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Idea Lineage Tracer

Traces how one idea in your personal knowledge base evolved, with dated, cited evidence

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

What it does

When installed, the agent can take a single idea, phrase, or concept page from a personal knowledge base (the gbrain 'brain') and reconstruct its history: when it first appeared, the clearest version, the current version, reversals, contradictions, and abandoned branches. Every claim must cite a page, date, and short quote, and gaps are labeled rather than filled in. It is read-only by default and only saves a page if the user asks.

Great for

  • People who keep a long-running personal knowledge base or notes in gbrain and want to see how their thinking on one topic changed
  • Researchers or writers tracing the origin and development of a concept across their own sources
  • Users who want evidence-backed answers about their own past positions rather than summaries from memory

Skip it if

  • Broad 'map all my concepts' requests, which the skill routes to a different skill (concept-synthesis), so it is the wrong tool there
  • Tracking numeric or status facts over time such as revenue or job titles, which is handled by find_trajectory rather than this skill
  • Users without a populated brain: the skill depends on existing searchable pages and cached contradiction findings, so results will be thin or empty without them

Try asking

  • “Trace the lineage of founder-led sales in my brain and show the current version”
  • “How has my thinking about compounding trust changed over time?”
  • “Where did this idea come from, and what did I abandon along the way?”
  • “Show reversals in my thinking about pricing”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Idea Lineage TracerInstall, 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.

    idea-lineage.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip idea-lineage.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip idea-lineage.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

  • Give a specific phrase or concept title; if the phrase has several meanings the skill will ask you which one you mean
  • Ask for a saved page only after reading the answer, since the default is read-only
  • Expect 'No clear evidence found' sections when your brain has few dated sources; that is the intended honest behavior

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.