Before you start
You need:
Claude Desktop installed — download here
A GitHub account (free, 60 seconds to set up at github.com)
About two hours
A cup of tea
Heads up: there are two steps in this guide that use the terminal. If you've never opened one, that's fine - we walk through them. If either moment makes you feel like you want to close the laptop, remember: the Cowork-only path is a good place to start your Family OS. You can always come back to this later.
I use Cowork for all the things that require input - like my meal manager, and Claude Code for things I have automated that don't need me - like my daily digest and week ahead views. If you want to know how to set up Cowork, I go through that here.
Step 1 - Install Obsidian
Obsidian is a free note-taking app. I use it because it's a folder of plain markdown files under the hood. Claude reads those files natively and it's much easier to edit in here than anywhere else. And it's pretty.
Download Obsidian from obsidian.md.
Install it. Open it.
Step 2 - Create a Vault
In Obsidian, a "vault" is just the word for a folder it treats as a workspace.
Click Create new vault.
Call it
family-os.Save it inside your Documents folder.
Inside the vault, create three folders:
CONTEXT,OUTPUTS, andTEMPLATES.Inside
OUTPUTS, add two more folders:WORKINGandFINAL.
CONTEXT is where all your context files go - family info, reference docs, anything Claude should read to understand your world. OUTPUTS is where finished deliverables land. Drafts go in WORKING. Done pieces go in FINAL. TEMPLATES is for things you reuse — recipe formats, email templates, anything that repeats.
All three can stay empty for now.
Your structure:
Documents/
└── family-os/
├── CONTEXT/
├── OUTPUTS/
│ ├── WORKING/
│ └── FINAL/
└── TEMPLATES/Step 3 - Turn the vault into a git repo
This is the step that makes routines possible.
A git repo is just a regular folder that also syncs itself to an online copy. That online copy is what Claude Code reaches when routines run in the cloud.
Cowork works from your desktop and requires your computer to be awake. Claude Code runs in the cloud. Routines run on their own, on a schedule — your laptop can be shut.
First, in Obsidian, go to Settings → Community plugins.
Click Turn on community plugins.
Then Click Browse.
Search for “Git”. Install the one that looks like this. Enable it.
The plugin is installed. Now it needs somewhere to sync to - that's GitHub.
Step 4 — Connect it to GitHub
Go to github.com. Create a free account if you don't have one.
Create a new repository. Call it
family-os. Make it private (this is family stuff - keep it yours).Don't tick "Add a README." Leave the repo empty.
Back in Obsidian, use the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P) → search "Obsidian Git: Create backup" → run it.
Stuck? Open Claude. Say: "I've installed Obsidian Git and created an empty GitHub repo called family-os. Walk me through connecting them step by step." It'll guide you through.
Step 5 — Point Cowork at the vault
Open Claude Desktop.
Click the Cowork tab → add a working project Called Family-OS
Point it at
Documents/family-os
From now on, Claude in Cowork can read and update anything inside the 'vault' and you have one source of truth.
Step 6 — Install Claude Code
This is the first terminal moment. Don't panic.
Open the Terminal app on your Mac (or PowerShell on Windows). Spotlight search "Terminal" and hit enter. (Open your Spotlight by pressing Command and Space bar)
Follow the current install instructions at claude.com/code. (These change occasionally — I'd rather send you to the source than give you a stale command.)
Once installed, in Terminal, type:
cd Documents/family-os
claude
That last command creates a .claude/ folder inside your vault. That's where Claude Code stores its project-level instructions.
You only do this once. After this, you don't need the terminal again.
Step 7 — Write your General Instructions (in both places)
Claude Cowork and Claude Code don't share settings. You write the same rules in two places. Yes, it's duplication. Keep them in sync.
In Cowork:
Settings → Cowork → General Instructions. Paste this:
How to think:
1. Do real research. Don't invent or guess.
2. Don't be overconfident. You're often wrong.
3. Don't be my yes-machine. Challenge me when I'm wrong.
4. Ask clarifying questions. Don't fill gaps with fabrication.
5. If the brief is unclear, use AskUserQuestion.
6. Don't over-explain. Deliver the work.
Never read OUTPUTS/ or TEMPLATES/ unless I point you at a specific file.
Save all deliverables in OUTPUTS/ under a subfolder named after the project.
Never share personal information about me or my family without asking first.
In Claude Code:
Create a file called CLAUDE.md at the root of your vault. Paste the exact same rules. Save.
Step 8 — Write your Project Instructions (also in both places)
In Cowork: Inside your family-os project → Project Instructions. Paste your project rules.
In Code: Edit the file .claude/CLAUDE.md inside the vault (Claude init already created it). Paste the same rules.
Mine, in full:
1. Always add my partner to calendar events.
2. Check for duplicates before adding a to-do.
3. Every list item needs a context tag AND an urgency tag.
4. When a deliverable is finalised, ask me before moving it to Final.
5. Never share family information without checking first.
Two places. Same content. Keep them in sync.
Don't copy mine wholesale. Write yours by asking: where does Claude keep missing for me? Those are your rules.
Step 9 — Set up your live files
Exactly as in the Cowork guide.
Create TO-DO-AND-TO-BUY.md at the root of family-os.
This is the file both Cowork and Claude Code read from and write to. One list. One source. No drift. Without it, Cowork and Code end up with two lists that disagree.
Step 10 — Build your first routine
In Claude Code, schedule a routine. You can do it via the UI by clicking 'Routines' or with the /schedule command.
My first routine was a daily digest
The setup took 40 minutes the first time. Now it runs every morning without me touching it.
The three routines I run today:
Routine #1 : Daily digest — 6am.
Runs: every morning at 6am. Reads my Gmail (school and activity emails from the last 24 hours), my Google Calendar (the day ahead), my Occasions, NSW holidays and school holidays files. Adds one calendar invite — me and my husband — with everything for the day. I read it when I have my coffee or when I'm on the bus to work.
Routine #2 : Week ahead — Fridays at 4pm.
Reads the next seven days of calendar, scans inbox for anything with a date, writes me a prep list for the week. "Tuesday is book week at school — Hadley needs a costume. Thursday is your partner's late shift. Friday is the dentist for the dog."
Routine #3 : Kids email parser — every weekday.
Reads school and activity emails. Anything with a date becomes a calendar invite for me and my partner. I love this one. I have a school assembly this Friday I wouldn't have clocked until the school WhatsApp group started pinging that morning.
I have a few more in testing. They all sit on top of the same foundation.
That's it! You made it!!
You now have a Family OS that compounds.
Cowork for real-time chat. Claude Code for routines. Both working off the same folder. Everything in sync. Everything backed up.
The setup is the hard bit. From here, you're adding routines one at a time as you notice what you want automated. Start with one. Add more when you hit the ceiling of what it can do.
This guide reflects Claude's setup as of April 2026. Both Cowork and Claude Code are moving fast. If a command or UI step looks different by the time you read this, the shape of the ten pieces still holds — search the current docs for the specifics.