Starter Kit: Obsidian + Claude

Some of the best AI setups aren’t an app you buy — they’re a little system you build once and then live in. This is one of those, packaged so you don’t have to figure it out from scratch.

It sets up two things on your own Mac:

• A Claude-friendly Obsidian vault — your notes organized into the areas of your life, structured so Claude can actually work inside it.
• A voice-capture page for your phone — tap the mic, talk, and it saves straight into your vault. All local: no cloud, no Netlify, nothing leaves your computer.

You don’t build it by hand. You hand it to your Claude and it builds it with you — starting by asking how you want it shaped.

⬇️ Download the kit (.zip) A small folder of guides, prompts, and working files. Unzip it, open Claude, and point it at START-HERE.md.

What’s inside

• overview.html — a friendly visual tour you open in your browser first.
• START-HERE.md — the master guide your Claude reads to set everything up.
• Step-by-step guides — file system, voice capture, running it locally, phone access.
• Copy-paste prompts for each step.
• The working files — the capture page and the tiny local “catcher” that saves your notes into the vault.

How to use it

1. Download and unzip it somewhere easy (your Desktop is fine).
2. Open Claude — the Claude Desktop app is easiest; its Claude Code tab can work directly on your Mac.
3. Point it at the folder and say: “Read START-HERE.md and walk me through setting this up. I’m not technical — go one step at a time.”
4. Follow along. It’ll ask you a few questions, build your vault, and set up capture with you.

Note

It’s all local, which is what keeps it private — and it means your Mac has to be awake for a phone capture to land. That’s the trade for keeping everything on your own machine.

Who this is for

Anyone who wants somewhere to think out loud that isn’t one more app to babysit — especially if you’re a little nervous about AI and want a setup that doesn’t make you feel dumb.

New to Obsidian?

Give Me 15 Minutes. I'll Teach You 80% of Obsidian

Linking Your Thinking with Nick Milo

What you'll learn A fast tour of Obsidian itself — notes, links, and the basics of how it works — before you dive into the kit.

Why this one Nick Milo is SUPER passionate about obsidian and explains things well. This is a great overview of Obsidian, and his videos are worth the watch if you want to deep-dive.