Brain2
FreeNot checkedA database-first personal knowledge management system powered by a local MCP server, providing 29 tools to manage and search structured knowledge (meetings, ema
About
A database-first personal knowledge management system powered by a local MCP server, providing 29 tools to manage and search structured knowledge (meetings, emails, people, accounts, projects, todos, etc.) via a single SQLite file.
README
Database-first personal knowledge management system powered by a local MCP server. All data lives in a single SQLite file. Claude accesses it via 29 MCP tools through Claude Desktop or Claude Code.
Replaces an earlier Obsidian vault-based system with structured storage, semantic search, and automated ingestion pipelines.
Features
- Unified knowledge store — meetings, emails, chats, notes, people, accounts, projects, todos, ideas, and resources in one database
- Knowledge graph — flexible edges between any entities (mentions, related_to, attended, about, etc.)
- Hybrid search — FTS5 full-text search + sqlite-vec vector similarity (384-dim, all-MiniLM-L6-v2)
- Watermark-based ingestion — incremental M365 email sync with dedup (Teams chat sync currently unavailable)
- Dreaming — connection building, person summaries, account health assessment, and theme discovery — runs at the end of each sync
- Daily digest — morning briefing with meetings (account context, open threads, heads-up) and overdue todos
Requirements
- Node.js 20+
- Claude Desktop or Claude Code (for MCP integration)
- Microsoft 365 MCP (for email/chat ingestion)
Setup
npm install
Configure MCP
Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json) or Claude Code config (~/.claude/mcp.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"brain2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["tsx", "/path/to/brain2/src/index.ts"],
"env": {
"BRAIN2_DB": "/path/to/brain2/data/brain2.db"
}
}
}
}
Import from Obsidian vault (optional)
npx tsx src/index.ts --import-vault ~/path/to/obsidian-vault
Parses frontmatter, tables, and imports all entity types (meetings, emails, chats, people, accounts, projects, todos, resources).
Usage
npx tsx src/index.ts # Start MCP server (stdio)
npm test # Run tests
npx tsc --noEmit # Type-check
Once the server is running, Claude can use all 26 tools and 4 skill prompts through natural conversation:
- "What's happening with the Dell account?" — searches items, gets account profile and contacts
- "Process my emails" — runs the email ingestion pipeline
- "Who have I met with most this month?" — queries the knowledge graph
- "Add a todo to follow up with Sarah by Friday" — creates a todo with due date
Architecture
data/brain2.db SQLite + sqlite-vec + FTS5
data/models/ Cached embedding model (all-MiniLM-L6-v2)
src/
index.ts Entry point (stdio MCP transport + vault migration CLI)
server.ts MCP server setup and tool registration
db/
connection.ts SQLite connection with sqlite-vec extension
schema.ts Table definitions and migrations
tools/
ingest.ts Ingest meetings, emails, chats, notes (5 tools)
entities.ts Upsert people/accounts/projects, manage todos (6 tools)
query.ts Get/list items, people, accounts (6 tools)
search.ts Hybrid FTS5 + vector search (1 tool)
graph.ts Edges and knowledge graph traversal (3 tools)
synthesis.ts Save/retrieve dreaming syntheses (2 tools)
watermark.ts Ingestion watermark tracking (3 tools)
stats.ts Database stats and portfolio view (2 tools)
embeddings/ Local embedding generation via @xenova/transformers
search/ Hybrid search ranking logic
migration/ Obsidian vault import
utils/ Hashing, ID generation
prompts.ts Registers skills as MCP prompts for Claude Desktop
skills/ Skill prompts (MCP prompts + Claude Code skills)
brain-sync.md Sync M365 → brain2 (email + chat) + dream + lint
brain-day.md Daily prep brief
brain-note.md File user notes to calendar meetings
brain-extract.md Extract reusable knowledge from work sessions
Skills
Skills are available as MCP prompts in Claude Desktop (via the / menu) and as Claude Code skills (via ~/.claude/skills/). Both read from the same skills/*.md files.
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
brain-sync |
Sync M365 emails with verification, then dream + lint (Teams chat unavailable) |
brain-day |
Daily prep brief — meetings with account context + overdue todos |
brain-note |
File user notes by matching them to calendar meetings |
brain-extract |
Extract reusable knowledge from work sessions |
Data Model
Core entities
- items — unified table for meetings, emails, chats, notes
- people — one row per person with contact info (name, title, company, email, phone)
- accounts — customer accounts with health, platform, segment, ARR
- projects — active work with status tracking
- todos — action items with priority, due date, source item, assignee
- ideas / resources — captured ideas and reference material
Relationships
- item_people — who attended/participated in which item
- account_contacts — people linked to accounts with roles (ae, csa, se, tam, etc.)
- edges — generic typed relationships between any entities
- tags — flexible tagging on any entity
Search
- FTS5 index on item content and titles
- sqlite-vec 384-dimensional vectors for semantic similarity
- Hybrid ranking combines both signals
License
Private.
Installing Brain2
This server has no published package — it is built from source. Open the repository and follow its README.
▸ github.com/dtehan/second-brainFAQ
Is Brain2 MCP free?
Yes, Brain2 MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.
Does Brain2 need an API key?
No, Brain2 runs without API keys or environment variables.
Is Brain2 hosted or self-hosted?
Self-hosted: the server runs locally on your machine via the install command above.
How do I install Brain2 in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?
Open Brain2 on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.
Related MCPs
wenb1n-dev/SmartDB_MCP
A universal database MCP server supporting simultaneous connections to multiple databases. It provides tools for database operations, health analysis, SQL optim
by wenb1n-devPostgres Server
This server enables interaction with PostgreSQL databases through the Model Context Protocol, optimized for the AWS Bedrock AgentCore Runtime. It provides tools
by madhurprashPostgres
Query your database in natural language
by AnthropicPostgreSQL
Read-only database access with schema inspection.
by modelcontextprotocolCompare Brain2 with
Not sure what to pick?
Find your stack in 60 seconds
Author?
Embed badge for your README
Browse similar
All data MCPs
