~/sammillan/vault.md
Sam Millan · free · obsidian starter
>Vault 27
The Obsidian starter vault from sammillan.com. Memory layer of the Vault + Overseer stack. Folder structure, 11 templates, the 5 principles, and a worked example. Drop it into Obsidian, you have a working second brain in five minutes.
Free Obsidian Starter Vault
> Vault 27
The Obsidian starter vault I use to run my coaching, content, and digital agency. Folder structure, 11 templates, an operating manual. Drop it into Obsidian, you have a working second brain in five minutes.
New to Obsidian? obsidian.md is a free, local-first notes app. Markdown files in folders. No subscription, no cloud lock-in.
##what's inside (14)
README.mdThe operating manual. 5 principles, daily/weekly/monthly cadence, how rings work.
00_Start_Here.mdThe pinned homepage. Today, this week, this month, top of mind, open loops.
_Template_Daily.mdDaily note: revenue check, 3 priorities, open loops, evening reflection.
_Template_Session.mdLong-form thinking session. Question in, conclusion out, action items.
_Template_Project.mdProject file with W/W/SW frame, phase, blockers, decisions log.
_Template_Person.mdRing + last-contact frontmatter, open loops, append-only history.
_Template_Hypothesis.mdTrack beliefs you are testing. Promote to rules or reject with evidence.
_Template_Idea.mdSpark → smallest test → kill or promote. Stops idea hoarding.
_Template_Reading_Note.mdBig idea + 3 keeps + counter-arguments + mapped to your life.
_Template_Decision_Log.mdYear-long append-only log. Decision, reasoning, revisit trigger.
_Template_Open_Loop_Tracker.mdEvery promise you made. Auto-flags loops older than 14 days.
_Template_Weekly_Review.mdSunday or Monday: revenue, pipeline, training, projects, people audit.
_Template_Monthly_Review.mdFirst Monday: dispersion audit, system health check, hypotheses promoted.
Core_5 / Tribe_30 / Network_150.mdDunbar-ring indexes with cadence rules and audit triggers.
##the 5 principles (5)
01
State, not query
Store the state of things, not snapshots of conversations. A person's ring, a project's phase, a hypothesis's status. The vault tells you what is true right now.
02
Link liberally
Every note that mentions another person, project, or idea should link with [[wiki-links]]. Links to notes that don't exist yet mark things worth writing later.
03
One idea per file
Resist the giant catch-all note. Project gets a project file, then separate files for hypotheses, decisions, sessions. Files are cheap.
04
Frontmatter for state, body for narrative
YAML frontmatter holds the state (ring, status, phase). Body holds the narrative (what happened, why it matters).
05
Templates are the system
Folder structure is the skeleton. Templates are the muscles. Without templates you drift into freeform notes nobody can search 6 months later.
##what comes next (layer 2)
VAULT 27
free
The Obsidian starter. Folder structure, 11 templates, operating manual. You are here.
Open vault →
OVERSEER
£50-£120
Adds the Claude Code layer. Anthropic's terminal-based AI agent that reads your vault, follows your rules, runs your skills. Two tiers: Core (£50 / $65) ships with CLAUDE.md, 10 production rules, and 5 essential skills. Pro (£120 / $150) adds 15 more skills plus lifetime updates. Pre-order open.
See Overseer →
##faq (6)
?What is this?
A starter Obsidian vault. 11 markdown templates, a folder structure, an operating manual, and a worked example. Drop the folder into Obsidian, open it, you have a working second brain in 5 minutes.
?Do I have to use Obsidian?
Obsidian is the recommended runtime because it is free, local-first, and has the best graph view of any markdown tool. But this is just folders and markdown files. It works in Logseq, Notion (with manual conversion), VS Code, or plain Finder.
?How is this different from PARA or LYT?
PARA tells you to sort by Project/Area/Resource/Archive. LYT tells you to build a Map of Content. Vault 27 layers them: PARA-style folders (Build, Mind, People, Strategy), LYT-style hubs (Core 5, Tribe 30), and a daily/weekly/monthly review cadence on top. The cadence is the thing most templates skip.
?Why is it called Vault 27?
Fallout vault, terminal aesthetic, fits the IDE vibe of this site. The number is my age. It will roll over annually so the vault evolves with me.
?What's the upgrade path?
Overseer at £50 (pre-order open) adds the Claude Code layer. Claude Code is Anthropic's terminal-based AI agent. The pack includes a CLAUDE.md identity file, 10 production rules, and 3 skill scaffolds that turn the vault from a notes app into an operating system.
?Can I share this with my team?
Yes. The free version is yours to copy, fork, edit. Same for Overseer once it ships.