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# Vault Structure Guide
Complete reference for how this vault is organized and how content flows through it.
## Folder Organization
### Active Folders (create content here)
- **Notes/** — ALL new notes go here
- Use flat tags to organize: #idea, #reference, #exhibition, #person, #recipe, etc.
- Cross-link related concepts with wikilinks
- Created via /smart-note with proper YAML frontmatter
- **Attachments/** — ALL files (PDFs, images, documents)
- Exception: Academic articles go in Learning/ (see External Storage below)
- Link from notes with `![[filename.pdf]]` or `![[image.png]]`
- **Daily Notes/** — Two-part structure:
- **Scratch Pad** (top) — Working surface for quick notes, surfaced content for mobile access
- **What's Happening** (bottom) — Context log with Active threads, Sessions, Actions
- Auto-created by /morning-review
- Format: `YYYY-MM-DD.md`
- **Writing/** — Longform content
- `research/[project]/` — Manuscripts with scene files
- `substack/` — Blog drafts
- Never modify Index.md scene order or merge scenes without explicit request
- Preserve `vc-id` and `longform:` frontmatter
- **Sessions/** — Project context files
- Read when project name mentioned
- Contains: current focus, questions, sources, next steps
- May include embedded .base views of project notes
- "Academic References" sections point to Learning/ subfolders
### Source Folders (read-only, external sync)
- **Readwise/** — Readwise imports
- **Videos/** — Video notes
- **Web Clippings/** — Web clips
- **YouTube Transcripts/** — YouTube content
### Archive
- **_Legacy/** — Old folder structure archive (never create content here)
## Content Routing
### All Content → Notes/
Everything captured via /smart-note becomes a standalone note in Notes/ with:
- Proper YAML frontmatter
- Multiple flat tags
- Created date
- Wiki links to notable entities
No routing logic—even short thoughts get their own note.
### Tag Examples
- Exhibition: `#exhibition`, `#art`, `#milan`
- Research idea: `#idea`, `#aesthetics`, `#llm`
- Person: `#person`, plus relevant domain tags
- Recipe: `#recipe`, `#reference`
- Wedding content: `#wedding` (links related notes)
## Daily Note Structure
```markdown
# Scratch Pad
*Quick notes, surfaced content, things to have on hand today*
[User jots, surfaced vault content for mobile access]
---
# What's Happening
*Active threads and today's activity*
## Active
- **[Topic]** — brief status
## Sessions
- HH:MM - "Session Title" — summary
## Actions
- HH:MM - Created [[Note]]
- HH:MM - Added task: "title"
```
**Scratch Pad**: Day-scoped working surface (doesn't carry over)
**What's Happening**: Context for Claude + you (maintained by /daily-session-log, /log-activity, manual)
## External Storage
### Learning Folder
**Path:** `/Users/nickyoung/Library/CloudStorage/
[email protected]/My Drive/Sync/Learning`
**Contents:** Academic PDFs, EPUBs (non-fiction)
**Naming convention:** `Title by Author(s) [Year].pdf`
**Project subfolders:**
- `generating-philosophy/` → [[Sessions/Generating Philosophy]]
- `typography-aesthetics/` → [[Sessions/Typography Aesthetics]]
When session notes have "Academic References" sections, they point to these subfolders.
### Fiction Folder
**Path:** `/Users/nickyoung/Library/CloudStorage/
[email protected]/My Drive/Fiction`
**Contents:** Fiction EPUBs
**Naming convention:** `Title by Author(s) [Year].epub`
### Downloads
**Path:** `~/Downloads`
Temporary location for incoming files before processing/moving to vault or Learning.
## File Patterns and Conventions
### Note Titles
- Sentence case, descriptive
- No special prefixes or numbering
- Tags provide categorization
### Links
- Internal: `[[note-name]]` or `[[folder/note-name]]`
- External: `[text](url)`
- Images: `![[image.png]]`
### Frontmatter (YAML)
```yaml
---
tags:
- tag1
- tag2
created: YYYY-MM-DD
---
```
## Data Freshness Rules
### Tasks
ALWAYS run /google-tasks-sync FIRST, then read Google Tasks.md
### Calendar
ALWAYS use /calendar-query (no cached data)
### Email
ALWAYS use /gmail-search (no cached data)
## Key Workflows
### Morning Routine
/morning-review → creates daily note, shows calendar, tasks, emails, vault activity, adaptive questions
### Note Creation
/smart-note → creates note in Notes/ + logs to daily note
### Research
- Use semantic-search for conceptual queries
- Project context via Sessions/ files
- Deep session reading via session-reader.py
### Weekly Review
/weekly-review → batch analysis of past week's conversations, identifies insights and system improvements
## Longform Manuscript Rules
When editing files in `Writing/research/[project]/`:
- Never modify Index.md scene order without explicit request
- Never merge or split scene files
- Preserve `vc-id` frontmatter (version tracking)
- Preserve `longform:` frontmatter block
- Dated manuscript files are compilation snapshots—do not edit
## Related Documentation
- [[Google Tasks.md]] — Task list (synced via /google-tasks-sync)
- Session files in Sessions/ — Project context
- Daily notes in Daily Notes/ — Temporal record + scratch pad