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Cold Start Brain Bootstrapping

Guides the agent through importing your email, calendar, contacts and files into a new brain in phases.

Source Download skill
Repository
garrytan/gbrain
Stars
31,447
Licence
MIT
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill walks an AI agent through filling an empty personal knowledge store (a GBrain 'brain') with your existing data, in a sensible order: first local notes, then contacts, calendar, email, chat exports, social archives and files. Before each import it asks for your consent, and it saves progress so an interrupted session can resume. The agent creates and links pages for people, companies, meetings and similar entries as it goes.

Great for

  • Developers who just installed GBrain and want their brain populated quickly
  • People who prefer offline exports (Google Takeout, Twitter archive, Obsidian notes) rather than giving an agent live account access
  • Users who want to stop after any phase and still have something useful

Skip it if

  • Anyone who wants live, always-on sync with Gmail or Calendar without setting up credentials carefully, since the skill is built around a consent-first, phased import
  • Users who do not want their personal email, contacts and messages written into local files, because the skill is designed to store that data in the brain
  • Hosts without the required CLI or terminal access, because the skill cannot run without gbrain commands

Try asking

  • “Now what? I just finished setting up gbrain.”
  • “Help me import my Google Takeout export into my brain, starting with contacts.”
  • “Bootstrap my brain from my Obsidian vault and my Twitter archive.”
  • “What should I import first to make my brain useful?”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Cold Start Brain BootstrappingInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    cold-start.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip cold-start.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip cold-start.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Start with local markdown or Obsidian notes, which are quick and carry the most information per import.
  • Review each phase's consent prompt and check what gets written to the brain before moving on.
  • Use offline Google Takeout exports if you do not want an agent connected live to your Google account; ClawVisor is only needed on hosts that integrate it.

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from garrytan/gbrain under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.