# The Vault Skeleton — a second brain your AI can actually read · @jlee.mov

> Source: <https://gist.github.com/jleesubai-sys/3d9c3edff184a3084802775c3d65e74a>
> Published: 2026-07-04 04:28:27+00:00

The folder structure I use so Claude can navigate my whole business and pull the exact note in one query. Copy it, fill it, keep it fed.

*From @jlee.mov · pairs with CAROUSEL-005.*

Everything is one pipeline. A note moves `00 → 07`

as it goes from raw thought to shipped. **Location tells you (and the AI) the status** — no status field to maintain, no "misc" folder to guess through.

```
my-vault/
├── CLAUDE.md            ← the map (see §2)
├── 00-Inbox/            raw drops, unsorted — clear it weekly
├── 01-Ideas/            captured + shaped, not started
├── 02-Drafts/           in progress
├── 03-Published/        done / shipped
├── 04-Sources/          raw material, assets, references
├── 05-Competitors/      research on other people
├── 06-Hooks/            reusable openers / patterns
├── 07-Analytics/        what actually worked
└── _meta/               ops docs — the owner files (see §2)
```

Rename the folders to your work (a consultant might use `03-Delivered`

, `04-Client-Files`

), but keep two rules:

**Numbered by stage**— the number is the lifecycle position.** Same folders every project**— boring and predictable beats clever. The AI learns the shape once.

**Why it works:** a note in `02-Drafts`

is in progress; in `03-Published`

, it's done. You never tell the AI a note's status — it reads it off the path. The structure carries the state so the notes don't have to.

`CLAUDE.md`

sits at the top and is a **map, not a dump**. It doesn't hold your content — it points to the one doc that owns each question. The AI reads the map first, then opens only the file it needs. Context stays lean; answers stay grounded.

Give every recurring question exactly one owner file in `_meta/`

:

| Question | Owner file |
|---|---|
| What's next? | `_meta/TODO.md` |
| Where did I leave off? | `_meta/STATE.md` |
| What's the strategy / who am I? | `_meta/PROJECT-STATE.md` |

**The rule that keeps it clean:** *one owner per question.* If two files disagree, the owner wins — fix the other on the spot. Two files never quietly contradict each other, so the AI never gets a split answer.

Minimal `CLAUDE.md`

to start:

```
# [Your business] — brief for the AI

This is a map, not the content. Read the owner file, not everything.

## Who
[one line: who you are, what you sell, who for]

## Where things live
- What's next → _meta/TODO.md
- Where we left off → _meta/STATE.md
- Strategy / positioning → _meta/PROJECT-STATE.md
- Folders are numbered by stage: 00-Inbox … 07-Analytics

## Standing rules
- [anything the AI should never get wrong: voice, hard no's, who to never email, etc.]
```

A small `memory/`

folder of **one-fact files**, indexed by a `MEMORY.md`

list. These are the things worth never re-explaining — your pricing rule, a client's quirk, a decision you already made.

```
memory/
├── MEMORY.md                    ← index: one line per fact, links to the file
├── pricing-rules.md             ← one fact
├── client-acme-prefers-email.md ← one fact
└── voice-no-emoji-in-body.md    ← one fact
```

One fact per file keeps them easy to add, correct, and delete. `MEMORY.md`

is the index the AI scans to decide what's relevant.

The structure gets the AI *to the right folder*. Semantic search gets it *to the exact note* — by what the note means, not the words you happened to use.

**Easiest:** point**Claude Code**(or Claude Desktop with a folder connected) at the vault. It reads and navigates the files directly.** Add real semantic search**when the vault gets big: a local embeddings-based note search (e.g.`qmd`

, or an Obsidian semantic-search / smart-connections plugin) indexes the folder so a question like*"how did I price the last client?"*returns the one right note ranked at the top — instead of 40 keyword matches.

Ask a question → it pulls the exact passage → it answers from your real history. That's the difference between a note app and a second brain.

None of this works if you stop feeding it. The setup is an afternoon; **keeping notes in their stage is the actual work.** A dead vault is just a prettier version of forgetting. Ten minutes at the end of each day — move what shipped, clear the inbox — is what makes it compound.

*Built this? Reply to the DM and tell me what folder names you landed on — I read every one.*