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VaultMind

VaultMind

AI-powered personal knowledge management built on Obsidian.

Turns your Obsidian vault into an intelligent second brain — hybrid search (vector + BM25), knowledge graph, Telegram bot with photo capture, AI thinking partner, Zettelkasten maturation pipeline, belief evolution tracking, episodic and procedural memory, MCP integration for connecting Claude and other agents directly to your notes, and compound loop engine for proactive insights.

Why VaultMind?

  • Obsidian is the source of truth — plain markdown files, always
  • AI augments, never replaces — hybrid search (vector + BM25) and knowledge graphs surface what you'd miss
  • Mobile-first capture — Telegram bot gives full PKM access from your phone, including photo capture via vision models
  • Agent-native — Claude Desktop/Code and other AI agents read/write your vault via MCP
  • Multi-provider LLM — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, or Ollama for thinking + extraction
  • Hybrid retrieval — Reciprocal Rank Fusion merges vector (ChromaDB) and keyword (SQLite FTS5) search results
  • Contextual embeddings — chunks carry document-level context (title, type, section, tags) for higher-quality vectors
  • Zettelkasten maturation — DBSCAN clustering surfaces fleeting notes ready for permanent synthesis
  • Belief evolution — tracks confidence drift, relationship shifts, and stale claims across your knowledge
  • Episodic memory — decision-outcome tracking with lessons learned and entity linking
  • Procedural memory — mines recurring decision patterns into reusable workflows (experimental)
  • Compound loops — scheduler accumulates state across runs, detects usage shifts, belief drift trends, and new workflow patterns; pushes insights to Telegram proactively
  • Note modes — learning vs. operational mode with activation-based decay scoring
  • Secure by default — path traversal protection, input sanitization, injection detection on all vault operations
  • Smart caching — SQLite-backed embedding cache eliminates redundant API calls during re-indexing
  • Your data, your infra — self-hosted, local-first, no cloud dependency

Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.12+
  • uv package manager
  • One of: Anthropic / OpenAI / Gemini API key, or local Ollama
  • OpenAI or Voyage API key (for embeddings)
  • Telegram bot token (from @BotFather)

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/Mathews-Tom/vaultmind.git
cd vaultmind
uv sync --extra dev

This installs VaultMind into a local virtualenv. All commands run through uv run.

2. Configure secrets

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your API keys:

# LLM provider key (set the one matching your provider choice)
VAULTMIND_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# VAULTMIND_OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# VAULTMIND_GEMINI_API_KEY=...

# Embedding key (required for default OpenAI embeddings)
VAULTMIND_OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
# VAULTMIND_VOYAGE_API_KEY=pa-...   # If using Voyage embeddings

# Telegram bot
VAULTMIND_TELEGRAM__BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF...
VAULTMIND_TELEGRAM__ALLOWED_USER_IDS=[123456789]  # Optional whitelist

3. Configure settings

Edit config/default.toml:

[llm]
provider = "anthropic"        # "anthropic", "openai", "gemini", "ollama"
thinking_model = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"

[vault]
path = "~/.vaultmind/vault"   # Or path to your existing Obsidian vault

[telegram]
thinking_session_ttl = 3600

See config/default.toml for all options.

4. Initialize

uv run vaultmind init

Creates the ~/.vaultmind/ directory structure:

~/.vaultmind/
├── vault/
│   ├── 00-inbox/
│   ├── 01-daily/
│   ├── 02-projects/
│   ├── 03-areas/
│   ├── 04-resources/
│   ├── 05-archive/
│   ├── 06-templates/
│   └── _meta/
└── data/
    ├── chromadb/
    ├── bm25.db
    ├── embedding_cache.db
    ├── knowledge_graph.json
    ├── activations.db
    ├── episodes.db
    ├── preferences.db
    └── sessions.db

5. Index your vault

uv run vaultmind index

Parses all markdown, chunks by headings, generates embeddings, stores in ChromaDB.

6. Build the knowledge graph

uv run vaultmind graph-build

Uses your configured LLM to extract entities and relationships from notes. Add --full to rebuild from scratch.

7. Start the Telegram bot

uv run vaultmind bot

The bot starts with watch mode enabled — vault changes are indexed incrementally.

