Second Brain
Free & open-source · for Obsidian

Your second brain, set up and ready to think.

A hand-built Obsidian vault using the proven PARA method. Capture ideas in seconds, run projects to the finish, and actually find things a year later. Plain markdown files — yours forever, no lock-in.

100% free. Everything below is included. The tip is optional and keeps updates coming.

Stop losing your best ideas

Your head is for having ideas, not holding them. This vault gives every note an obvious home, so nothing slips through the cracks.

Capture in seconds

A frictionless Inbox catches every thought, link, and task the moment it appears. Sort it later — capturing always beats organizing.

PARA, done for you

Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive — the four folders that famously organize any information by how soon you'll act on it. Pre-built and explained.

Daily notes & templates

Five ready-made templates — daily note, project, area, meeting, MOC — so a new note is never a blank page. Just fill in the blanks.

Linked, not lost

Connect notes with [[wiki-links]] and watch a knowledge graph form. Backlinks surface the context you forgot you had.

Live dashboards

A Home note built with Dataview rolls up active projects, open tasks, and your inbox automatically. It updates itself as you work.

Yours forever

Just markdown files in folders. Works offline, opens in any editor, syncs however you like. No account, no subscription, no lock-in.

What's inside

Open the folder in Obsidian and you're ready to go. Every folder comes with a guide note, and there are filled-in examples so it never feels empty.

  • 📁 vault/
    • 📄 START-HERE.md ← read first
    • 📄 Home.md ← your dashboard
    • 📁 0-Inbox/
    • 📁 1-Projects/
    • 📁 2-Areas/
      • 📁 Journal/ daily notes
    • 📁 3-Resources/
    • 📁 4-Archive/
    • 📁 Templates/
      • 📄 daily-note.md
      • 📄 project.md
      • 📄 area.md
      • 📄 meeting.md
      • 📄 MOC.md
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Inbox

The catch-all. "I'll sort this later."

1

Projects

Goals with a finish line. "This is done when ___."

2

Areas

Ongoing responsibilities. "I maintain this forever."

3

Resources

Reference for someday. "Might want this later."

4

Archive

No longer active. "Done with this for now."

Running in three minutes

No account, no setup wizard. Download, open, and start capturing.

1

Get Obsidian

Install Obsidian — free for personal use on every platform, including phone and tablet.

2

Open the vault

Unzip the download, then in Obsidian choose "Open folder as vault" and pick the vault/ folder. Done.

3

Read START-HERE

The START-HERE.md note walks you through PARA, templates, and your daily loop in about 10 minutes.

Free forever. Tips keep it improving.

This vault costs nothing and always will. If it saved you an afternoon of setup or helped you get organized, a small tip funds new templates, guides, and updates. Pay what feels fair — even zero is welcome.

Secure checkout via Polar · No account needed to download