Getting Started
Install Claude Code and the braynee plugin, then let /braynee:setup detect, install, and scaffold the rest.
braynee is a Claude Code plugin. You install two things by hand — Claude Code and the plugin — and the setup wizard handles the required toolchain and the vault from there. This is the fuller walkthrough; for the bare commands see the Quickstart.
Prerequisite
Claude Code, plus the braynee plugin (installed below). That's what you bring.
Everything else — git, Node, Python, beads, the bundled QMD, and Obsidian
with its six plugins — is required, but /braynee:setup gets it in place
for you. It's honest about how: it detects what's missing, shows you the
exact install commands, and asks before running them. See
The tools braynee orchestrates for what each one is and why
bundling isn't possible for all of them.
1. Install the plugin
braynee ships from the hamchowderr/braynee
marketplace. From inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add hamchowderr/braynee
/plugin install braynee@braynee(The marketplace and the plugin are both named braynee, so the install is
braynee@braynee — plugin@marketplace, not owner/repo.)
Restart Claude Code (or run /reload-plugins) so the hooks register.
2. Run setup
/braynee:setupThe wizard walks through, in order:
- Detects your environment — OS, existing vault, installed tools.
- Checks the required toolchain (git, Node, Python 3, beads). For anything missing it shows one consolidated prompt with the per-OS install commands and asks: Install them now? — Yes / I'll do it myself / Skip. On Yes it runs them and re-checks.
- Confirms QMD — bundled in the plugin, so it just verifies it responds.
- Scaffolds the PARA vault (
1. Projects/,2. Areas/,3. Resources/,4. Archives/) and seeds a starter knowledge base. - Installs the six Obsidian plugins into your vault (Dataview, Tasks, Templater, Calendar, Obsidian Git, Excalidraw).
- Writes Claude Code settings it owns (see Architecture → Settings braynee manages).
- Initializes Git, beads, and the QMD index for the vault.
See the /braynee:setup reference for the full detail.
You can decline the tool installs ("I'll do it myself") and run them later — but braynee genuinely needs the toolchain to function. The only things that are truly optional are the email/calendar integrations.
What happens next
Once installed, braynee works without you invoking anything. This is the Engine pillar: its hooks fire on every session start, prompt, tool call, and session end, and it manages the Claude Code settings it owns.
The Second Brain pillar is live too — your PARA vault is the memory, and the right slice of it gets pulled into each session. The skills are there when you want to drive the vault directly. Read The Workflow to see how a real session flows.