MemexLab in One Page¶
What it is. A markdown-native second brain that turns reading, thinking, and daily capture into durable, queryable, linkable knowledge — with an LLM-powered engine that helps you compile sources into atomic notes and generate essays, decks, and answers from them.
What makes it different. The filesystem is the database. Plain markdown is the storage. Obsidian is the editor. A Python CLI (memex) is the engine. No cloud. No lock-in. Everything the engine does is deterministic except where an LLM is explicitly invoked, and those calls are dry-run by default, snapshotted before apply, and cite their sources by slug.
• • •
The flow¶
inbox/ → raw/ → wiki/ → projects/ → outputs (_qa, _essays, _slides, _index, _charts) ↑ ↑ ↑ └─────── feedback ───────┴─────────────┘
Capture into inbox/ — fast, unstructured, no decisions. Promote to raw/ during the weekly review — full text, citation metadata. Compile with memex compile — LLM reads raw, proposes atomic notes for wiki/. Link — every wiki note links to at least two others. Promote status: seed → draft → evergreen as notes earn trust. Produce on demand — memex qa, memex export essay, memex export slides. Feed back — every output surfaces gaps; you fill them; the vault compounds.
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The folders¶
<your-vault>/ <your-name>.md persona core — always in LLM context memexlab.md system core — always in LLM context inbox/ fast capture raw/ sources with citation metadata wiki/ atomic canonical notes — your thinking people/ companies/ philosophies/ eras/ ontology entities projects/<slug>/ goal-driven workspaces with end dates archive/ what no longer earns active space templates/ Templater frontmatter _qa/ _index/ _essays/ _slides/ _charts/ _lint/ engine outputs .memex/ snapshots, log, state
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The engine¶
memex doctor config sanity checkmemex migrate bring frontmatter up to schema (dry-run + snapshot + apply)memex rollback inverse of migrate --applymemex compile raw source → atomic notes (LLM)memex lint validate frontmatter, links, stubsmemex qa answer a question with cited sources (LLM)memex index reading order / concept map / problem view (LLM)memex export essay topic → full essay (LLM)memex export slides topic → Marp-compatible deck (LLM)memex chart tag frequency / type distribution / latticework coverage / timeline
Universal contract. Dry-run by default; --apply to write; snapshots before any migration; one JSON event to stderr per invocation; exit 0 on success, 1 on error.
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The schema¶
Three frontmatter types, dispatched by folder:
-
AtomicFrontmatter — wiki and engine outputs. Required:
date,type,status,tags,latticework. -
CuratedFrontmatter — ontology, raw sources, projects. Required:
title,type,created,updated,status,tags,latticework. -
CoreFrontmatter — two root files. Required: same as curated plus whitelisted
typevalues (persona | homepage | manifest).
Atomic type values. article | qa | lint | index | essay | slides | chart. Statuses. seed | draft | evergreen (atomic); seed | draft | active | evergreen (curated). Latticework problems. problem-1 (seeing reality) through problem-5 (playing long games).
Unknown keys are rejected. Broken links are errors. Lint fails the run on any error finding.
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The rhythm¶
Cadence
Effort
What
Daily
automated
scripts/lint_daily.py writes a dated report; fix errors same-day
Weekly
60–90 min
Inbox sweep → raw triage → compile queue → link pass → lint review
Monthly
2–3 hr
Merge duplicates, promote drafts, refresh ontology, coverage charts
Quarterly
4–6 hr
One essay on a major topic; feedback gaps into the vault
Yearly
1 day
Full ontology audit; tag taxonomy review; schema wish list
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The non-negotiables¶
-
Dry-run before
--apply, always. -
Read every compile output before applying.
-
Every atomic note carries provenance:
source:orcited_slugs:. -
Status transitions are manual; no auto-promotion.
-
Links into
archive/from active notes are forbidden. -
API key in shell environment only; never in any file under version control.
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The domains this vault is tuned for¶
Programmable money · stablecoin settlement · AI-native banking · embedded finance · financial infrastructure · regulatory strategy (MiCA, CBDC frameworks, GCC) ·
The two core notes anchor every LLM call in these domains, which is why outputs sound like you, not like a generic PKM assistant.
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The compounding claim¶
Month 1: you have a working capture habit and a handful of atomic notes. Month 3: the vault can answer most questions in your primary domains. Month 6: first-draft outputs from the vault are better than first-draft outputs from scratch. Year 1: the vault is infrastructure for your thinking — a research assistant that never sleeps, never forgets, and never leaves.
The system is boring most days. It compounds.