How To Use Obsidian + Vellum To Build A Second Brain That Thinks 24/7
A chief of staff reads everything you’ve read, remembers everything you’ve forgotten, and briefs you every morning on what matters. Here’s how to build one for $0.
CHIEF Vault Architecture
CHIEF/
├── 00-INBOX/
├── 01-CAPTURES/
│ ├── articles/
│ ├── ideas/
│ ├── patterns/
│ ├── questions/
│ └── numbers/
├── 02-CONNECTIONS/
├── 03-PROJECTS/
└── 04-VELLUM/
├── VELLUM.md
└── workflows/
Critical principle: 01-CAPTURES is organized by note type not topic. When you organize by topic a note about a crypto pattern and a note about a psychological principle never meet. When you organize by type they both land in the patterns folder and Vellum finds the connection between them automatically.
02-CONNECTIONS is where synthesized insights live — new ideas that emerge from the relationship between two or more notes. This is where your best thinking comes from.
Required Tools
- Obsidian — free for personal use, plain markdown, local storage
- Vellum (vellum.ai) — AI reasoning tool, credits at cost, light usage ~$few/month
- Readwise — aggregates all highlights → Obsidian via native plugin
- N8N — open source automation router, self-hostable (free)
The VELLUM.md File (Most Important)
Lives at 04-VELLUM/VELLUM.md. Sections: Identity / This Vault / Vault Structure / Current Projects / What I Want From You / What I Am Reading Right Now.
Hard rule example: “Do not produce generic insight. Every output must trace back to a specific note I actually captured.”
Update “Current Projects” and “What I Am Reading” every Monday. A stale VELLUM.md produces stale output.
Four Core Workflows
Workflow 1 — Process Inbox: Read 00-INBOX from last 24h, sharpen each capture to one specific sentence, file to correct 01-CAPTURES subfolder, report patterns noticed.
Workflow 2 — Daily Brief (runs 6AM via N8N): Read last 24h inbox + last 7 days captures. Output: 3 Connections (quote actual notes), 1 Pattern (what brain is working on), 1 Question to sit with. Saved as brief-{{date}}.md.
Workflow 3 — Weekly Connections (every Sunday): Scan 7 days of captures for 4 connection types: TYPE A (same principle, different domains), TYPE B (contradiction creating tension), TYPE C (3+ notes forming unnamed insight), TYPE D (question one note answers for another). Creates new notes in 02-CONNECTIONS.
Workflow 4 — Deep Research: “What do I already believe / What contradicts it / What perspective is missing / What is the single most important question I haven’t asked yet.”
Compounding Timeline
- 30 days: occasionally surfaces forgotten note that’s exactly relevant
- 90 days: connects things from month 1 to month 3 you had no memory of saving
- 6 months: record of every belief held and changed; different intelligence
“Most people are starting from zero every single day. This system makes sure you never do.”