CLI Commands

Command Description
vaultmind init Create vault folder structure
vaultmind index Full vault index into ChromaDB
vaultmind watch Watch vault, incrementally re-index on change
vaultmind watch --graph Watch + batched graph re-extraction
vaultmind bot Start Telegram bot (includes watch + duplicate detection + suggestions)
vaultmind graph-build Build knowledge graph (add --full to rebuild)
vaultmind graph-maintain Prune stale refs + remove orphan entities
vaultmind graph-report Generate graph analytics report
vaultmind scan-duplicates Scan vault for duplicate/merge candidates
vaultmind suggest-links Suggest links between notes
vaultmind digest Generate weekly digest (add --save to write to vault)
vaultmind auto-tag LLM-based tag suggestions (dry-run by default)
vaultmind auto-tag --apply Apply suggested tags to frontmatter
vaultmind research "query" Search YouTube, analyze transcripts, create vault notes
vaultmind learn Analyze usage patterns, generate insights report
vaultmind learn --save Save insights report to vault
vaultmind tag-synonyms Detect likely tag synonyms and suggest merges
vaultmind synthesize-workflows Mine episodic memory for workflow patterns
vaultmind stats Show vault + graph statistics
vaultmind stats --metadata-audit Audit frontmatter completeness
vaultmind mcp-serve Start MCP server (default profile: researcher)
vaultmind mcp-serve --profile full Start MCP with full access

LLM Providers

Set [llm].provider in config/default.toml and the matching API key in .env.

Provider Config Model examples
Anthropic provider = "anthropic" claude-sonnet-4-20250514, claude-opus-4-20250514
OpenAI provider = "openai" gpt-4.1, gpt-4.1-mini
Gemini provider = "gemini" gemini-2.5-flash, gemini-2.5-pro
Ollama provider = "ollama" llama3.3, qwen3, deepseek-r1

Ollama requires no API key. Set ollama_base_url if not running on localhost:11434.

Telegram Bot

Smart Message Routing

Plain text messages are classified automatically — no command prefix needed:

You send What happens
note: buy groceries Captured to inbox (prefix stripped)
save: meeting notes... Captured to inbox (prefix stripped)
Multiline paste (3+ lines) Captured to inbox (pasted content = intentional)
Long text (500+ chars) Captured to inbox
"Hi", "thanks", "ok" Static greeting response (no LLM call)
"What did I write about X?" Vault-context-aware answer via LLM
"Tell me about my projects" Conversational response with vault context
Follow-up after /think Continues thinking session (sticky)
URL in message Auto-ingests YouTube transcript or article content
Photo/image Described via vision model, saved as note with image embed

Capture prefixes: note:, save:, capture:, remember:, jot:, log:

Set capture_all = true in [routing] config to restore old behavior (all text → capture).

Commands

Command Description
/recall <query> Semantic search over vault (paginated)
/think <topic> Start thinking partner session (persists across restarts)
/think explore: <topic> Divergent ideation mode
/think critique: <topic> Stress-test an idea
/think synthesize: <topic> Connect dots across domains
/think plan: <topic> Create execution plan
/graph <entity> Query knowledge graph connections
/daily Get/create today's daily note
/notes <date> Find notes by date (natural language: yesterday, last week)
/read <note> Read full note content
/edit <note> <instruction> AI-assisted edit with confirmation
/delete <note> Delete note with confirmation
/bookmark <title> Save thinking session or last Q&A to vault
/suggest <note> Find notes worth linking (composite scoring)
/duplicates <note> Find duplicate/similar notes
/review Weekly review with graph insights
/evolve Belief evolution signals (confidence drift, stale claims)
/mature Zettelkasten maturation — clusters ready for synthesis
/decide <decision> Record a decision (creates pending episode)
/outcome <id> <status> <desc> Resolve a decision with outcome and lessons
/episodes [entity] List episodes, optionally filtered by entity
/workflows List active workflow patterns with success rates
/workflow <id> Show workflow steps and details
/health System health check
/stats Vault and graph statistics
Send voice message Transcribe via Whisper and route as capture or question
Send photo Describe via vision model and capture as note with image embed

MCP Integration

For Claude Desktop, add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vaultmind": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/vaultmind",
        "vaultmind",
        "mcp-serve"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Install the MCP extra first:

uv sync --extra mcp

MCP Tools

Tool Description
vault_search Semantic search with optional note type filter
vault_read Read full note by relative path
vault_write Create/overwrite note + auto-reindex
vault_list List folder contents with optional tag/type filter
graph_query Entity neighbors and relationships (configurable depth)
graph_path Shortest path between two entities
find_duplicates Semantic duplicate detection (duplicate/merge bands)
suggest_links Note suggestions (similarity + shared entities + graph distance)
capture Quick-capture to inbox with optional title and tags
capture_note Rich capture with note type, tags, and target folder
vault_stats Vault health metrics: note counts by type/folder, graph size
episode_query Search episodic memory for past decisions and outcomes
workflow_suggest Find matching procedural workflow for a given context
graph_evolution Belief evolution signals: confidence drift, relationship shifts
recent_activity Notes created or modified in the last N days

