Connect your GitHub-based PKM to any MCP-compatible AI client.
Brainstem connects your personal knowledge base on GitHub to AI chat clients like Claude Mobile, giving your AI fast, simple access to your notes and context. Currently supports .md, .txt, .json, .yaml, .yml, .toml, .rst, and .adoc files.
How it works
1. You maintain a "second brain"
Notes, docs, or a knowledge base in a private GitHub repo. Maybe you use Obsidian, Claude Code, or just markdown files.
2. Connect it to Brain Stem
Install our GitHub App on your repo. We sync your files and index them for semantic search.
3. Your MCP-compatible AI client can access it
Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Claude.ai, or other MCP-compatible clients can search and retrieve from your brain.
Ways to save
Email forwarding
Forward any email to your brainstem address and it's saved as an inbox note. Set up via the brain_account tool in your AI client.
Web clipper
A browser bookmarklet that extracts and saves articles with one click. Available on your OAuth success page.
Inbox tools
Ask your AI to save notes, reminders, or thoughts directly via brain_inbox or brain_inbox_save.
Tools
Brainstem exposes eight tools over MCP. Your AI client discovers them automatically when connected.
search_brain — Semantic search across your knowledge base. Returns relevant passages with source links.
get_document — Retrieve the full contents of a file by path.
list_recent — List recently modified files, optionally filtered by path prefix.
list_folders — Browse the folder structure of your knowledge base.
brain_inbox — Save a note with an interactive preview (Claude Desktop).
brain_inbox_save — Save a note directly to the inbox (all clients).
brain_account — Set up email-to-brain forwarding and vanity aliases.
about — Information about your Brainstem instance and available tools.
That's it. No complex setup. Push to GitHub, forward an email, clip a webpage, or ask your AI to take a note — it's all searchable within a minute.
Security & Privacy
Your files are stored on Cloudflare R2 (encrypted at rest) and indexed by Cloudflare AI Search. The platform operator has technical access to stored content for operational purposes. Do not connect repositories containing secrets, credentials, or highly sensitive data. You can disconnect and delete your data at any time by uninstalling the GitHub App.
Already connected? Get your auth token · View setup