research-vault

research-vault

A Claude Code plugin that turns a folder of plain-markdown files into a research-task vault: one file per project, GitHub-style checkbox tasks with Obsidian Tasks-plugin emoji metadata, a daily journal, a six-bucket proposal/project status view, and a two-tier memory of your people, projects, and shorthand.

It mirrors the capabilities of Anthropic's official productivity plugin (/start, /update, /update --comprehensive, memory tiering, MCP-backed external sync, an HTML dashboard) but keeps the per-project markdown shape, the emoji task syntax, the daily journal, and the proposal status groupings — none of which fit the single-TASKS.md model.

Bring your own everything. The plugin ships conventions, not anyone's data. /start creates the vault and interviews you to seed your own people, projects, and memory.

Install

/plugin marketplace add GillySpace27/research-vault-plugin
/plugin install research-vault@research-vault-local

(Or point the marketplace at a local clone: /plugin marketplace add /path/to/research-vault-plugin.)

Then, in any Claude Code session:

/start

On first run, /start asks where the vault should live (default ~/research-vault/), creates the folder, scaffolds the core files, and runs a short interview to seed your roster, projects, and glossary. Nothing leaves your machine.

New to it? GETTING-STARTED.md is the first-hour walkthrough.

Prerequisites

• Claude Code — required.
• Python 3.7+ — only for /dashboard (the HTML board). The vault itself works without it.
• Obsidian (+ the Tasks plugin) — optional; makes dashboard.md a live board and renders the emoji metadata.
• MCP connectors — optional; only power /update --comprehensive.

Vault location

By default the vault lives at ~/research-vault/. To use a fixed location elsewhere, either pass it (/start /path/to/vault) or set an environment variable so /start and /dashboard find it automatically:

export RESEARCH_VAULT_DIR=~/path/to/vault

Commands

Command	What it does
/start	First run: create the vault + interview to seed it. Later: verify files, open today's note.
/update	"Update the vault": reconcile every project file relevant to the recent conversation, advance/close tasks, append to today's daily note.
/update --comprehensive	Plus deep scan: Slack/Gmail/Calendar/Notion/project-tracker for missed tasks, status changes, new people.
/status	Six-bucket proposal/project status report (Untouched → Complete).
/journal	Append a ## Work log line (or fuller entry) to today's daily note.
/triage	Inbox triage: walk inbox.md, decide a route, move surgically.
/capture <text>	Drop a one-line task into the most likely project file (or inbox.md if ambiguous). 10-second rule.
/dashboard	Regenerate the interactive dashboard.html from the vault.

Skills

Loaded automatically when you're working in the vault — they encode the conventions so future sessions don't need to be re-briefed.

Skill	Role
vault-tasks	Task syntax (checkboxes + emoji metadata), capture rules.
vault-projects	Project manifest, when to make a new file, operating principles.
vault-people	Roster decoder for handles like #firstname-lastname. Your roster lives in the vault CLAUDE.md hot cache.
vault-journal	Daily journal location, structure, when/how to update.
vault-update	The "update the vault" multi-step reconciliation flow.
vault-status	Six-bucket status grouping for proposals/projects.
vault-memory	Two-tier memory (vault CLAUDE.md hot cache + memory/ deep storage).

Vault layout created

<vault>/
├── CLAUDE.md            ← hot-cache memory (your people/projects/prefs) + plugin pointer
├── README.md            ← human-readable vault overview
├── dashboard.md         ← Obsidian Tasks queries
├── dashboard.html       ← (optional) interactive board view, via /dashboard
├── projects.md          ← project manifest
├── journaling.md        ← daily journal guidelines
├── inbox.md             ← capture catch-all
├── personal.md          ← non-work
├── proposal-solicitations.md  ← funding calls (read by /status)
├── proposal-ideas.md          ← idea-first proposal capture
├── <project>.md         ← one per project
├── daily_notes/YYYY-MM-DD.md
├── memory/              ← two-tier memory (hot cache lives in CLAUDE.md)
│   ├── glossary.md
│   ├── people/<name>.md
│   ├── projects/<name>.md
│   └── context/
└── _templates/          ← project.md, daily-note.md, glossary.md, dashboard.md, …

The _examples/ folder in the plugin shows the intended shape of a filled-in roster, manifest, and hot cache (using fictional names) — read them for orientation; /start writes your real versions.

MCP connectors