second-brain-starter

A ready-to-use knowledge base template for Claude Code + Obsidian, based on Karpathy's LLM Wiki architecture.

Quick Start

• Fork/clone this repo
• Open in Claude Code: cd second-brain-starter && claude
• Ingest your first source: `/ingest
• Claude Code will create raw transcript + synthesis + update index

Architecture (Karpathy LLM Wiki)

• Raw (01_library/raw/) — immutable source material. Never edited.
• Wiki (rest of 01_library/) — LLM-generated synthesis. Two page types:
• Source note — 1 source = 1 file (what author X said about topic Y)
• Topic page — 1 topic = compiled knowledge from ALL sources
• Schema (CLAUDE.md + .claude/rules/) — rules for the AI

How Ingest Works

One ingest should touch 5-15 files (not just create one isolated file).

When Topic Pages Are Created

After 3+ source notes on the same topic, create a topic page in topics/ that compiles all knowledge into one document. Reading a topic page = understanding the topic.

Customization

• **Edit CLAUDE.md** — add your communication preferences, project context
• **Edit .claude/rules/** — add domain-specific rules
• **Add .claude/commands/** — create custom skills

Works With

• Claude Code (primary) — terminal AI assistant
• Obsidian (optional) — visual navigation, graph view
• Git — version control for your knowledge

Credits

• Architecture: Andrej Karpathy — LLM Wiki
• Template: @tonyazhuuki