MCP Profiles

Profiles control per-agent access. Activate with --profile <name>:

Profile Access Folders
researcher (default) Read-only: search, read, list, graph, introspection tools All
planner Read/write: + capture, capture_note, vault_write, introspection 02-projects, 00-inbox
full Unrestricted (requires explicit opt-in) All

Vault Structure

VaultMind expects (and creates via init) this structure:

~/.vaultmind/vault/
├── 00-inbox/          # Quick captures, unsorted
├── 01-daily/          # Daily notes
├── 02-projects/       # Active project notes
├── 03-areas/          # Life areas (health, finance, career)
├── 04-resources/      # Reference material, articles, book notes
├── 05-archive/        # Completed/inactive
├── 06-templates/      # Note templates
└── _meta/             # Auto-generated reports and indexes

Notes use YAML frontmatter:

---
type: project # fleeting | literature | permanent | daily | project | area | person | concept
mode: operational # learning (default) | operational — affects retrieval ranking
tags: [python, ai]
created: 2026-01-15
entities: [CAIRN, MCP]
status: active
---

Configuration

Layered config system:

Layer File Purpose
Settings config/default.toml All non-secret config (paths, models, thresholds)
Secrets .env API keys, bot token
Overrides Environment variables VAULTMIND_* prefix overrides any setting

Config sections: [vault], [llm], [telegram], [routing], [embedding], [chroma], [graph], [watch], [duplicate_detection], [note_suggestions], [search], [ranking], [activation], [maturation], [evolution], [digest], [auto_tag], [voice], [ingest], [research], [tracking], [image], [episodic], [procedural], [mcp].

See Configuration Reference for details on every section.

Docker

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your API keys

cd docker
docker compose up -d vaultmind-bot
docker compose --profile indexer run --rm vaultmind-indexer
docker compose --profile mcp up -d   # Optional MCP server on port 8765

Development

uv sync --extra dev
uv run pytest -v
uv run mypy src/ --ignore-missing-imports
uv run ruff check src/ tests/
uv run ruff format src/ tests/

Architecture

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                       User Interfaces                         │
│  Obsidian Desktop │ Obsidian Mobile │ Telegram Bot │ MCP      │
└────────┬──────────┴────────┬────────┴──────┬───────┴──┬───────┘
         │                   │               │          │
         ▼                   ▼               ▼          ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        VaultMind Core                         │
│                                                               │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  │
│  │ Parser       │  │ Hybrid Search    │  │ Knowledge Graph │  │
│  │ (contextual  │  │ (ChromaDB +      │  │ (nx) + Belief   │  │
│  │  chunks)     │  │  BM25 FTS5 + RRF)│  │   Evolution     │  │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  │
│                                                               │
│  ┌──────────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ LLM Abstraction      │  │ Maturation Pipeline          │   │
│  │ (Anthropic/OpenAI/   │  │ (DBSCAN clustering →         │   │
│  │  Gemini/Ollama)      │  │  LLM synthesis)              │   │
│  │ + Multimodal (vision)│  └──────────────────────────────┘   │
│  └──────────────────────┘                                     │
│                                                               │
│  ┌──────────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Memory System        │  │ Research Pipeline            │   │
│  │ (Episodic: decisions │  │ (YouTube → vault)            │   │
│  │  + Procedural:       │  ├──────────────────────────────┤   │
│  │    workflows)        │  │ Preference Tracking          │   │
│  └──────────────────────┘  │ + Activation Scoring         │   │
│                            └──────────────────────────────┘   │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │
         ▼
   ~/.vaultmind/
   ├── vault/     (Obsidian markdown files)
   └── data/      (ChromaDB + BM25 + graph + episodes + activations + sessions)

Tech Stack

Layer Technology
Language Python 3.12+
LLM Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama (provider-agnostic)
Embeddings OpenAI / Voyage
Vector Store ChromaDB
Knowledge Graph NetworkX
Clustering scikit-learn (DBSCAN)
Telegram Bot aiogram 3.x
Agent Protocol MCP
CLI Click + Rich
Config Pydantic Settings + TOML
Packaging Hatch + uv

Documentation

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

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AI-powered personal knowledge management built on Obsidian

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