claude-lab-notebook

Note-Taking Protocol Plugin for Claude Code

A Claude Code plugin that automates setup and management of a progressive disclosure note-taking system for capturing experimental knowledge.

What This Plugin Does

Adds five skills to Claude Code:

1. /setup-notes - Initialize the note-taking system in your project
2. /create-note - Create properly formatted experiment/decision/troubleshooting notes
3. /create-note-type - Create a new custom note type with its own template
4. /update-index - Maintain your knowledge base index
5. /migrate-notes - Migrate existing notes into the organized structure

Installation

Option 1: Claude Code Marketplace (Recommended)

The easiest way to install is via the Claude Code plugin marketplace:

# Add the marketplace (one-time setup)
/plugin marketplace add mrariden/claude-lab-notebook

# Install the plugin
/plugin install claude-lab-notebook@claude-lab-notebook

That's it! The commands are now available in all your projects.

To update the plugin later:

/plugin marketplace update claude-lab-notebook

For more information on Claude Code marketplaces, see the official documentation.

Option 2: Manual Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mrariden/claude-lab-notebook.git

# The plugin is ready to use from: claude-lab-notebook/plugins/claude-lab-notebook/
# Point your Claude Code settings to this location

# Clone the plugin
git clone https://github.com/mrariden/claude-lab-notebook.git

# Copy to global plugins directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/plugins
cp -r claude-lab-notebook/plugins/claude-lab-notebook ~/.claude/plugins/

Quick Start

1. Install the plugin (choose one method above)

2. Open Claude Code in your project directory

   cd your-project
   claude
   

3. Run setup command

   /setup-notes
   

   This creates:

   • .claude/rules/note-taking-protocol.md - Protocol instructions
   • notes/ - Directory structure with starter files (INDEX.md, quick-reference.md)
   • configs/ - Configuration file storage

4. Start using it

   • Do your work
   • Run /create-note to document findings
   • Run /update-index to maintain organization

Skills

/setup-notes

Initializes the complete note-taking system in your current project.

Flavors:

The setup command supports flavors to customize the system for different domains:

Usage:

You: /setup-notes                      # Prompts for flavor selection
You: /setup-notes ml                   # Uses ML flavor directly
You: /setup-notes software-engineering # Uses SE flavor directly

What it creates (ML flavor):

your-project/
├── .claude/
│   ├── rules/
│   │   └── note-taking-protocol.md    # Protocol Claude follows (auto-loaded)
│   ├── notebook-flavor.txt            # Selected flavor
│   └── templates/                     # Optional: custom templates (override built-in)
├── notes/
│   ├── INDEX.md                       # Master knowledge index
│   ├── quick-reference.md             # Current working state
│   ├── experiments/                   # Training runs, hyperparameter sweeps
│   ├── decisions/                     # Architecture choices
│   ├── troubleshooting/              # CUDA errors, convergence issues
│   └── research/                      # Papers, techniques
└── configs/                           # Configuration files

What it creates (Software Engineering flavor):

your-project/
├── .claude/
│   └── ...                            # Same as above
├── notes/
│   ├── INDEX.md
│   ├── quick-reference.md
│   ├── spikes/                        # Time-boxed explorations, POCs
│   ├── decisions/                     # Architecture decisions
│   ├── troubleshooting/              # Error patterns, debugging guides
│   ├── architecture/                  # System design, component diagrams
│   └── research/                      # Libraries, frameworks
└── configs/

Custom Flavors:

Create your own flavors by adding a markdown file to the plugin's flavors/ directory. See plugins/claude-lab-notebook/skills/setup-notes/flavors/README.md for the format.

Safety:

• Never touches user's CLAUDE.md
• Asks before overwriting existing directories
• Safe to run multiple times

/create-note

Creates a new note using the appropriate template.