PARA Second Brain

A Claude Code plugin that gives you a complete PARA (Projects/Areas/Resources/Archive) second brain system. Organize your work, knowledge, and ongoing responsibilities with structured templates, quick capture, and guided review workflows.

What is PARA?

PARA is a universal organization system created by Tiago Forte:

• Projects — Active efforts with a clear goal and deadline
• Areas — Ongoing responsibilities with standards to maintain
• Resources — Reference material organized by topic
• Archive — Inactive items from the above categories

Installation

Add this plugin to your Claude Code setup:

claude plugin add aroyburman-codes/para-second-brain

Commands

Command	Description
/para-setup [path]	Initialize PARA directories with templates. Defaults to ~/para/
/para-add <category> <name>	Add a new item (project, area, or resource) with the right template
/para-review [weekly|monthly]	Guided review — update statuses, archive completed items, capture new ones
/para-capture [text]	Quick-capture a note from the current conversation into a PARA item
/para-status [category]	Dashboard view of your PARA system with attention flags

Quick Start

1. Set up your PARA system:

   /para-setup ~/para
   

   This creates the directory structure with starter items and templates.

2. Add your first real project:

   /para-add projects website-redesign
   

3. Capture notes as you work:

   /para-capture "Decided to use Next.js for the frontend"
   

4. Check your system:

   /para-status
   

5. Run a weekly review:

   /para-review weekly
   

What Gets Created

When you run /para-setup, your PARA root will look like this:

~/para/
├── Projects/
│   ├── README.md
│   └── my-first-project/
│       ├── context.md        # Goal, status, metrics, milestones
│       ├── notes/log.md      # Running log
│       └── assets/
├── Areas/
│   ├── README.md
│   └── personal-development/
│       ├── context.md        # Purpose, standards, cadence
│       ├── notes/log.md
│       └── assets/
├── Resources/
│   ├── README.md
│   └── useful-references/
│       ├── context.md        # Summary, sources, takeaways
│       ├── notes/log.md
│       └── assets/
├── Archive/
│   └── README.md
└── .para-config.json

Each category has a tailored context.md template:

• Projects get: goal, phase/health status, metrics, stakeholders, milestones, risks
• Areas get: purpose, standards to maintain, cadence table, key processes
• Resources get: summary, tags, source links, key takeaways, last reviewed date

The PARA Skill

This plugin includes ambient PARA knowledge that activates when you mention organizing your work, ask "where should I put this?", or reference PARA concepts. It provides:

• Decision tree for choosing the right category
• Organization patterns and examples
• Hygiene guidelines (capacity limits, archive rules, naming conventions)
• Review cadence recommendations

PARA Hygiene Tips

• Keep active projects to 8-10 max. More means you're spread too thin.
• Archive aggressively. Clutter has real cognitive cost. Archiving is free — you can always restore.
• Capture fast, organize later. Use /para-capture in the moment. Sort things during your weekly review.
• Fill in your context.md files. Empty templates are noise. At minimum, fill in Goal/Purpose and Status.
• Cross-reference. Link related projects, areas, and resources in each context.md.

License

MIT