memex/projects/dotemacs/templates/ATOMIC_NOTES_SETUP.org

Atomic Notes (Zettelkasten) & GTD Automation Setup Guide

• Overview
• 1. Environment Configuration (`.env`)
  • Action:
• 2. Emacs Org-Capture Setup
  • Action:
• 3. The Distillation State Tracker
  • Action:
• 4. OpenClaw Cron Job (The Scribe Agent)
  • Action:
  • Architecture Rule:

Overview

This system uses a hybrid approach to Personal Knowledge Management (PKM). It leverages Emacs Org-mode for low-friction, structured capture into daily logs, and an OpenClaw AI Sub-Agent ("The Scribe") to nightly distill these raw thoughts into an evergreen, atomic Atomic Notes (Zettelkasten).

1. Environment Configuration (`.env`)

To ensure Emacs, OpenClaw, and the Scribe Agent all agree on where files live, we use a single `.env` file at the root of the workspace.

Action:

Ensure the following `.env` file exists in your workspace root:

MEMEX_DIR="memex"
MEMEX_INBOX="memex/inbox.org"
MEMEX_DAILY="memex/1_daily"
MEMEX_NOTES="memex/2_notes"
MEMEX_DRAFTS="memex/3_drafts"
MEMEX_PUBLISHED="memex/4_published"
MEMEX_PROJECTS="memex/projects"
MEMEX_AREAS="memex/6_areas"
MEMEX_RESOURCES="memex/7_resources"
MEMEX_ARCHIVES="memex/8_archives"
MEMEX_SYSTEM="memex/9_system"
MEMEX_ATTACHMENTS="memex/attachments"

2. Emacs Org-Capture Setup

All captures route to the current day's log (`$MEMEX_DAILY/YYYY-MM-DD.org`), preserving the raw chronological context.

Action:

Add this Emacs Lisp snippet to your `init.el` or `config.el` to set up your capture templates dynamically using the `.env` variables:

(setq org-capture-templates
      '(("z" "Atomic Notes (Zettelkasten) (Captures to Daily)")
        ("zf" "Fleeting Note" entry (file+olp+datetree (expand-file-name (format "%s/%%<%%Y-%%m-%%d>.org" (getenv "MEMEX_DAILY"))))
         "* Fleeting Note: %?\n  :PROPERTIES:\n  :ID: %u\n  :CREATED: %U\n  :END:\n\n  %i")
        ("zl" "Draft Literature Note" entry (file+olp+datetree (expand-file-name (format "%s/%%<%%Y-%%m-%%d>.org" (getenv "MEMEX_DAILY"))))
         "* Literature Note: %?\n  :PROPERTIES:\n  :ID: %u\n  :CREATED: %U\n  :AUTHOR: \n  :SOURCE: \n  :END:\n\n  *Summary:*\n  %?\n\n  *Key Insights:*\n  - ")
        ("zp" "Draft Permanent Note" entry (file+olp+datetree (expand-file-name (format "%s/%%<%%Y-%%m-%%d>.org" (getenv "MEMEX_DAILY"))))
         "* Permanent Note: %?\n  :PROPERTIES:\n  :ID: %u\n  :CREATED: %U\n  :LINKS: \n  :END:\n\n  *Concept:*\n  %?\n\n  *References:*\n  - ")
        ("t" "GTD - Task / Inbox" entry (file (getenv "MEMEX_INBOX"))
         "* TODO %?\n  :PROPERTIES:\n  :CREATED: %U\n  :END:\n\n  %i\n  %a")))

3. The Distillation State Tracker

The Scribe Agent uses a JSON file to remember the last Git commit it processed, preventing it from distilling the same notes twice or modifying the daily logs directly.

Action:

Ensure `memex/9_system/distillation-state.json` exists. It should look like this (the hash will update automatically):

{
  "lastProcessedCommit": "HEAD_HASH_GOES_HERE"
}

4. OpenClaw Cron Job (The Scribe Agent)

The final piece is the scheduled automation. We create a cron job in OpenClaw that runs every night, reads the diffs, and creates atomic notes.

Action:

Ask the OpenClaw orchestrator (your AI assistant) to schedule the Scribe Agent using the `cron` tool. The prompt it will execute is defined in `$MEMEX_SYSTEM/skills/Scribe-Agent.org`.

Architecture Rule:

• Dailies are Immutable: The Scribe reads `$MEMEX_DAILY/` but NEVER writes to it.
• Evergreen Notes: The Scribe extracts concepts, generates descriptive snake_case filenames (no dates), and writes them to `$MEMEX_NOTES/` with a `Source:` backlink to the original daily file.