Obsidian Canvas Boards
AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian
Creates, inspects and updates Obsidian JSON Canvas boards in a vault, with text, file, link, group and edge nodes, using safe recoverable edits.
Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern.
Install Second Brain
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brain --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .claude/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .claude/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brainType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brain --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .agents/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .agents/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brain --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .cursor/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .cursor/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git --path skills/second-brain--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brain --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .gemini/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .gemini/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brainInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .github/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .github/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install NicholasSpisak/second-brain second-brain --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/second-brain .opencode/skills/second-brain && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "second-brain" agent skill from https://github.com/NicholasSpisak/second-brain/tree/main/skills/second-brain into .opencode/skills/second-brain/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "second-brain", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
second-brain- GitHub stars
- 737
- Token cost
- ~1.5k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 718 words
- Files
- 8 (incl. scripts, references)
- Skills in repo
- 4
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- None found
At a glance
Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern.
- Works in 10 steps: Vault Name → Vault Location → Domain / Topic → …
- The user wants to create a second brain
- SKILL.md covers Wizard Flow, Post-Wizard: Scaffold the Vault, Reference Files and Next Steps
- Runs Shell scripts from its folder; calls npm and bash
What it does
Second Brain is an agent skill from NicholasSpisak/second-brain. Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern. Use when the user wants to create a second brain, initialize a vault, set up a personal knowledge base, or says "onboard". Guides through an interactive wizard to configure vault name, location, domain, agent support, and tooling.
Its SKILL.md is about 1.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 10 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `references/agent-configs/claude-code.md`, `references/agent-configs/codex.md` and `references/agent-configs/cursor.md`).
It sits in Knowledge Management, covering Second brain. It works with Obsidian. The repository describes itself as: LLM-maintained personal knowledge base for Obsidian. Based on Andrej Karpathy's LLM Wiki pattern.
When your agent uses it
- The user wants to create a second brain
- Initialize a vault
- Set up a personal knowledge base
Example prompts
- “onboard”
- “/second-brain”
Requirements
- Node.js
- A Bash shell
- Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Bash, Read, Write, Glob, Grep
Workflow steps
10 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
- Vault Name
- Vault Location
- Domain / Topic
- Agent Config
- Optional CLI Tools
- Create directory structure
- Generate agent config file(s)
- Update wiki/log.md
- Install CLI tools (if selected)
- Print summary
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 3e429c7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:
BashReadWriteGlobGrep
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Shell), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
npmbash
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):
chromewebstore.google.com
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Second Brain loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.8k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 77 tokens; SKILL.md has 718 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check: notes
The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.
- NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write, Glob, Grep
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.
SKILL.md
Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 718 words (~1,485 tokens).
“Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base using the LLM Wiki pattern. The LLM acts as librarian — reading raw sources, compiling them into a structured interlinked wiki, and maintaining it over time.”
- name
- second-brain
- allowed-tools
- Bash, Read, Write, Glob, Grep
Files
SKILL.md and 7 other files (scripts, references) in skills/second-brain of NicholasSpisak/second-brain.
- SKILL.md
- references/agent-configs/claude-code.md
- references/agent-configs/codex.md
- references/agent-configs/cursor.md
- references/agent-configs/gemini.md
- references/tooling.md
- references/wiki-schema.md
- scripts/onboarding.sh
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 3e429c7
Compare with similar skills
Second Brain next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Brain this skillNicholasSpisak/second-brain | 737 | — | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Notes | None | |
| Obsidian Canvas BoardsAgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian | 15k | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Cascading Goal Trackerballred/obsidian-claude-pkm | 1.9k | — | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Karpathy WikiSherwinQ/karpathy-wiki | 114 | — | ~967 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Subscription Videos MetadataEfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest | 178 | — | ~7.1k | Automated safety check: Notes | MIT | |
| Obsidian Bases EditorAgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian | 15k | — | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
Similar skills
Cascading Goal Tracker
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Tracks three-year, yearly, monthly, and weekly goals in linked Markdown files, calculating completion percentages and flagging stalled goals.
Karpathy Wiki
SherwinQ/karpathy-wiki
A skill your agent uses when building or maintaining a personal knowledge base with LLM assistance.
Subscription Videos Metadata
EfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest
Pull metadata from YouTube subscription videos into a second-brain vault as a real cross-linked knowledge graph — not just a flat archive.
Obsidian Bases Editor
AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian
Explains, drafts and validates Obsidian Bases .base files, building filters, formulas and table, card or list views, and applying edits only through one inspected transaction.
My LLM Wiki
MartinLwx/dotfiles
Provides access to the user's personal wiki, including notes, research, project documentation, decisions, and archived knowledge.
More from NicholasSpisak/second-brain
Second Brain Lint
NicholasSpisak/second-brain
Health-check the wiki for contradictions, orphan pages, stale claims, and missing cross-references.
Second Brain Query
NicholasSpisak/second-brain
Answer questions against the knowledge base wiki. An agent skill from NicholasSpisak/second-brain.
Second Brain Ingest
NicholasSpisak/second-brain
Process raw source documents into wiki pages. An agent skill from NicholasSpisak/second-brain.
Related
Works with
Categories
Questions about Second Brain
What does Second Brain do?
Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern. Second Brain is an agent skill from NicholasSpisak/second-brain. Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern.
When should I use Second Brain?
Second Brain fits situations like: the user wants to create a second brain; initialize a vault; set up a personal knowledge base.
How do I install Second Brain in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/second-brain in NicholasSpisak/second-brain) into .claude/skills/second-brain in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Second Brain in Codex?
Run `npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/second-brain in NicholasSpisak/second-brain) into .agents/skills/second-brain in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Second Brain in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add NicholasSpisak/second-brain --skill second-brain -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/second-brain, .gemini/skills/second-brain, .github/skills/second-brain and .opencode/skills/second-brain in your project.
What does Second Brain need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Second Brain needs a shell for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (npm and bash). Our summary lists: Node.js; A Bash shell. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Bash, Read, Write, Glob, Grep.
Does Second Brain access the network?
SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: chromewebstore.google.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Second Brain safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.
What licence does Second Brain use?
No licence was found for Second Brain or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.
How many tokens does Second Brain use?
About 1.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 3.3k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Second Brain?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Second Brain: Obsidian Canvas Boards (AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian, 15k stars), Cascading Goal Tracker (ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm, 1.9k stars), Karpathy Wiki (SherwinQ/karpathy-wiki, 114 stars) and Subscription Videos Metadata (EfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest, 178 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Second Brain?
NicholasSpisak (a GitHub user) maintains it in NicholasSpisak/second-brain, which has 737 GitHub stars. The repository holds 4 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on April 7, 2026.
Source: NicholasSpisak/second-brain on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.