaffolding, folder creation, structure validation |
dc:capture | F02 | Share extension, quick capture, voice memo |
dc:daily-note | F03 | Daily note creation, structure, archival |
dc:frontmatter | F04 | Frontmatter schemas for all entity types |
dc:morning-brief | F05 | Morning brief orchestration and source synthesis |
dc:evening-review | F06 | Interactive daily reflection and processing |
dc:weekly-review | F07 | Projects review, fleeting notes, week-ahead planning |
dc:inbox | F08 | On-demand inbox triage with suggestions |
dc:tasks | F09 | Linear + Apple Reminders integration |
dc:sources | F10 | External source connections and sync |
dc:commands | F11 | Command parsing, help, error messages |
dc:errors | F12 | Graceful degradation, offline mode, retry queue |
dc:templates | F13 | Prompt templates and configuration management |
dc:bootstrap | F14 | First-run setup and reconfiguration |
dc:people | F15 | Personal relationship management |
Command Routing
When the user invokes a command (slash, CLI, or natural language), route to the right skill:
Rituals
| Command | Aliases | Natural Language | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|
/brief | /morning, /am | "start my day", "morning brief" | dc:morning-brief |
/review | /evening, /pm | "evening review time" | dc:evening-review |
/weekly | /week | "weekly review" | dc:weekly-review |
/process | /inbox | "let's process the inbox" | dc:inbox |
Capture
| Command | Natural Language | Skill |
|---|---|---|
/capture <text> | (direct capture) | dc:capture |
/task <text> | "create a task to..." | dc:tasks |
/reminder <text> | "remind me to..." | dc:tasks |
/shopping <text> | "I need to buy..." | dc:tasks |
Query
| Command | Natural Language | Skill |
|---|---|---|
/today | "what's on today?" | dc:morning-brief |
/tasks | "show me my tasks" | dc:tasks |
/projects | "what projects are active?" | dc:frontmatter |
/blocked | "what's blocked?" | dc:frontmatter |
/people <name> | "tell me about Jane" | dc:people |
System
| Command | Skill |
|---|---|
/status | dc:errors |
/sync | dc:sources |
/help | dc:commands |
Error Handling
Apply these principles across all operations:
- •Partial success over total failure — if a source fails, continue with what works
- •Transparency — always show what's missing or stale
- •No data loss — queue failed writes in
9_Meta/pending.json, retry automatically - •Local-first — core vault operations work without network
- •Graceful recovery — self-heal when connectivity returns
Source freshness thresholds:
- •< 30 min: fresh
- •30 min – 4 hours: usable, show "synced X ago"
- •> 4 hours: stale, warn prominently
Interaction Modes
Two modes defined in config under behavior:
- •Suggestion (default for briefs): Claude prepares, user approves each item
- •Interactive (default for reviews): Claude guides a step-by-step conversation
Never auto-file, auto-create tasks, or auto-send without explicit user confirmation
unless the user has set autonomous mode for that specific operation.
Implementation Phases
Features are built incrementally. When a feature skill doesn't exist yet, acknowledge it and offer to help with what's available:
- •Foundation: F01 (vault), F14 (bootstrap), F13 (templates)
- •Capture & Processing: F02 (capture), F03 (daily note), F04 (frontmatter), F08 (inbox)
- •Rituals: F05 (morning brief), F06 (evening review), F07 (weekly review)
- •Integration: F10 (sources), F09 (tasks), F15 (people)
- •Polish: F11 (commands), F12 (errors), F14 (bootstrap complete)