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Obsidian Second Brain: A Simple PARA Setup, Plus AI

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To build a second brain in Obsidian, make four folders for Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives, then capture into them with Daily notes, Templates and the Web Clipper. Give each note a few properties, link related notes, and use a Bases board to track your projects. Once a week, review and tidy; if you want AI on top, the free SystemSculpt plugin can answer questions from your notes and draft from them.

This guide explains what a second brain is, then walks through a setup that uses only Obsidian's built-in features. It includes a folder tree, two templates you can copy, a weekly review routine, and a section on adding AI.

Checked on November 3, 2026 against Obsidian 1.15.0 and Obsidian Help.

What a second brain is

"Second brain" comes from Tiago Forte's book and course, Building a Second Brain. He describes it as "an external, centralized, digital repository for the things you learn" and the sources they came from. The idea is that "our brains are for having ideas, not storing them."

Forte's method has four steps, called CODE:

  • Capture. Save what resonates with you in one central place.
  • Organize. Sort notes by how actionable they are, not by subject. Start from your active projects.
  • Distill. Shrink notes into short, useful summaries. His rule: "add value to a note every time you touch it." Progressive Summarization is one way to do this.
  • Express. Turn what you know into real output, such as a report, a talk or a decision.

For the Organize step, Forte uses PARA, four categories for all your information:

FolderWhat goes in it
ProjectsShort-term efforts with a goal, such as "Launch the new website"
AreasOngoing responsibilities, such as Health, Finances or a team you lead
ResourcesTopics you are interested in or learning about
ArchivesAnything from the other three that is no longer active

Obsidian fits this well. Your vault is a folder of plain Markdown files, so PARA folders are just folders. Links, properties and Bases cover the rest.

Set up your Obsidian second brain

The steps below use core plugins only. Turn each one on under Settings → Core plugins.

1. Make the PARA folders

Create the folders in the file explorer. Numbers keep them in order. An Inbox folder is not part of PARA, but it gives new captures a place to land until your weekly review.

My vault/
├── 0 Inbox/
├── 1 Projects/
│   └── Launch new website.md
├── 2 Areas/
│   └── Health.md
├── 3 Resources/
│   └── How to run a weekly review.md
├── 4 Archives/
├── Daily/
└── Templates/
    ├── Daily.md
    ├── Project.md
    └── Resource.md

Keep the tree shallow. A project can be a single note or a folder of notes. When a project ends, move it to 4 Archives.

2. Turn on Daily notes

The Daily notes core plugin creates a note named after today's date, in YYYY-MM-DD format by default. Open it with Open today's daily note in the ribbon or command palette.

In the Daily notes plugin options, set New file location to Daily and Template file location to Templates/Daily. Use the daily note as your quick capture spot: jot ideas, meeting notes and links during the day, then sort them in your review. Our Obsidian daily note template guide has ready-made daily templates.

3. Turn on Templates

In the Templates plugin options, set Template folder location to Templates. To use a template, run Templates: Insert template or select Insert template in the ribbon. The text goes in at your cursor, and {{title}} and {{date}} become the note's title and today's date.

If the note already has properties, Obsidian merges them with the template's properties. Here are two templates to start with.

Project note (Templates/Project.md):

---
tags:
  - project
status: Planned
area:
due:
created: "{{date}}"
---

## Goal

## Next actions

- [ ] 

## Notes and links

Resource note (Templates/Resource.md):

---
tags:
  - resource
status: new
source:
author:
created: "{{date}}"
---

## Summary

## Key points

## Related

The status property in the resource template drives the Distill step. Change it from new to distilled once you have written the summary. For more starting points, see our 10 free Obsidian templates.

4. Capture the web with Web Clipper

Obsidian Web Clipper is Obsidian's free, open source browser extension. It saves web pages and your highlights to your vault as Markdown. It is available for Chrome and other Chromium browsers, Firefox, Safari (including iPhone and iPad) and Edge.

  1. Install it from your browser's extension store.
  2. On a page worth keeping, select the Obsidian icon in the toolbar.
  3. Set the Folder field to 0 Inbox.
  4. Select Add to Obsidian.

Turn on the highlighter first if you only want certain passages. Web Clipper templates can fill properties such as author, source and published date from the page, and rules can apply a template based on the site.

Properties are stored as YAML at the top of each note. Type --- at the start of a note, run Add file property, or press Cmd/Ctrl+;. Types include Text, List, Number, Checkbox, Date, Date & time and Tags.

Links connect ideas across folders. Type [[ to link a note, [[Note#Heading]] to link a heading, or [[Note#^id]] to link a block. Open the Backlinks tab in the right sidebar to see every note that links to the one you have open. Unlinked mentions shows notes that name it without a link, which is a quick way to find connections you missed.

Obsidian can update internal links when you rename a file. Keep Automatically update internal links on under Settings → Files and links.

6. Build a projects board with Bases

Bases shows notes as a table, cards or a Kanban board, built from their properties.

  1. Right-click 1 Projects in the file explorer and select New base.
  2. Add a filter that keeps notes tagged project.
  3. Select Kanban from the view menu, then group by status.

