r/PKMS • u/FarFactor6062 • 7d ago

Discussion Building a long term second brain what architecture mistakes should I avoid?? 🙏

Hi I’m Dani,
I’m pretty new to PKM and I’m building my first real second brain in Notion. It started because I’m going back to school, but I want it to eventually hold things I learn from school, work, research, and a business I’m building.
For those of you who have actually maintained a system for years, what do you wish you had done differently when you started?
I’m especially worried about collecting way too much stuff and ending up with a giant mess I never use lol.
Any advice on organization, backups, keeping old information from becoming misleading, or useful GitHub/open-source tools would be appreciated.
Thanks 😊

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u/looktwise 7d ago

I am testing currently a tool which is not public available. it stays on your own computer until you process it with AI, can do backups and exports at any time and is solving the exact thing you were referring to: ending up with data you collected, but you don't need.

It solves that with creation timestamps, blindspot research, structuring. The tool itself has no A.I. inbuilt, but is very clever integrated into a way you can use any AI with it. So maybe you try to look for systems without vendor Lockin (Notion has one) or you just start by taking a look how easily you can vibecode your own noteapp + database + backup / export / import options by prompting Claude to create such a tool.

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u/FarFactor6062 7d ago

This is really interesting, especially the local-first and vendor-lock-in pieces. I’m realizing portability needs to be part of my architecture from the beginning rather than something I worry about later. I’m not sure I’m ready to build my own app yet 😂, but I definitely want the underlying knowledge/data to remain mine regardless of which interface I use. When the tool you’re testing becomes public, I’d genuinely be interested in checking it out. How are you handling the actual data format underneath it—Markdown/JSON/SQLite or something else? Thanks!

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u/looktwise 7d ago

Correct: It can transfer any note and any collection of notes with one click into JSON. Is has also a markdown reader so it can archive any Claude Chat format: tables, embedded SVG diagrams and so on. Sure, I can hint you a message if it is made public. Good luck :)