One memory. Every agent.

A markdown folder your agents read at the start and write at the end.

git clone https://github.com/ionianlabs/brain.git GitHub ↗
PROJECTS · HARBOR-BAKERY-ORDERING.MD
---
updated: 2026-11-02
focus: Test emails, then payment decision
---
## Now
- The order form is live on staging with pickup slots.
- Allergen labels show on every menu item.
- Next-day orders close at 14:00.
## Open
- [ ] Send a test order confirmation through staging (owner: Theo, due: 2026-11-04)
- [ ] Decide whether to take card payments at pickup
Handover doneindex.md updated · 0 errors, 0 warnings

What a brain is made of.

Your agents on top, one folder of plain files below. Made for juggling clients, jobs and side projects with several agents.

Every part does one of three jobs · hover one to see its parts

Read.

At the start, the agent catches up.

  • skills/briefWhat needs you today
  • AGENTS.mdThe rulebook, read first
  • index.mdThe map of everything
  • projects/The state of one project
  • knowledge/Reference notes

Write.

At the end, it writes it down.

  • skills/handoverOne word, all the bookkeeping
  • logs/History, append-only
  • inbox/Captures for later
  • brain indexKeeps the map current

Guard.

Always, it keeps things apart.

  • org:Clients never mix
  • .confidential/Sealed, agents stay out
  • brain lintCatches cross-org links
  • On your machineNothing leaves unless you push

A day with Brain.

Two words carry it: “brief” in the morning, “handover” at the end.

  1. 08:30Claude Code

    Say “brief”.

    It reads the rulebook, the index and your projects, then tells you what needs you today.

    1 overdue4 due this week1 blocked
    skills/briefAGENTS.mdindex.md
  2. 10:00Claude Code

    Work. Explain nothing.

    In the Harbor Bakery repo it reads that one project file, so it already knows the plan.

    projects/org: client-a
  3. 16:50Claude Code

    Say “handover”.

    The state file describes the present again, and the history moves to the log.

    - [ ] Confirm the cutoff time
    + Next-day orders close at 14:00.
    skills/handoverlogs/brain lint
  4. 17:20Copilot

    Switch client and agent.

    In the library repo, Copilot reads only that project. Nothing from the bakery comes along.

    org: client-b
AGENTS.mdRulebook

Every agent reads it first: read at the start, write at the end. Claude Code and Copilot get a one-line pointer to it.

index.mdMap

Every project and note on one page. brain index writes it, so it never goes stale.

projects/One file per project

A short state file per project: Now, Open, People, Links. The present only.

harbor-bakery-ordering.mdclient-a

A client project. Nothing in it links to another client.

tidewater-library-relaunch.mdclient-b

A second client, behind its own wall.

logs/History

Append-only, newest first. Done items and decisions move here at every handover.

inbox/Captures

Quick captures from anywhere, even your phone. Sorted at the next session.

knowledge/Reference

Durable notes any project can link to.

skills/brief · handover

“brief” tells you what needs you today. “handover” does the bookkeeping at the end.

.confidential/Sealed

Agents never read, search or link it unless you point them at one note. Gitignored.

This is the whole product.

One folder of plain markdown. Each project gets one short state file and a log for its history. Open any part to see what it does.

The format borrows from Google’s Open Knowledge Format, so any OKF tool can read a brain. It opens in Obsidian, VS Code or a browser.

Clone it. Ask your agent.

You need git and Node 20 or newer.

  1. 1Clone the repo. github.com/ionianlabs/brain ↗
  2. 2Open your agent in the folder and ask “How do I get started?” It reads the README and walks you through the rest.
By hand
  1. 1Clone the repo.
  2. 2Link the CLI with npm link.
  3. 3Create ~/brain with brain init.
  4. 4For Claude Code, add --link-skills.
  5. 5Open your agent in ~/brain and say “brief”.
git clone https://github.com/ionianlabs/brain.git
cd brain
npm link
brain init --example --link-skills
brain lint ~/brain
TERMINAL
# clone it
git clone https://github.com/ionianlabs/brain.git
cd brain
# open your agent here and ask
› How do I get started?
Questions

Good to know.

Is it finished?

It is v0.1 and live, and I use it every day. Expect changes to the format before 1.0.

Does anything leave my machine?

Not by default. The CLI never talks to a model, and nothing syncs unless you add a git remote. Your agent still sends what it reads to its own model.

Which agents does it work with?

Claude Code through skills, GitHub Copilot through prompt files, and any agent you point at AGENTS.md.

Can other tools read it?

Yes. It is plain markdown and a valid Open Knowledge Format v0.2 bundle.

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