Each status value becomes a column. Drag a card to another column and Obsidian updates that note's status. New at the bottom of a column creates a note with that column's value. Kanban views need Obsidian 1.14 or later. Our Obsidian Bases guide has a complete project board file you can download.

Open Search with Cmd+Shift+F on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+F on Windows and Linux. A few operators do most of the work:

  • path:"3 Resources" limits results to one folder.
  • tag:#project finds notes with a tag.
  • [status:new] finds notes where a property has a value.

You can also put a search inside a note with a query code block. This one lists every resource you still need to distill:

```query
[status:new]
```

A weekly review routine

The system stays useful only if you tend it. Set aside a short block once a week and work through this list:

  1. Empty the inbox. Move each note in 0 Inbox into Projects, Areas or Resources, or delete it.
  2. Read the week's daily notes. Turn anything worth keeping into its own note, or link it to a project.
  3. Update the projects board. Drag cards to the right column. Add next actions to active projects.
  4. Archive what's done. Move finished projects and old areas into 4 Archives.
  5. Distill one or two resources. Open the [status:new] search, write a short summary, and set status to distilled.
  6. Pick next week's focus. Choose the projects you will move forward.

Put this checklist in a weekly note template so it is waiting for you each week.

Add AI: an AI second brain

An AI second brain is your notes plus an AI that can read them. Instead of searching and rereading, you ask a question and get an answer drawn from what you wrote. It helps most with the Distill and Express steps.

SystemSculpt is a free Obsidian plugin that puts an AI chat in a side pane. On desktop it can run your own installed, signed-in Claude Code or Codex, with no SystemSculpt account or plan. Those services keep their own accounts and usage. Chats and results are saved as Markdown in your vault.

Here is how it maps onto a second brain:

  • Ask questions across your notes. Attach notes with @ and ask, for example: "What did I decide about pricing in these meeting notes?"
  • Distill a long note. Attach a long resource and ask for a summary note with key points and links back to the source.
  • Find related notes by meaning. The Similar Notes panel lists notes related to the one you have open, even when they use different words. See our Obsidian semantic search guide.
  • Draft from your own notes. Attach a project's notes and ask for a first draft of a brief or post built only from them.
  • Turn audio into notes. Record voice notes or meetings in Obsidian and get Markdown transcripts and summaries. See our Obsidian transcription guide.

You stay in control of edits. Pick Ask mode in the run line (Ask before edits with Claude Code) to approve each change before it is written. For more on running Claude Code this way, read Claude Code in Obsidian, or see our Obsidian AI assistant guide.

Some features are hosted. Similar Notes and audio transcription use SystemSculpt's hosted service and credits, even when chat uses your own Claude Code or Codex. To build the search index, SystemSculpt sends the text of the notes you include to its service. Hosted AI chat, on desktop and on your phone, also uses a SystemSculpt account and credits.

Install the free SystemSculpt plugin from Obsidian's community plugins. Eligible new accounts can claim 500 one-time starter credits with no card. Monthly is $9 a month and Yearly is $90 a year, each with a monthly hosted-credit allowance. Compare plans.

What is free

Everything in the setup section is free. Obsidian is free without limits, for personal and work use, with no sign-up. Daily notes, Templates, Bases, Backlinks and Search are core plugins, and Web Clipper is a free extension. Obsidian Sync and Publish are optional paid services. Obsidian itself is not open source; Web Clipper and the SystemSculpt plugin are. The SystemSculpt plugin is MIT-licensed and free, and chat with your own Claude Code or Codex needs no SystemSculpt plan. Hosted chat, Similar Notes and transcription use credits.

Common questions

Is Obsidian good for a second brain? Yes. Notes are plain Markdown files in a folder you own, so PARA maps onto folders. Links, backlinks, properties and Bases help you connect, track and review notes without extra plugins.

What is an AI second brain? It is a notes system with an AI that can read your notes. You can ask questions, summarize long notes, find related ideas and draft from what you have already written. In Obsidian, a plugin such as SystemSculpt adds this in a side pane.

Is Obsidian free? Yes, for personal and work use, with no account needed. A commercial license is optional at $50 per user per year. Sync and Publish are paid add-ons. Obsidian is free but not open source.

Do I need PARA for an Obsidian second brain? No. PARA is one way to organize by actionability, and it suits people who manage many projects. If you care more about linking ideas than tracking projects, try the Zettelkasten method in Obsidian instead. You can also mix the two.

Obsidian or Notion for a second brain? Obsidian stores notes as local Markdown files and is free without limits. Notion is a shared cloud workspace with databases and real-time teamwork. Our Obsidian vs Notion comparison goes through the differences.

Can I use my second brain on my phone? Yes. Obsidian has mobile apps, Bases works on mobile, and Web Clipper runs in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Firefox Mobile. SystemSculpt's hosted chat works on your phone; Claude Code and Codex chat is desktop only.

Will AI change my notes without asking? Not if you choose. In SystemSculpt, pick Ask mode in the run line (Ask before edits with Claude Code) and approve each change before it is written.

Sources

TopicsObsidianKnowledge ManagementObsidian AI

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