agentic-lab

Local-first agentic memory lab. A controlled note-capture pipeline built with Claude Code, n8n, and an Obsidian vault.

The repo is the control plane. The vault is the data plane — never committed.

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What It Does

Captures notes (text and PDF) from any source and lands them in an Obsidian inbox with validated frontmatter. n8n handles the webhook intake; Claude Code enforces the capture contract; the vault stores the results locally.

Input (text / PDF)
        │
        ▼
  n8n webhook / PowerShell script
        │
        ▼
  vault/inbox/   ← structured note with YAML frontmatter
        │
        ▼
  Obsidian (local, not committed)

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Prerequisites

Tool	Purpose
Claude Code	Orchestration and capture contract enforcement
n8n	Webhook intake and workflow automation
Docker	Runs n8n locally
Obsidian	Open vault/ as your local vault
PowerShell	Send notes via send_note.ps1

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Setup

# 1. Create the n8n environment file (never committed)
cp n8n/.env.example n8n/.env
# Fill in n8n webhook URL and any other required values

# 2. Start n8n
cd n8n
docker compose up -d

# 3. Test a capture
.\n8n\scripts\send\send_note.ps1 -Title "Test" -Body "Hello" -Tags "test"

# 4. Verify in Obsidian
# Note should appear in vault/inbox/ with valid YAML frontmatter

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Repository Layout

agentic-lab/
├── CLAUDE.md               # Capture contract and safety rules
├── docs/
│   ├── 00_vision.md        # Goals and phase plan
│   └── 02_runbook.md       # Tests, failure cases, security checklist
├── n8n/
│   ├── docker-compose.yml  # n8n container setup
│   ├── .env.example        # Required env vars (copy to .env locally)
│   └── scripts/send/
│       └── send_note.ps1   # Approved capture script
├── vault/                  # Obsidian vault skeleton (content gitignored)
│   ├── inbox/              # All new notes land here
│   ├── notes/
│   ├── projects/
│   └── sources/
└── examples/               # Sample notes and test payloads

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Note Format

Every captured note gets YAML frontmatter:

---
id: <stable-id>
title: ""
source_kind: text|pdf
source_path: ""
ingest_channel: claude_skill|script|webhook
created_at: <ISO-8601>
status: inbox
review_state: pending
tags: []
project: ""
summary: ""
---

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Safety Rules

• vault/** is gitignored — no vault content is ever committed
• n8n/.env is gitignored — no secrets in tracked files
• New notes always land in vault/inbox/ first
• Bulk moves and deletes require explicit confirmation

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Docs

• docs/00_vision.md — Goals and phase plan
• docs/02_runbook.md — Runbook, tests, failure cases