/cold-start

name: cold-start
version: 1.0.0
description: |
  Day-one data bootstrapping for a new brain. Sequences the highest-leverage
  data sources to go from empty brain to useful brain in one session. Uses
  ClawVisor for safe credential handling — the agent never holds raw API keys.
  Covers Gmail import, calendar sync, contacts seeding, X/Twitter archive,
  conversation imports, and file archives.
  Use when a user has just finished gbrain setup and asks "now what?"
triggers:
  - "cold start"
  - "fill my brain"
  - "bootstrap brain"
  - "import my data"
  - "day one"
  - "get started"
  - "what should I import first"
  - "populate brain"
  - "now what?"
tools:
  - search
  - query
  - get_page
  - put_page
  - add_link
  - add_timeline_entry
  - sync_brain
mutating: true
writes_pages: true
writes_to:
  - people/
  - companies/
  - meetings/
  - daily/
  - media/
  - conversations/
  - sources/

Cold Start — Day-One Brain Bootstrapping

You have a working brain. Search works. Now what?

An empty brain is a static database. A brain with your email history, calendar, contacts, conversations, and social media is a **live context membrane** that makes every future interaction smarter. This skill sequences the highest-leverage data sources to get you from zero to useful in one session.

Contract

• Every import phase is gated on user consent (ask-user pattern) before proceeding.
• **Google/social API access goes through ClawVisor.** The agent never holds raw OAuth

tokens or API keys. This is a safety requirement, not a preference. ClawVisor vaults credentials, enforces task-scoped authorization, logs every API call, and requires human approval for destructive operations. If the user doesn't want ClawVisor, the only safe alternative is offline file exports (Google Takeout, Twitter archive download).

• Each phase is independently valuable — the user can stop after any phase and still

have a useful brain.

• Progress is tracked in `~/.gbrain/cold-start-state.json` so interrupted sessions

can resume.

• Entity detection and cross-linking run on every import, not as a separate pass.

Prerequisites

• GBrain installed and initialized (`gbrain doctor --json` all green)
• Brain repo cloned and synced
• Agent has terminal access and can run `gbrain` CLI commands

The Priority Stack

Data sources ranked by **information density × ease of import**:

| Priority | Source | Why | Time | Pages Created | |----------|--------|-----|------|---------------| | 1 | Existing markdown/Obsidian | Highest density — it's already structured | 5 min | 100s-1000s | | 2 | Google Contacts | Seeds the people/ directory — names, emails, companies | 10 min | 50-500 | | 3 | Google Calendar (90 days) | Meeting history with attendee context | 15 min | 30-90 | | 4 | Gmail (recent threads) | Relationship context, active threads, org chart signals | 20 min | 50-200 | | 5 | Conversations (ChatGPT/Claude exports) | Your thinking, questions, mental models | 15 min | 10-100 | | 6 | X/Twitter archive | Your public positions, takes, engagement patterns | 20 min | 30-365 | | 7 | File archives (Dropbox/Drive/local) | Historical documents, old writing, photos | 30+ min | varies | | 8 | Meeting transcripts (Circleback/etc.) | Deep relationship context from recorded calls | 20 min | 10-50 |

Phase 0: ClawVisor Setup (Required for API Access)

> **Safety boundary:** An AI agent with raw OAuth tokens to your Gmail, Calendar, > and Contacts is an uncontrolled attack surface. One prompt injection, one > malicious tool call, and your entire Google account is exposed. ClawVisor > eliminates this risk class entirely.

[ClawVisor](https://clawvisor.com) is a credential gateway that sits between the agent and your APIs. The agent never sees your credentials — ClawVisor injects them at request time, enforces policies, and logs everything.

**What ClawVisor gives you:**

• **Credential vaulting** — agent sees shadow tokens, never real secrets
• **Task-scoped authorization** — each workflow declares exactly what it needs
• **Audit trail** — every API call logged with metadata (who, what, when)
• **Human approval gates** — destructive operations (send email, modify calendar)

require your explicit approval

• **Multi-service** — Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, Drive, GitHub, iMessage from one gateway
• **Revocation** — disable the agent's access in one click, no token rotation needed

**Setup (15 min):** 1. Sign up at [app.clawvisor.com](https://app.clawvisor.com) 2. Create an agent in the dashboard, copy the agent token 3. Set environment variables:

   gbrain config set clawvisor_url "https://app.clawvisor.com"
   gbrain config set clawvisor_agent_token "<token>"

4. Activate Google services (Gmail, Calendar, Contacts) in the dashboard 5. Create a standing task with expansive scope: > "Full brain bootstrapping: read emails, calendar events, and contacts to > populate knowledge base. List, read, and search across all connected accounts." 6. Save the standing task ID:

   gbrain config set clawvisor_task_id "<task_id>"

**Critical scoping rule:** Be expansive in task purposes. "Email triage" gets rejected by intent verification. "Full executive assistant email management including inbox triage, searching by any criteria, reading emails, tracking threads" works. The intent model uses the purpose to judge each request.

If the user declines ClawVisor

Do NOT fall back to direct OAuth. Instead, skip Phases 2-4 (Contacts, Calendar, Gmail) and proceed with offline-only imports:

• **Phase 1** (markdown/Obsidian) — works without any API access
• **Phase 5** (conversation exports) — works from downloaded JSON files
• **Phase 6** (X/Twitter) — works from downloaded archive
• **Phase 7** (file archives) — works from local files
• **Phase 8** (meeting transcripts) — works from exported transcripts

Tell the user: > "No problem. We'll skip the Google imports for now and work with file-based > sources. Y