Obsidian Second Brain Template: A Free Setup Claude Can Read
Most Obsidian second brain templates are paid bundles built on Dataview and Templater. You need far less: four folders, one note template, the core Templates plugin and a CLAUDE.md file that tells your AI how the notes are organized. Here is the setup, and a free copy to start from.
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A good Obsidian second brain template is four folders (inbox, notes, sources, archive), one note template with a date and a source, the core Templates plugin, and a CLAUDE.md file at the root that tells AI tools how your notes are organized. No community plugins are required. Our free starter kit gives you the files to set it up in 15 minutes.
Free: the Second Brain Starter Kit
Seven plain markdown files to set one up this week, in Obsidian or any editor, with Claude or any AI.
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What is an Obsidian second brain template?
An Obsidian second brain template is a ready-made folder structure and set of note templates you open as a new Obsidian vault. It gives you somewhere to capture, file and find what you learn, so you start with a working system instead of a blank screen. The best ones are small enough to keep using.
The idea comes from the second brain method: get knowledge out of your head into a trusted place, organized by how you will use it. Obsidian is a popular home for it because your notes are plain markdown files on your own disk, which also makes them readable by AI tools.
Most templates on page one of Google are paid bundles with dashboards, Dataview queries and dozens of note types. They look finished on day one. The problem is upkeep: every extra note type and query is one more thing to maintain, and the system goes quiet when you fall behind.
What folders should an Obsidian second brain have?
Four folders are enough: Inbox for anything new, Notes for one-idea notes you have processed, Sources for what you read or watched, and Archive for finished projects. Add a Templates folder for your note template. Keep the structure flat, because deep nesting makes notes harder to find for you and for AI.
If you prefer the PARA method, rename Notes into Projects, Areas and Resources. Either works. What matters is that every new note lands in Inbox first and gets filed in your weekly review, not the moment you capture it.
What should an Obsidian note template include?
A note template needs a title that states the idea, a created date, a source, a few tags and a short body with one idea in your own words. In Obsidian, put it in your Templates folder and insert it with the core Templates plugin, which fills in the date for you. Nothing else is required.
---
created: {{date}}
source:
tags: []
---
# {{title}}
One idea, in your own words.
Why it matters:
Related:
Turn on Templates under Settings, Core plugins, then point its template folder location at Templates. The date and title fill in when you insert it. A title that states the claim ("Short notes retrieve better than long pages") beats a topic label ("Retrieval"), for search and for AI.
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Start with the Second Brain Starter Kit
The capture inbox, note template, source log, weekly checklist, connect-your-AI guide and retrieval self-test, as plain markdown files that work in Obsidian or any editor, with Claude or any AI. Enter your email and the download starts.
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Which Obsidian plugins does a second brain need?
Only core plugins: Templates for new notes, Daily notes for quick capture, Backlinks to see what links to a note, and Search. Community plugins like Dataview and Templater are useful later, but they add syntax your AI tools may not understand and upkeep you may not keep. Start without them and add one when a real need appears.
This is where most paid templates go wrong. A note full of Dataview queries renders nicely inside Obsidian, but an AI tool reading the raw file sees code, not content. Plain frontmatter, headings and wiki links read the same everywhere.
The best second brain apps comparison covers why Obsidian's plain files suit AI better than database apps.
How do you make an Obsidian template that Claude can read?
Add a CLAUDE.md file at the root of the vault. It tells Claude what each folder holds, how notes are named, what the frontmatter fields mean and what to do with the inbox. Claude Code reads it automatically when it opens the folder, so every session starts knowing how your second brain works.
# How this second brain works
- Inbox/: unprocessed captures. Never cite these as settled.
- Notes/: one idea per note, title states the idea.
- Sources/: one note per book, article or video, with the link.
- Archive/: finished projects. Search here last.
- Frontmatter: created (date), source (link or note), tags.
- When I ask a question, answer from Notes/ first and cite the note titles.
Our Claude Code and Obsidian setup guide walks through connecting the two, and the CLAUDE.md guide covers what else belongs in the file. Other tools that read files, such as Cursor or ChatGPT with folder access, can use the same file.
How do you set up the template in Obsidian?
Download the starter kit, unzip it, and open the folder in Obsidian with "Open folder as vault". Create the four folders and a Templates folder, save the note template from this page into it, and turn on the core Templates plugin. Add the CLAUDE.md file at the root. Then capture five real notes before changing anything.
Open as a vault. Obsidian, Open another vault, Open folder as vault, then pick the unzipped kit.
Folders and templates. Create Inbox, Notes, Sources, Archive and Templates. Save the note template above as Templates/note.md. The kit's note-template file explains the format with an example; keep it in Notes as a reference, not in Templates.
Plugins. Turn on Templates, Daily notes and Backlinks. Leave community plugins off.
CLAUDE.md. Copy the example above, or the kit's connect-your-AI guide, into a file at the root.
Use it. Capture five real notes this week. Change the structure only after it has met real use.
Run a 20-minute weekly review: empty the inbox, give each note a clear title and a source, link it to one related note, and archive what is finished. Then ask your AI five questions you already know the answers to. If it gets them wrong, the notes need work, not the tool.
That last check is the one most people skip. Our retrieval test turns it into a ten-minute routine, and the free starter kit includes a version you can run inside Obsidian.
Once the personal version works, the same structure scales to a team. That is the bridge to an internal knowledge base: one source of truth your colleagues and your AI tools both answer from.
For consultants and service providers
Build second brains for clients
Build and Deliver Professional Second Brains is a self-paced course on doing this for other people: scoping the engagement, building a knowledge base from a client's real material, testing retrieval, and handing it over, with a working knowledge base kit to build with. Plain files, no coding, no vector database.
