Build Your Private AI Second Brain
In 45 minutes we install a complete private AI stack, live — a personal agent that lives inside your own notes, thinks with a private model, and works offline. Then we build your first agent skill: a daily standup with your AI.
What you’ll build
Five free tools, wired into one private-AI workstation. Nothing depends on a single company’s cloud.
Handy
Offline speech-to-text. Press a key, talk, and it types for you — your voice never leaves your machine.
Obsidian
Your window into your notes. Turns a folder of Markdown files into a searchable, linked knowledge base.
VS Code
Inspect and edit the real files behind your agent — your notes, skills, and config — with a full code editor.
Hermes
The AI agent. Lives in your folder and can read, write, and act on your notes. From Nous Research.
Morpheus
The private, decentralized model that powers the agent — an OpenAI-compatible endpoint at api.mor.org.
cmux
A terminal built for running AI agents (macOS). On Windows or Linux, your normal terminal works.
The 45-minute session
Hands-on the whole way through. You finish with a working setup.
Welcome & course intro
The 5-day shape — one topic a day — the six values, and how peer learning works.
The big picture
What a private AI second brain is, and the five pieces that make it.
Install the tools
Kick off Handy, Obsidian, cmux, and the Hermes install — explained as they download.
Private LLM: Morpheus
Create an account, generate an API key, and see what's free.
Build the second brain
Create the folder, set up the PARA structure, open it as an Obsidian vault.
Run & connect the agent
Launch Hermes inside your folder and connect it to Morpheus.
Your first skill: daily standup
Create and run a skill that reviews your projects and saves a dated standup note.
Recap & what's next
Preview Module 2 and 3, homework, and the quiz.
The build, step by step
The full walkthrough — every command, link, and description — is in the student guide.
Knowledge check
Five quick questions to check your understanding, then five to answer in your own words for peer review.
1.What is the main purpose of the PARA method in your second brain?
2.Why do we launch the Hermes agent from inside your SecondBrain folder?
3.What role does Morpheus play in the stack?
4.Handy keeps your voice private because it…
5.You connect Hermes to Morpheus by setting which two things?
Explain in your own words
Answer these in your own words. Explaining a concept is the best test that you understand it. You can check your results now; sign in when you save to keep them in your account.
Part of a 5-module course
Each module is a standalone hands-on session. This is Module 1.
Join us live
Register on Luma to get the student guide and the livestream link. Bring a laptop and a real project you want your AI to help you track.