COG: The Agentic Second Brain That Actually Self-Evolves

# COG: The Agentic Second Brain That Actually Self-Evolves

**COG = Cognition + Obsidian + Git**

A self-evolving second brain powered by AI agents, Obsidian markdown files, and Git version control. Works with **Claude Code**, **Kiro**, **OpenAI agents**, and any AI that reads markdown. No database, no vendor lock-in—just `.md` files that think.

## What is COG?

COG is a personal productivity and knowledge management system that:

- 🧠 **Self-evolves**: Learns your patterns and auto-organizes content
- 🔄 **Self-heals**: Updates cross-references when you reorganize
- 📝 **Plain text**: Just markdown files (no database, no vendor lock-in)
- 📱 **Multi-device**: Syncs via iCloud to iPhone, iPad, Mac
- 🔒 **Privacy-first**: Your data, your files, your control
- 🤖 **Agent-agnostic**: Works with Claude Code, Kiro, OpenAI, and more
- 🎯 **Specialized skills**: Custom AI capabilities for specific workflows
- ✅ **Verification-first**: No AI hallucinations, sources required

## Quick Start

### Prerequisites

- **AI Agent** (choose one or more):
  - [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/download) - Uses `.claude/skills/`
  - [Kiro](https://kiro.dev/) - Uses `.kiro/powers/`
  - Any OpenAI-compatible agent - Uses `agents.md`
- [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) - Recommended for viewing/editing your notes
- Git - Already on your system if you can run the clone command below

### Installation (2 Steps)

1. **Clone this repo to where you want your second brain:**
   ```bash
   git clone https://github.com/huytieu/COG-second-brain.git
   cd COG-second-brain
   ```

2. **Open your AI agent and run onboarding:**
   ```bash
   # Claude Code:
   code .  # Then ask: "Run onboarding"

   # Kiro:
   # Open folder, mention "onboarding" or "setup COG"

   # Other agents:
   # Reference agents.md and ask to run onboarding
   ```

That's it! The onboarding will personalize COG for your needs in 2-3 minutes.

**What just happened?**
- The cloned repo IS your second brain - all files are ready to use
- Skills are defined in multiple formats for agent compatibility:
  - `.claude/skills/` - 6 Claude Code skills
  - `.kiro/powers/` - 6 Kiro powers
  - `agents.md` - Universal agent documentation
- Onboarding will create your personalized directory structure

**Want Obsidian integration?**
- Open Obsidian → "Open folder as vault" → Select the `COG-second-brain` folder
- Now you can view/edit notes in Obsidian while using Claude Code for AI features

### Detailed Setup Guide

See [SETUP.md](SETUP.md) for optional configurations (Git sync, iCloud, etc.).

## What You Get

### 6 Powerful Skills

COG provides specialized AI capabilities that work across different agents. The same skills are available whether you use Claude Code, Kiro, or other AI agents.

**Setup & Personalization:**
- **onboarding** - Personalize COG for your workflow (run this first!)

**Daily Operations:**
- **braindump** - Quick capture of raw thoughts with intelligent domain classification and competitive intelligence extraction
- **daily-brief** - Personalized news intelligence with verified sources (7-day freshness requirement)
- **url-dump** - Quick capture URLs with automatic content extraction, insights, and categorization

**Weekly & Strategic:**
- **weekly-checkin** - Cross-domain pattern analysis and strategic reflection
- **knowledge-consolidation** - Build frameworks from scattered insights across all your notes

**How Skills Work:**

Skills are self-contained AI capabilities that combine orchestration and specialized processing. Unlike the old command/subagent split, each skill now:
- Automatically activates when Claude detects relevant user intent
- Handles the complete workflow from user interaction to file creation
- Contains all necessary instructions, analysis frameworks, and verification protocols
- Uses progressive disclosure to load information only as needed

For example:
- Ask "What's on my mind?" → Claude invokes the **braindump** skill
- Say "Give me my daily brief" → Claude invokes the **daily-brief** skill
- Request "Weekly review" → Claude invokes the **weekly-checkin** skill

This architecture leverages Claude Code's native skill system for better performance and simpler maintenance.

## Key Features

### 1. Self-Evolving Intelligence

COG doesn't just store notes—it actively learns:

- **Pattern recognition**: Identifies recurring themes across your notes
- **Auto-classification**: Categorizes content by domain (personal/professional/projects)
- **Knowledge consolidation**: Synthesizes scattered insights into frameworks
- **Adaptive learning**: Gets better at understanding your thinking patterns

**Weekly Evolution Cycle:**
```
Monday-Friday: Capture thoughts via braindump skill
Friday: Run knowledge-consolidation skill
→ COG analyzes ALL your notes
→ Builds frameworks you didn't explicitly create
→ Updates "single source of truth" files
→ Next week, it knows more about how you think
```

### 2. Self-Healing System

- Rename a file? COG updates all 

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