AI Review — Kobold Internal

Date: 2026-04-20 Attendees: Ben Kennedy, Jeff Kennedy

Summary

Extended planning session focused on Superintendent system architecture, feature wishlist, and scaling strategy. Jeff walked through desired input/output behavior for the system. Ben demonstrated the portal and Obsidian CLI integration. Key decisions: use keyword-directed multiple vaults; pursue Google Cloud-hosted Gmail MCP server; build personal system to completion before expanding to others at Kobold. Mark Andreychuk engaged with prior demo and suggested Ranald Hollan as Kobold's internal champion.

System Architecture & Development

• Ben's focus: making the core tool modular and easy to set up — thinking through what would be overwhelming to a new user and addressing it inline
• Replaced Windows task scheduler approach with a Google Cloud-hosted MCP server for Gmail
  • Created a Google Cloud project, registered an app, generated OAuth credentials
  • Hosts a custom Gmail MCP server inside the superintendent project directory
  • Goal: download and it just works, no external dependencies or manual scheduler setup
  • Bug: authentication error when launching the new Gmail MCP server — cause unknown, needs investigation
• All MCP servers (Gmail, Mermaid) are localized inside the superintendent project folder — not global installs
• No MCP tools found for Outlook; Microsoft likely focused on its own ecosystem
• Using legitimate Gmail tools confirmed good for scalability
• server.js generates the portal HTML; generate.js pulls data from the Kobold vault and populates it dynamically — adding new customers/sections requires only vault updates (no HTML rewrites for existing sections, but new section types need HTML additions)
• Obsidian CLI fully integrated — enables smart navigation, avoids dumping all markdown into context window

Portal Architecture

• server.js: runs locally, generates all HTML, instructs the local network to start the Kobold portal
• generate.js: reads vault data and writes portal content dynamically — if the vault is updated with a new company, the portal reflects it automatically
• Could be hosted as a cloud-hosted website but currently local

Feature Wishlist (Jeff's Inputs)

Smart Reminders & Note Capture

• Capture verbal/typed inputs at any time (e.g., via "Dispatch" or similar phone tool)
• System routes input to the right project automatically based on context — not just a to-do list
• Time/date-based reminders: "make sure to mention X to Paul" → reminder fires before a meeting with Paul
• Topic-based pings: log a technical idea (e.g., downhole caliper concept) → if a customer later mentions a related problem (e.g., casing deformation), system pings the user
• Location-aware notes: "I need X from Home Depot" → "you're at Home Depot, did you need anything?"
• Ongoing lists: shopping lists, to-buy lists queryable by store or category

Project Management

• Ideas dictated over time accumulate into project context
• Can request Claude to merge notes, generate shopping lists, produce step-by-step plans
• Common flow: accumulate notes → combine/prep for meeting → file meeting transcript → continue project
• Rough notes area for temporary inputs — can be migrated to vault or deleted
• Timestamps on combined notes could be added per entry if requested

Customer Org Charts

• Mini org chart per customer (e.g., Tundra Oil & Gas) — who the bosses are, who to copy on emails
• Ben: Mermaid tree structure is a compelling fit for this
• Ben: action item to determine if Mermaid is optimal for this use case

Chronological Calendar / Pipeline View

• Centralized, vertical chronological view of all upcoming events and opportunities
• Tracks: estimated tool ready dates, potential jobs with loose timing (e.g., "Bonterra fracking job in June"), placeholder internal events (e.g., renting a pump May 4th)
• Ops already populates confirmed jobs; this would add a forecast layer for tentative/pipeline items
• Should be editable verbally (e.g., "tell Claude that tool X is delayed 2 weeks")
• Backend integration with Claude would require a duplex data pipeline — more complex than current read-only portal
• Jeff's suggestion: start as a personal tool (Jeff as the initial data master), expand access later

Document & Report Generation

• Process meeting notes → generate SR&ED-ready reports with source links and images from PDFs
• System should contribute to and create project documents, not just consume them
• Link source material (SPE papers, data sheets, PDFs) by tag/project — files Claude can't fully read should at least be linked

Multiple Vaults & Keyword Routing

• Multiple vaults are technically trivial to add; Claude only loads the relevant vault when directed
• Best routing method: use specific keywords when dictating (e.g., "Kobold engineering vault") — explicit direction, no complex AI reasoning required
• Example vault split: one for engineering projects, one for BD/CRM
• Reduces complexity by compartmentalizing context per session
• Personal work vault first — perfect it for one user before expanding to others at Kobold

Scaling to Kobold

• Mark Andreychuk was enthusiastic after seeing a prior demo
• Mark suggested Ranald Hollan (mechanical engineer, recently graduated, some AI experience — Python, Replit) as the internal champion for the project at Kobold
• Jeff's view: system is still a prototype; needs stress-testing with actual Kobold workflows before scaling
• Need to define specific use cases and get a few to the finish line before adding scope
• Jeff characterized Ben as a consultant with other commitments (referenced Starfish)

Graphify Plugin

• Jeff introduced Graphify — an Obsidian plugin claiming 70x token reduction and 10x memory capacity increase
• Ben suspects these claims refer to the difference between using Graphify vs. dumping all markdown into context every time — not a true efficiency gain over a properly structured vault
• Ben found the Graphify website "bizarre" (deceptive share link)
• Some features (graph view, relationship linking) already exist in Obsidian
• Decision: Ben to investigate further given token saving claims

Stale / Conflicting Data

• Identified as an open design problem: how to handle vault info that changes over time
• Potential approaches discussed: bias searches toward recent conversations, date-filter queries (year-to-date), manual audits
• No final solution chosen — marked for research

Other Notes

• Email attachments as inputs: may be possible via the Google Apps integration being set up; IMAP likely insufficient
• Skills should be organized per vault (not global) — Claude reads vault-specific skills before loading vault, preventing global overhead
• Onboarding: plan to build an interview-based setup process so new users can get started without manual config
• Jeff interested in getting a budget line for tokens, subscriptions, and consulting for this project
• Ben: running Claude Code instances linked to a Pro account may provide effectively unlimited usage on one subscription — no per-token billing at that tier

Action Items

Ben Kennedy:

• Research Graphify — Carpathy method; assess whether token saving claims hold vs. current vault structure
• Investigate Mermaid for customer org charts — determine if it's optimal for tree/hierarchy views
• Fix system bug — notes are incorrectly being added to memory.md
• Implement multi-vault keyword routing — route inputs to specialized vaults based on stated keyword
• Update CLAUDE.md — add rule specifying downloads folder location
• Investigate stale/conflicting data — research methods for biasing searches toward recent content
• Book dentist appointment (personal)

Jeff Kennedy:

• Define vault names and contexts for specialized Kobold vaults (engineering, BD, etc.)
• Send Kobold styling template to Ben for the landing page command
• Send skill file details to Ben for implementation as a styling command
• Determine timing and availability for next sessions; identify 2–3 key use cases to develop to completion
• Reply to Darcy regarding speaker order approval (personal)
• Check with Al re: unspecified topic (personal)
• Send birthday song to Ava (personal)
• Complete Freda sign-up (personal)
• Organize flight planning notes — send to Ben via Discord or iMessage