Summary of "The 3-File AI System That Works With ANY MODEL"
Summary of Technological Concepts & System Design
Problem with Current AI Workflows
If you “wire your life” into a specific AI tool/provider (e.g., Claude/OpenAI models), your workflow can break when:
- APIs change
- Companies pivot
- Models get deprecated/offline
- Your preferences and structured context are tied to one tool
Core Solution: “File over AI” (File-Based, Tool-Agnostic System)
Instead of locking knowledge/process inside a particular AI platform:
- Keep your knowledge and procedures in plain text/Markdown files stored in your own folders.
- Build a system designed to be future-proof and portable across different AI apps and models.
The goal is to avoid depending on any single provider’s internal storage, interfaces, or model behavior.
Product/Architecture Concept: “My AI OS” (3-File / 3-Layer System)
Layer 1 — Ideaverse (Your Knowledge Vault)
Your personal “universe” of notes and thinking, organized into three sections:
- Atlas: knowledge
- Calendar: time-related notes
- Efforts (ACE): projects you’re working on
Key idea: the ideaverse consists of plain files, so it remains accessible even if apps change.
Layer 2 — Maps & Manuals (Connective Tissue)
A small set of core “map” files helps any AI navigate your ideaverse efficiently—without brute-force scanning.
Why this matters: maps improve context building by directing the AI to relevant files/folders, saving tokens/time/resources.
Two essential map files
-
me.md— Portable identity / working preferences- Tells any AI who you are and how it should collaborate with you.
- Includes preferences such as:
- preferred tone (e.g., “casual”)
- relationship style (e.g., “collaborator”)
- pointers to other map files via file paths
- Purpose: guidance that should not change often.
- Portability detail: a tool-specific file (e.g.,
claude.md) can simply redirect tome.md.
-
Vault map / manual — How to navigate and work inside your ideaverse
- Acts like a master table of contents / navigation guide.
- Includes folder/file paths and rules for:
- how note types should be created
- where different content goes
- naming conventions
- how components interact within the system
- More changeable than
me.md(updates as priorities and vault structure evolve).
Layer 3 — Tools (Replaceable Layer)
The actual apps/models can change (Obsidian, Claude, NotebookLM, Gemini, Claude Code, etc.).
Because Layer 1 (Ideaverse) and Layer 2 (Maps/Manuals) are stable, swapping tools shouldn’t break your workflow.
“Skills” Concept (Process Documentation as Markdown Files)
A skill is a Markdown file that describes a repeatable AI-assisted process (e.g., daily briefings, summarization, email writing workflow).
- Skills are not tools; they’re text-based mini-manuals that can travel with you to any AI that can read them.
- Skills are stored in a dedicated skills map/folder so AI can find them.
- Suggested approach:
- start with 1–2 core skills
- expand over time
- periodically audit whether maps/identity docs are getting bloated
Privacy Guidance & Sharing Model
Using modern frontier tools (e.g., Claude Co-work) implies you’re trusting some tool layer with your data if you want up-to-date capabilities.
Recommended behavior:
- keep deeply personal material (e.g., journals) outside what AI can access
- always backup
- clearly mark AI-generated content (emoji/tag/folders) to distinguish “yours vs AI-assisted”
Long-term expectation: migration toward open-source/local models, supported by the portability of the file-based “AI OS.”
Key “Tutorial / Guide” Takeaways
- Create your ideaverse folders first (e.g., in Obsidian: a vault folder plus an ACE structure).
- Build the two Layer-2 core files:
me.md(portable identity & collaboration preferences)- vault map/manual (navigation + note-creation rules)
- Maintain future-proofing using file paths and redirect tool-specific entrypoints to
me.md. - Maintain maps with a “gardening” rhythm:
- add/connect/weed
- occasionally archive or remove outdated parts
- Add additional Markdown “skills” for repeatable tasks, stored centrally for discoverability.
Main Speakers / Sources
- Speaker: Nick Milo — creator of the “AI OS” concept and presenter of the system.
Category
Technology
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