Turn a folder of Markdown notes (an Obsidian vault or a
gbrain export) into one self-contained, interactive HTML knowledge map — a force-directed graph coloured by theme, a timeline you can scrub to watch the base grow, and a click-to-inspect panel.
Works with: Claude Code · OpenAI Codex · Cursor · Gemini CLI · OpenClaw · or just run the script.
See it in 5 seconds (no setup)
A prebuilt demo ships in this repo — no notes to generate, no embeddings, no gbrain, no Python. Open the file:
open demo/brain-map.html # macOS xdg-open demo/brain-map.html # Linux start demo/brain-map.html # Windows
992 fictional notes across three themes (work · study · life). Scrub the timeline, press ▶ Play growth, click nodes, toggle filters.
Build from your own notes
python3 scripts/build_map.py <notes_dir> out.html --title "My Second Brain" open out.html
<notes_dir> = your Obsidian vault, or a gbrain export --dir <out> directory. The map
reads plain Markdown: YAML frontmatter (tags, created) + [[wikilinks]].
Dependencies are optional
| Setup | Result |
|---|---|
| Nothing (stdlib Python only) | Builds anywhere; the browser computes the layout (Cytoscape cose). |
pip install -r requirements.txt (networkx, numpy, scipy) |
Layout pre-computed → 1000-node maps open instantly and look cleaner. |
The builder auto-detects networkx and picks the better path. No gbrain, no embeddings, no server required either way.
What it reads
- Theme = top-level folder — your folders, whatever they are → node & edge colour.
Colours are assigned automatically from a palette (no fixed taxonomy);
Work/,Study/,Life/keep their legacy colours if present, root-level notes areOther. - Type = subfolder / tags → node shape (person, meeting, journal, lecture, project, link, todo, index, note).
- Edges = resolved
[[wikilinks]]. Node size scales with link count; hubs get labels. - Timeline =
createdtimestamps, bucketed by month, stacked by theme. Nocreatedin the frontmatter? It falls back to the file's own timestamp, so plain vaults still get a timeline.
The richer your cross-linking (people cards, meeting attendees, index pages), the more legible the map. Designed to pair with the save-note skill, which writes exactly this shape.
In the HTML
- Scrub / Play the timeline → the graph reveals notes up to that month; Play animates the whole base growing from empty to today.
- Filter by theme and type (live counts); search highlights matches.
- Click a node → dim the rest, light its neighbourhood, open a detail panel (summary, tags, date, connected notes).
- Responsive down to a phone.
Install as an agent skill
Claude Code
git clone https://github.com/vladignatyev/brain-map-skill ~/.claude/skills/brain-mapOpenAI Codex
git clone https://github.com/vladignatyev/brain-map-skill ~/.agents/skills/brain-mapCursor / others — paste SKILL.md into your agent's instructions; it's self-contained.
Regenerate the demo corpus
python3 scripts/generate_demo_notes.py /tmp/demo-vault # 992 invented notes
python3 scripts/build_map.py /tmp/demo-vault demo.htmlAll demo people, orgs and events are fictional — no real data.
Layout
brain-map-skill/
├── SKILL.md # agent skill spec
├── scripts/
│ ├── build_map.py # the builder (Markdown dir → interactive HTML)
│ └── generate_demo_notes.py # writes the fictional demo vault
├── demo/
│ ├── brain-map.html # PREBUILT — open it, zero setup
│ ├── vault/ # 992 source Markdown notes
│ └── preview.png
├── requirements.txt # optional: networkx, numpy, scipy
└── LICENSE