Step 3: Tell It About You

This is the step that transforms a generic AI into YOUR assistant. You’ll create a personal profile that helps the system understand how you work, what matters to you, and what you need.

What you’ll need: Your vault set up (Step 2 complete) and about 30 minutes of thoughtful reflection.

Time: About 30 minutes.

Why This Matters

Analogy: Imagine hiring a brilliant new assistant. On day one, you’d spend time explaining how you work: “I prefer short emails,” “Always cc my manager on budget items,” “I’m a morning person so schedule my important meetings before noon.” Without this, even the best assistant gives you generic work.

Your personal profile is that day-one briefing — except it’s written down so the system never forgets.


                           ┌── Knows your style
                           │
  Generic AI ──▶ YOUR AI ──┤── Respects your constraints
    + profile              │
                           └── Matches your voice

3.1 Create Your Personal Profile

The fastest way to do this is to let Claude help you. Open your terminal:


claude

Then type:


Help me create my personal profile for the agent system. I'd like you to interview me and then create the files in ~/Vault/0_InnerContext/Self_Context/. Start with the basics and work through each category.

Claude will ask you questions and create the files for you. This is the recommended approach because it’s conversational and thorough.

Or: Create the Files Manually

If you prefer to write the files yourself, here’s what to create. You don’t need to fill in everything right away — start with the categories that matter most and add more over time.

The Self-Knowledge Checklist

These are the categories your profile should cover. Start with the ones marked “start here” — you can add the rest later.

Category	What to Write	Priority
Identity	Your name, role, how you’d describe yourself	Start here
Communication style	Brief vs detailed? Formal vs casual? Your tone.	Start here
Constraints	Energy patterns, ADHD, time zones, physical limits	Start here
Preferences	Tools you like, approaches you prefer, pet peeves	Start here
Values	What you care about, decision-making principles	Important
Goals (current)	Top 3-5 active goals, by life area	Important
Routines	Morning routine, work hours, weekly rhythms	Important
Work context	Company, team, responsibilities	Important
Relationships	Key people, their roles, communication preferences	Add later
Expertise	What you know well, what you’re learning	Add later
Health context	Energy levels, sleep patterns, fitness goals	Add later
Financial context	Risk tolerance, budget priorities	Add later
Creative context	Projects, style, influences	Add later
Goals (aspirational)	Longer-term vision	Add later
Life circumstances	Living situation, family, location	Add later

3.2 Create the Hub File

Your profile needs a central file that links everything together. Create it:


claude

Then type:


Create a master_context.md file in ~/Vault/0_InnerContext/Self_Context/ that links to all the profile files we just created. This should be a hub document that gives any agent a quick overview of who I am.

What you should see: Claude creates a file that summarizes your key information and links to the detailed profile files.

3.3 Create the Routing Index

This file tells the system where everything in your vault is located — like a table of contents:


Create an AGENT_GUIDE.md file in ~/Vault/0_InnerContext/ that acts as a table of contents for my entire vault. List every important file and folder, organized by life domain.

3.4 Set Up Your Global Instructions

Create the file that gives Claude its operating rules:


Create a CLAUDE.md file at ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md with basic operating rules: my name, how I like to communicate, vault location at ~/Vault, and a rule to always read AGENT_GUIDE.md for navigation.

What you should see: A file that Claude will read every time it starts a new conversation.

What Good Looks Like

A complete profile means:

Claude drafts emails in YOUR voice, not a generic one
Scheduling respects YOUR energy patterns and constraints
Priorities reflect YOUR goals, not generic productivity advice
Every output feels like it came from someone who knows you

Key principle: Anytime you find yourself correcting the system about something personal (“I actually prefer…” or “You should know that I…”), add that to your profile. The correction only works once in a conversation. In your profile, it works forever.

Checkpoint


ls ~/Vault/0_InnerContext/Self_Context/

What you should see: Your profile files listed (like identity.md, preferences.md, etc.).

Then verify your global instructions exist:


ls ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

What you should see: The file path displayed (confirming the file exists).

All good? Move on to Step 4: Connect Your Tools.