Productivity System Second Brain

Org Roam - Build a Second Brain in Emacs

Sources:

Video: System Crafters - Getting Started with Org Roam - Build a Second Brain in Emacs
Source files: Getting Started with Org Roam

Introduction

Questions:

How many org files do I need?
What to put in org files?

Roam approach is creating topic focused org files rather than hierarchical files. Like a personal wiki. Roam’s strategy is taken from Zettlekasten method.

Single topic notes linked together to create a networked knowledge base
Base reminds you of connections between topics

Why database?

Org roam keeps track of all nodes and keeps track of links
Allows to build on top of database

Prerequisites

Org Roam v2 depends on customized SQLite database
Needs compiler to build or instructions for Windows

Install

(use-package org-roam
  :ensure t)

When run, will compile.
Use a separate directory for org roam files as org roam files have special metadata
If you have upgraded to v2, set to acknowledge the warning

New Node

Find, Create new node: C-c n f
- Starts with a capture buffer before being created
They are org file with additional properties. Org Roam will re-build database based on files. Database will system itself to files and can work across machines.
New nodes can be created within a node with creating an org ID in a heading
Create aliases for node names: org-roam-alias-add

Link

Create a new node insert: org-roam-node-insert or C-c n i
- Inserts link to existing node. Link is based on org ID and not file paths
Create new links to nodes and nodes will be automatically created

Viewing Backlinks

-Shows backlinks to current node and context of resources: org-roam-buffer-toggle

Benefits

Build personal knowledge base
Write smaller notes and have relationships, think less of about hierarchy

Capturing Notes Efficiently in Emacs with Org Roam

Reference

Video: Capturing Notes Efficiently in Emacs with Org Roam

Overview

Custom templates to insert into org roam files
Good capture workflow

Capture Templates

Common information you want to capture:

Summary of content
Bibliography
Quotations
Links to relevant notes and resources to expand on ideas learned

Org Roam has its own capture templates for new notes. It is a separate capture system from org capture. During node creation, org roam can prompt you to select your own custom capture templates.

Default Org-Roam Capture Template

To build custom templates, we will set the org-roam-capture-templates variable which will overwrite the default, so the default one needs to be copied over. The default is:
```
'(("d" "default" plain
 "%?"
 :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
 :unnarrowed t))
```
- “d” is the key to trigger the template
- “default” is the name of the template
- “plain” is the type of text to insert, others with subheadings in notes are available, plain is most common
- ”%?” is the actual text being inserted, from org mode
- ”:if-new …” is the file name and the header - recommend not changing to allow unique note names, title of document is set based on title you give
- ”:unnarrowed t” org setting so full file is visible on creation
Opportunities to Configure:
- File name
- Text to insert in note
  - Prompt yourself to fill in information
Org Roam Manual: The Templating System
Topic Specific Template

Example, new template on programming languages
```
("l" "programming language" plain
 "* Characteristics\n\n- Family: %?\n- Inspired by: \n\n* Reference:\n\n"
 :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
 :unnarrowed t)
```
- ”* Characteristics” is the first heading
- ”- Family: …” bullet points to insert initially
- ”%?” where cursor will start
- “if-new…” unchanged from default template
Try it out with org-roam-node-insert and it will ask you for the template to use. Fill out note, then C-c C-c to save.
Creating a literature reference template

Notes for books, articles, etc.
```
("b" "book notes" plain
 "\n* Source\n\nAuthor: %^{Author}\nTitle: ${title}\nYear: %^{Year}\n\n* Summary\n\n%?"
 :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
 :unnarrowed t)
```
- “%^Author” is a prompt to fill in author
- “%^Year” is a prompt to fill in year
- ”${title} insert title of new note as literature name
- ”* Summary” first heading of note
Org Mode Manual: Template Expansion
Project template
```
("p" "project" plain "* Goals\n\n%?\n\n* Tasks\n\n** TODO Add initial tasks\n\n* Dates\n\n"
 :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n#+filetags: Project")
 :unnarrowed t)
```
- Entries for name, status, dates, tasks (with org TODO), references
- Notice in if-new has a filetags: section and file is tagged as project
  - Later you can use org-roam database to query project files like to use with org-agenda
  - Using selectrum/vertico with marginalia, can see tags in file list

Store Templates in Org Files

Instead of editing in elisp, can store the templates in org files

Create a new node after the name of your template, like “Note-Template-Book.org”

* Source

Author: %^{Author}
Title: ${title}
Year: %^{Year}

* Summary

%?

In actual template, remove the , in front of the *
Save the file and replace the init.el entry like following:

(org-roam-capture-templates
 '(("d" "default" plain
    "%?"
    :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
    :unnarrowed t))
 ("b" "book notes" plain (file "~/RoamNotes/Templates/Note-Template-Book.org")
  :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n")
  :unnarrowed t)
 )

Customizing the Default Template
```
("d" "default" plain "%?"
 :if-new (file+head "%<%Y%m%d%H%M%S>-${slug}.org" "#+title: ${title}\n#+date: %U\n")
 :unnarrowed t)
```
- “+date: %u” adds a date to meta of note
- You can customize the file name, like remove the timestamp, though beware of filename collisions
See further examples of possible inserts in Org Mode Manual: Template Expansion

If you change the template, keep in mind you’ll need to update older files using the template to match your new format.

Org Roam: The Best Way to Keep a Journal in Emacs

Sources:

Org Roam: The Best Way to Keep a Journal in Emacs Video

How to Build the Ultimate Productivity System (2022)

2../022-10-01 source Ali Abdaal

Layer 1

Calendar
Email
Task Manager
File management

Layer 2

Reading / Library
- Plus contextual notes
- To read list
Notes

Layer 3

“Second brain”