Have you ever had this experience with note-taking apps? You start off really enthusiastic, collecting and organizing information like crazy, but then it gets more and more complicated over time until you eventually just... stop using it? You wanted to create this brilliant second brain, but somewhere along the way it just became a digital trash can for information.
I've been consistently using Obsidian myself, but honestly, the information just keeps piling up day after day, and organizing all of it is no joke. Getting information from websites, emails, messages, newsletters, and social media into Obsidian was super easy. But organizing it? That was tougher than I thought. And actually retrieving that information later? Even harder.
That's when I discovered Gemini CLI. This tool helped me solve the fundamental problem of information classification. One YouTube video really convinced me of its potential.
Gemini CLI and Obsidian are honestly a perfect match. Since Obsidian manages notes as files, it's ideal for analysis using Gemini CLI.
Why Is Information Classification So Damn Hard?
Q1. What's the real reason people give up on note-taking apps?
There's one main reason why people can't stick with note-taking consistently: organizing information is difficult.
Even though I've been using Obsidian consistently, the information keeps overflowing day by day, and storing it all properly is really challenging. When information gets dumped everywhere and the note app becomes oversaturated, it gets ignored. The note app that was supposed to be your second brain just becomes an information dumpster.
Q2. What's harder - storing information or classifying it?
This is really interesting. Getting tons of information from websites, emails, messages, newsletters, and social media into Obsidian was incredibly easy.
But the problem came after that:
- Setting classification criteria: Having to think about which category each piece of information belongs to
- Duplicate classification issues: Where to put information that spans multiple topics
- Consistency of classification criteria: Forgetting your initial classification standards over time
- Difficulty of reclassification: The burden of reorganizing when existing classifications don't fit
Eventually, retrieving that information became even more difficult.
Q3. What should information classification look like for a true second brain?
When I started using Obsidian, my initial idea was to collect all the information I needed in this second brain called Obsidian and pull it out whenever I needed it.
For this to work, these are the key elements:
- Logical and consistent classification system
- Content-based automatic classification
- Flexible reclassification system
- Fast search and connectivity
How Does Gemini CLI Solve the Information Classification Problem?
Q1. What is Gemini CLI and why is it useful for information classification?
Gemini CLI is a tool that lets you use AI through the command line, utilizing Gemini 2.5 Pro to work in the terminal.
From an information classification perspective, Gemini CLI's biggest advantage is that it can read the file system and easily handle folder classification. The AI actually reads and analyzes file contents to classify them into appropriate categories.
Q2. How exactly does it classify information?
It was honestly an amazing experience. I installed Gemini CLI on my sleeping MacBook, provided the path to my Obsidian folder stored in iCloud, and asked it to classify the folders the way I wanted.
I provided the folder path, communicated my desired folder classification requirements, and asked it to read all the files in the folder and move them according to my preferred classification structure.
Q3. Is it really that simple to solve?
Everything was resolved with just 3 permissions:
- Permission for folder creation: Creating new classification category folders
- Permission for folder movement: Moving files to appropriate folders based on their content
- Permission for deleting old folders: Cleaning up empty or unnecessary folders
With these 3 permissions, my previously chaotic folder structure was perfectly organized exactly the way I wanted.
What Are More Effective Strategies for Information Classification?
The Inbox System: Core Classification Strategy
I think this folder classification method could be quite useful. But here's a tip: if you just classify information randomly, there's a high chance you'll never look at it again.
So I created an Inbox folder and send all initially saved information to the Inbox. Then, after at least briefly reviewing it, I classify that information.
When using Gemini CLI this way, you can easily move information from the Inbox folder to your existing folders. This has several advantages:
- Primary filtering: Only formally classify information you've seen once
- Batch processing: Classify multiple pieces of information at once
- Consistency maintenance: AI learns your existing folder structure for consistent classification
- Reduced burden: Just save to Inbox without worrying about classification initially
What Should You Be Careful About When Classifying Information?
File System Risks
However, there are definitely things to be careful about. Since Gemini CLI operates with file system permissions, wrong commands could delete your files.
When doing information classification work, please follow these guidelines:
- Backup is essential: Always backup your entire Obsidian folder before working
- Step-by-step progress: Don't classify all files at once; test with small amounts
- Clear instructions: Provide specific and clear classification criteria to the AI
Security Considerations
You also need to be careful about security aspects. Since AI can read file contents:
- Manage files containing sensitive personal information separately
- Exclude confidential work information from classification
- Use local-only settings when necessary
Insights We Can Gain From All This
(1) Reverse-utilizing AI for Information Management Instead of Information Production
As AI becomes widespread, information overload is happening. In times like these, it's important to reverse-utilize AI to classify and store information in ways that suit us better. This can be called a new way of using AI.
We can now delegate to AI the repetitive tasks of reading and analyzing files and finding appropriate folders for them.
(2) Making Personalized Knowledge Management Systems a Reality
AI learns your existing folder structure and classification patterns to consistently classify information. This means you can create a customized knowledge management system just for you.
You can communicate your preferred method to AI and ask it to classify accordingly, or get insights when you don't know how to classify. By classifying information to suit you, you can truly make it into a second brain.
Final Thoughts: Survival Strategy for the Information Overload Era
In an era overflowing with information, what's important isn't getting information, but organizing and utilizing it well. An automated classification system using AI can be a realistic solution to this problem.
Conclusion
To create a true second brain, information classification and organization is more crucial than information storage. Using Gemini CLI, AI can handle this most difficult part for you.
Of course, it's not perfect yet and there are things to be careful about, but it's definitely a tool that shows new possibilities for automating information classification. In this flood of information that AI creates, it seems like we've entered an era where we paradoxically use AI to organize and manage information.
Why don't you try reverse-utilizing AI to classify and store information in ways that suit you better, creating a true second brain?