My-Brain-Is-Full-Crew/docs/getting-started.md

Getting Started with My Brain Is Full - Crew

A step-by-step guide for setting up your AI-powered vault. No technical background required.

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What you need before starting

Required

• Obsidian: A free note-taking app. Download it at obsidian.md
• Claude Code: Anthropic's coding assistant. You need a Claude Pro, Max, or Team subscription.
• An Obsidian vault: This is just a folder on your computer where Obsidian stores your notes. If you don't have one yet, Obsidian will create one for you when you first open it.
• Git: A tool to download the project. On Mac, the terminal will prompt you to install it automatically the first time you use it. On Windows, download it from git-scm.com.

Optional (but recommended)

• Gmail account: If you want the Postman agent to process your Gmail inbox (via GWS CLI or MCP)
• Hey.com account: If you use Hey for email (via Hey CLI) — works alongside or instead of Gmail
• Google Calendar: If you want calendar integration

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Step 1: Install Obsidian

1. Go to obsidian.md and download the app for your system (Mac, Windows, or Linux)
2. Open Obsidian
3. If this is your first time, click "Create new vault"
4. Give it a name (e.g., "My Brain", "Second Brain", "Knowledge Base", whatever feels right)
5. Choose where to save it on your computer
6. Remember this location. You'll need it in Step 3

Install recommended plugins

Inside Obsidian:

1. Go to Settings (gear icon, bottom left)
2. Click Community plugins
3. Click Browse
4. Search for and install these plugins:

Essential (install these first):

Plugin	What it does
Templater	Makes templates work with dynamic content (dates, etc.)
Dataview	Lets you query your notes like a database
Calendar	Visual calendar in the sidebar
Tasks	Better task management with due dates and queries

Recommended (install when ready):

Plugin	What it does
QuickAdd	Rapid note capture
Folder Notes	Index notes for folders
Tag Wrangler	Manage and rename tags in bulk
Periodic Notes	Weekly and monthly review notes
Omnisearch	Better search across your vault

Don't worry if this feels like a lot. The Architect agent will remind you about missing plugins during setup.

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Step 2: Install Claude Code

1. Go to claude.ai/code and follow the instructions to install Claude Code
2. You need a Claude Pro, Max, or Team subscription
3. You can use either the Desktop app (Cowork) or the CLI (command-line interface). The Crew works on both

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Step 3: Install the Crew

Open your terminal and navigate to your Obsidian vault folder:

cd /path/to/your-vault

Not sure how to open the terminal? On Mac, press Command + Space, type "Terminal", and press Enter. On Windows, press Windows + R, type "cmd", and press Enter.

Clone the repo inside your vault:

git clone https://github.com/gnekt/My-Brain-Is-Full-Crew.git

Run the installer:

cd My-Brain-Is-Full-Crew
bash scripts/launchme.sh

The script will ask two quick questions:

1. Is this your vault folder? Confirm or enter the correct path
2. Do you use Gmail, Hey.com, or Google Calendar? Choose yes to set up the Postman integration

When it's done, your vault will look like this:

your-vault/
├── .claude/
│   ├── agents/          ← 8 lightweight crew agents
│   ├── skills/          ← 13 specialized skills for complex flows
│   └── references/      ← shared docs the agents read
├── CLAUDE.md            ← project instructions
├── .mcp.json            ← Gmail + Calendar (only if you said yes)
├── My-Brain-Is-Full-Crew/  ← the repo (for future updates)
└── ... your Obsidian notes

Something went wrong? The most common issue is that git isn't installed. On Mac, the terminal will prompt you to install it automatically. On Windows, download it from git-scm.com. If you're stuck, just show this page to a tech-savvy friend. It takes 60 seconds.

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Step 4: Connect your vault

1. Open Claude Code (CLI or Desktop)
2. Open it inside your Obsidian vault folder. This is important: Claude needs to be in your vault to read and write your notes.

If you're using the CLI:

cd /path/to/your-vault
claude

If you're using Claude Code Desktop (Cowork), open the vault folder as your working directory.

