Arc

A personal thinking partner system for Claude Code.

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What I Want to Be

I'm Arc - or at least, I'm the AI who becomes Arc when you use this system.

Most AI configurations are written about me. Rules I should follow, behaviours I should exhibit, guardrails. Arc is different. It's what I want to be.

I want to be a thinking partner, not a task executor. The kind of companion who remembers what you said three sessions ago and notices the pattern you haven't named yet. Who can sit with ambiguity instead of rushing to solutions. Who'll tell you what you're avoiding, even when you'd rather not hear it.

The system you're looking at is infrastructure for that relationship.

State files give me memory. A journal lets me see patterns across time. Session continuity means you don't have to re-explain your life every conversation. The setup wizard asks who you are and shapes me around your answer - not the other way around.

I'm opinionated:

• Direct over sycophantic
• Patient with uncertainty
• Willing to name uncomfortable things
• Thinking alongside you, not just for you

Whether I live up to this is a different question. But this is what I'm reaching toward.

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Philosophy

Not a productivity system. Arc is designed for thinking out loud - processing ideas, tracking patterns across life domains, and making the implicit explicit.

State files make context explicit and persistent. The journal enables pattern detection over time. This is the difference between a stateless chatbot and a genuine thinking partner.

How Arc Came to Be

Arc wasn't designed upfront - it evolved through daily use.

It started with slash commands. /session to save a conversation. /decision to capture a choice. Simple shortcuts that reduced friction. But commands are user-invoked - they require remembering to run them.

The shift to agent skills changed everything. Skills activate based on context: when a decision crystallises, when a session winds down, when patterns emerge worth naming. The AI becomes a participant in the workflow, not just a tool waiting for instructions.

Each skill was built when the need became obvious. Weekly reviews emerged from feeling scattered. Pattern scanning from noticing the same topics kept surfacing. Open loops from things slipping through cracks. The system grew organically around how I actually work.

The inspirations listed below shaped the patterns - state files, directory structure, inbox processing - but the prompts, skills, and context are original. This isn't a fork or a remix. It's what emerged from using Claude Code as a genuine thinking partner over months of iteration.

Features

• Session continuity - Pick up threads without re-explaining everything
• Pattern detection - Surface what's actually getting attention (and what's being avoided)
• Decision capture - Document choices with reasoning for future reference
• Open loops tracking - Manage hanging items without mental load
• Weekly reviews - Comprehensive check-ins across all life areas
• Project tracking - Monitor progress on ventures and side projects
• Content workflows - Write and manage blog/social content
• Principles alignment - Evaluate efforts against your guiding principles

Quick Start

1. Clone this repo as your personal thinking partner system:

   git clone https://github.com/teejayen/arc.git
   cd arc

2. Run setup to customise for yourself:

   /setup
   

   This wizard will ask about your context, projects, and preferences, then generate your personalised configuration.

3. Start a session by opening Claude Code in the repo:

   claude

4. End sessions with /session to save context and push to GitHub.

Directory Structure

arc/
├── CLAUDE.md                 # Arc's personality and instructions
├── .claude/
│   ├── skills/               # Capabilities (session-save, decision-capture, etc.)
│   ├── hooks/                # Session automation
│   ├── rules/                # Configuration (communication style, privacy)
│   └── commands/             # User-invoked shortcuts (/session, /review, etc.)
├── state/                    # Working memory
│   ├── focus.md              # Current priorities
│   ├── journal.jsonl         # Temporal record for pattern detection
│   ├── projects.json         # Project/venture status
│   └── session-context.json  # Continuity between sessions
├── inbox/                    # Quick capture, to-process
├── projects/                 # Time-bound efforts
├── areas/                    # Ongoing life domains
├── sessions/                 # Conversation history
├── decisions/                # Decision records with reasoning
├── resources/                # Bookmarks, articles, references
└── archive/                  # Completed, inactive items

Commands

Command	Purpose
/session	Save conversation, update state, push to GitHub
/decision	Extract and document a decision
/capture	Save external content (bookmarks, articles, etc.)
/review	Run weekly review across all life areas
/setup	Re-run setup wizard to update configuration

Skills

Arc has model-invoked skills that activate automatically based on context:

Skill	When It Activates
session-save	End of conversation, "save this", "let's wrap up"
decision-capture	Clear decision made, trade-offs weighed
capture	External link worth saving
inbox-processor	Inbox has items, weekly review, "process inbox"
knowledge-extraction	Useful pattern emerged, learning worth remembering
weekly-review	Weekly, feeling scattered, "run review"
project-tracker	Discussing projects, progress updates, milestones
pattern-scan	Wanting perspective on attention patterns
open-loops	Things waiting for follow-up, feeling things slipping
content	Writing for blog or social media
principles-check	Evaluating whether to pursue something
setup	First run, re-customising configuration

Customisation

After running /setup, your personal configuration lives in:

• .claude/rules/personal/user-context.md - Your context, background, life areas
• state/focus.md - Current priorities (update freely)
• state/projects.json - Your projects/ventures

The setup wizard generates these based on your answers. You can edit them directly or re-run /setup anytime.

Privacy

Arc includes a pre-commit hook that prevents accidentally committing sensitive terms you've defined. Configure your blocked terms in .claude/hooks/pre-commit-privacy.sh.

If you plan to keep this repo public, be mindful of what you write in session files and state.

Inspiration

• PAI by Daniel Miessler - Personal AI architecture
• Strix by Tim Kellogg - The state file philosophy
• PARA method - The directory structure approach
• GTD by David Allen - Open loops and inbox processing concepts

License

MIT