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Option A: Local Setup

Set up a brain directory on your local machine and use Claude Desktop's Cowork feature to work in it.

Prerequisites

  • Claude Desktop app installed

Step 1: Choose a directory

Pick where the brain directory should be created. This is where the agent stores its instructions, scratchpad, inbox, and outputs. For example:

  • ~/brain/ — simple default
  • ~/Documents/agent-brain/ — inside Documents

Tip: The brain directory is also compatible with Obsidian, a free knowledge management app. If you use Obsidian, you can open the brain folder as a vault to browse and edit your instruction files, task outputs, and scratchpad notes with a nice UI. No extra setup required — just open the folder in Obsidian.

Step 2: Install template files

From the root of this repo, run the following (replacing the path if you chose a different directory):

# Set your brain directory
BRAIN_DIR="$HOME/brain"

# Create the directory structure
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/scratchpad"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/INBOX/_processed"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/tasks"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/logs"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/research"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/improvements"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/emails"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/output/news"
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/templates"

# Copy system templates (these get updated on upgrade)
cp templates/CLAUDE.md "$BRAIN_DIR/CLAUDE.md"
cp templates/tasks.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions/tasks.md"
cp templates/default-tasks.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions/default-tasks.md"

# Copy user templates (these are yours to customize — never overwritten)
cp templates/ACTIONS.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ACTIONS.md"
cp templates/personal-tasks.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions/personal-tasks.md"
cp templates/personal.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions/personal.md"
cp templates/style.md "$BRAIN_DIR/ai/instructions/style.md"

# Copy Obsidian document templates
cp templates/obsidian/*.md "$BRAIN_DIR/templates/"

# Copy capability files (optional installable features)
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/templates/capabilities"
cp templates/capabilities/*.md "$BRAIN_DIR/templates/capabilities/"

# Install project-level settings and hooks
mkdir -p "$BRAIN_DIR/.claude/hooks"
cp templates/settings.local.json "$BRAIN_DIR/.claude/settings.local.json"
cp templates/hooks/protect-settings.sh "$BRAIN_DIR/.claude/hooks/protect-settings.sh"
chmod +x "$BRAIN_DIR/.claude/hooks/protect-settings.sh"

# Replace placeholder in CLAUDE.md
sed -i '' 's/{OUTPUT_FOLDER}/output/g' "$BRAIN_DIR/CLAUDE.md"

Note: The sed -i '' syntax is for macOS. On Linux, use sed -i (without the empty quotes).

The personal.md, style.md, and personal-tasks.md files are yours to customize — they are never overwritten on upgrade. The agent will help you fill in personal.md and style.md during your first session.

Step 3: Set up MCP connections

Add the following MCP servers in Claude Desktop's settings (Settings → Connectors → Add):

  • ActingWeb (required): https://ai.actingweb.io/mcp — account is auto-created on first auth
  • Gmail (optional): https://gmail.mcp.claude.com/mcp — Anthropic hosted connector, signs in via Google
  • Google Calendar (optional): https://gcal.mcp.claude.com/mcp — Anthropic hosted connector, signs in via Google

No Google Cloud project or OAuth credentials needed — just add the URL and complete the Google sign-in when prompted.

Step 4: Return to README.md for personalization

Setup is complete. Now return to the Step 3: Personalize the agent section in README.md for the common personalization step — it will guide you through starting a Cowork session in your brain folder and filling in personal.md and style.md.

What's Next

After personalization, your agent is ready to work. Here's a quick reference.

Default Tasks

These run on every scheduled cycle (or when you say "Run the default task cycle now"):

Task What it does Requires
Email Triage Scans inbox, drafts replies, newsletter digest, follow-up tracking, unsubscribe suggestions Gmail MCP
Calendar Preview Shows today's/tomorrow's events, flags conflicts, preps meetings with email cross-reference Google Calendar MCP
Inbox Folder Scan Executes .txt and .md files dropped in INBOX/ —
ActingWeb Task Check Executes tasks queued via the Context Builder ActingWeb MCP
Memory Hygiene Weekly — scans for duplicate or outdated memories ActingWeb MCP
Self-Review Daily — reviews logs, writes improvement proposals ActingWeb MCP
Heartbeat Check Verifies the agent ran recently —
Daily News Report Daily — compiles news from newsletters filtered by your interests Gmail + ActingWeb MCP

Tasks that require an MCP connection you haven't set up are skipped automatically.

ACTIONS.md — Your Dashboard

The agent updates ACTIONS.md every run with action items: meetings to prep for, email drafts to approve, calendar conflicts, news reports, and more. Check off items (or strikethrough) and the agent clears them. Add inline annotations to give the agent follow-up instructions.

Email drafts live in output/emails/ with a status: frontmatter — change status: pending to status: approved and the agent sends on the next run.

Queue Tasks

Inbox folder: Drop a .txt or .md file into INBOX/ — the agent picks it up on its next run.

Context Builder: Create tasks from any device at https://ai.actingweb.io/{actor_id}/app/builder (get your actor_id from how_to_use() in any session with ActingWeb connected).

Recurring Schedule

Cowork supports in-session scheduled tasks. During personalization, the agent will offer to set this up. Scheduled tasks run while your Cowork session is open.

Self-Improvement

The agent reviews its performance daily and writes proposals to output/improvements/. It never auto-modifies its own instructions — it proposes and waits for your approval.

Install Capabilities

Extend the agent with optional features from templates/capabilities/:

Install the agentmail capability.

The AI walks you through configuration and makes all necessary changes. See the Customization Guide for the full list.

Customize

See the Customization Guide for adding tasks, MCP servers, capabilities, and more.