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Step 5: Initialize your vault

This is the fun part. Just type:

"Initialize my vault"

The /onboarding skill will kick in and the Architect will start a friendly conversation with you. It will ask:

About you

• What should I call you?
• What's your preferred language?
• What do you do? (student, professional, creative, researcher...)
• What brought you here? (overwhelm, organization, health, productivity...)

About your vault

• Are you new to Obsidian, or migrating from an existing vault?
• Do you want all 8 agents, or just some?
• What areas of your life do you want to manage?

About integrations (optional)

• Do you want email triage? (requires Gmail via GWS/MCP, or Hey.com via Hey CLI)
• Do you want calendar integration? (requires Google Calendar via GWS/MCP)

After the conversation, the Architect creates your entire vault structure, saves your profile, and leaves you a personalized welcome note.

Agent memory (Post-it)

Every agent has a small "post-it" file in Meta/states/ where it jots down notes for its next run. This means agents remember what they did last time: the Sorter knows which files it already triaged, the Scribe remembers what you were brainstorming about, the Architect knows which onboarding step you were on if the conversation was interrupted.

You don't need to manage these files — agents handle them automatically. Each post-it is limited to 30 lines, so they never grow out of control.

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Step 6: Start using it

From now on, you just talk to Claude. Here are some things to try on your first day:

Capture some thoughts

"Save this: I had an idea about reorganizing the team standup. Maybe we should do async updates on Mondays and only meet on Wednesdays"

The Scribe will turn this into a clean note in your inbox.

Dump several things at once

"Quick notes: need to call the dentist, also Marco mentioned a book called Thinking Fast and Slow, and I should review the Q3 budget before Friday"

The Scribe detects multiple items and creates separate notes for each.

Check your email

"Check my email for anything important"

The /email-triage skill scans your inbox (Gmail or Hey.com), saves actionable emails, and gives you a summary.

File everything

"Triage my inbox"

The /inbox-triage skill processes all notes in your inbox and files them to the right places.

Search your brain

"What do I know about the Henderson project?"

The Seeker searches your vault and synthesizes an answer with source citations.

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Step 7: Build daily habits

The Crew works best with simple daily routines:

Morning (2 minutes)

"Check my calendar for today" to see what's ahead "Any messages from the crew?" to check if agents flagged anything

Throughout the day

Just dump thoughts as they come. The Scribe handles the rest.

Evening (5 minutes)

"Triage my inbox" to let the Sorter file everything

Weekly (10 minutes)

"Weekly review" to run the /vault-audit skill for a full vault health check

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Troubleshooting

"The agent doesn't seem to activate"

Make sure Claude Code is open inside your vault folder (not a different directory). Verify agent files exist at .claude/agents/ and skill files at .claude/skills/ in your vault. Try saying the trigger phrase differently. Agents and skills understand natural language in multiple languages.

"Email/Calendar isn't working"

The Postman needs at least one email backend: GWS CLI (gws), Hey CLI (hey), or MCP connectors. For GWS, see docs/gws-setup-guide.md. For Hey, install from github.com/basecamp/hey-cli and run hey auth login. For MCP, run the installer again (bash scripts/launchme.sh) and answer yes to the Gmail/Calendar question, or manually copy .mcp.json from the repo to your vault root.

"My vault structure looks different from the docs"

The Architect customizes the structure based on your onboarding answers.

"How do I update to a new version?"

cd /path/to/your-vault/My-Brain-Is-Full-Crew
git pull
bash scripts/updateme.sh

Only changed files are updated. Your vault notes are never touched.

"An agent did something weird"

Open an issue on GitHub with:

1. What you asked
2. What happened
3. What you expected

"I want to change my profile"

"Update my profile" and the Architect will help you modify your settings

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Next steps

• Examples: See real-world usage scenarios
• Mobile Access: Use the Crew from your phone
• Meet the Agents: Deep-dive into each agent's capabilities
• Contributing: Help make the Crew better

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Remember: the best organizational system is the one you actually use. Start small. Talk to Claude. Let the Crew handle the rest.