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Dex Folder Structure (PARA Method)

Dex uses the PARA method for organization: Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives.

What is PARA?

PARA organizes information by actionability:

  • Projects = time-bound work with clear outcomes (has an end date)
  • Areas = ongoing responsibilities (never "finish")
  • Resources = reference material you consult
  • Archives = inactive items for historical reference

Structure Overview

Dex creates this structure during onboarding (adapted to your role):

Dex/
├── 04-Projects/                 # Time-bound initiatives
├── 05-Areas/                    # Ongoing responsibilities
│   ├── People/               # Person pages
│   │   ├── Internal/         # Colleagues (same email domain)
│   │   └── External/         # Customers, partners (different domain)
│   ├── Companies/            # External organizations (universal)
│   ├── Career/               # Career development (via /career-setup)
│   └── [Role-specific]/     # Accounts/, Team/, Content/, etc.
├── 06-Resources/                # Reference material
│   ├── Dex_System/           # System documentation
│   ├── Learnings/            # Compound knowledge
│   └── Quarterly_Reviews/    # Quarterly reflection and strategic reviews
├── 07-Archives/                 # Historical records
│   ├── Projects/             # Completed projects
│   ├── Plans/                # Archived daily/weekly plans
│   └── Reviews/              # Archived reviews
├── 00-Inbox/                    # Capture zone
│   ├── Meetings/             # Meeting notes
│   └── Ideas/                # Quick captures
├── System/                      # Configuration
│   ├── Templates/            # Note templates
│   ├── pillars.yaml          # Strategic pillars
│   ├── user-profile.yaml     # User preferences
│   └── Dex_Backlog.md        # System improvement backlog
├── 03-Tasks/                    # Task management
│   └── Tasks.md              # Main task backlog
├── 01-Quarter_Goals/            # Quarterly planning (optional)
│   └── Quarter_Goals.md      # Current quarter's 3-5 goals
└── 02-Week_Priorities/          # Weekly planning (optional)
    └── Week_Priorities.md    # Current week's Top 3

Note: The numbered folders (01-, 02-, 03-) appear after running the respective planning commands (/quarter-plan, /week-plan, /triage). Before then, you'll just see the PARA folders (04-07) plus 00-Inbox/ and System/.

04-Projects/

Time-bound initiatives with clear goals and deliverables.

What makes something a project?

  • Clear outcome (specific deliverable or result)
  • End date (defined completion point)
  • Active work (you're currently working on it)

Examples

  • Product launches
  • Feature development
  • Migrations or technical upgrades
  • Campaign execution

When complete

Move to 07-Archives/Projects/ with completion date and learnings.

Key distinction:
Project = has an end ("Ship payments redesign")
Area = ongoing ("Customer success management")

05-Areas/

Ongoing responsibilities that require maintenance but never "finish."

Default Areas (Everyone)

  • People/ — Relationships with colleagues, customers, partners
    • Internal/ — Teammates, managers, cross-functional partners (same email domain)
    • External/ — Customers, prospects, partners (different email domain)
  • Companies/ — External organizations you interact with

Role-Specific Areas

Most users only need the universal areas (People and Companies). You can create additional areas as needed for your workflow.

Career Area (Optional)

Created via /career-setup command:

  • Career/ — Career development tracking
    • Current_Role.md — Job description and responsibilities
    • Career_Ladder.md — Competency framework
    • Review_History.md — Performance reviews
    • Growth_Goals.md — Long-term career goals
    • Evidence/ — Achievements, feedback, skills
      • Achievements/ — Completed work and impact
      • Feedback/ — Performance feedback received
      • Skills/ — Skills development tracking

Key distinction:
Area = ongoing ("Manage customer relationships")
Project = has an end ("Onboard Acme Corp")

06-Resources/

Reference material you consult but aren't actively working on.

06-Resources/
├── Dex_System/           # Documentation about how Dex works
│   ├── Dex_Jobs_to_Be_Done.md
│   ├── Dex_System_Guide.md
│   └── Folder_Structure.md (this file)
├── Learnings/            # Compound knowledge (frameworks, lessons learned)
└── Quarterly_Reviews/    # Quarterly reflection and strategic reviews

Note: Templates are stored in System/Templates/ for easy access during file creation.

What belongs here?

  • Things you reference repeatedly
  • Knowledge that compounds over time
  • Context for future decisions
  • Lasting value beyond current work

Examples

  • Frameworks and mental models
  • Best practices and lessons learned
  • Process documentation
  • Research and competitive analysis

Key distinction:
Resources = you actively reference this
Archives = historical record, rarely consulted

07-Archives/

Historical records and completed work.

07-Archives/
├── Projects/        # Completed or cancelled projects
├── Plans/           # Daily and weekly plans (auto-archived)
└── Reviews/         # Daily, weekly, and quarterly reviews (auto-archived)

Auto-Archiving

Plans and reviews automatically move here:

  • Daily plans → after /daily-plan runs
  • Daily reviews → after /daily-review runs
  • Weekly plans → after /week-plan runs
  • Weekly reviews → after /week-review runs
  • Quarterly reviews → after /quarter-review runs

Manual Archiving

Projects move here when complete:

  • Add completion date and outcome
  • Document key learnings
  • Keep original filename for searchability

Retention

Keep archives indefinitely—they're your historical record and learning source for quarterly reviews and career reflections.

00-Inbox/

Capture zone for quick notes before you organize them.

00-Inbox/
├── Meetings/        # Meeting notes (auto-created by /process-meetings)
│   └── YYYY-MM-DD/  # Meetings organized by date
└── Ideas/           # Quick captures and random thoughts

Philosophy

Inbox is for capture, not organization. Don't worry about structure—just get it down.

Workflow

  1. Capture — Drop everything here first
  2. Triage — Run /triage to process and organize
  3. Move — Files route to Projects/, Areas/, or Resources/

Inbox Zero

Aim to triage weekly. If something sits 30+ days:

  • Not important → delete
  • Reference → move to 06-Resources/
  • Dormant project → archive

System/

Configuration and system files.

System/
├── Templates/                # Note templates (5 core templates)
├── Session_Learnings/        # Auto-captured improvements during /review
├── pillars.yaml              # Strategic pillars (your main focus areas)
├── user-profile.yaml         # User preferences and settings
├── claude-code-state.json    # Tracks last changelog check
├── Dex_Backlog.md            # System improvement backlog (AI-ranked)
├── usage_log.md              # Feature adoption tracking (for /dex-level-up)
└── Demo/                     # Demo mode sandbox (if enabled)

Most users won't edit this directly—Dex manages it. But when you want to adjust strategic direction or preferences, the key files are here.

Background automation: Dex also includes scripts in .scripts/ that run automatically:

  • check-anthropic-changelog.cjs — Checks for Claude updates every 6 hours
  • learning-review-prompt.sh — Daily 5pm check for pending learnings
  • These run via macOS Launch Agents and require no user intervention

Planning Hierarchy (Optional)

If you enable quarterly and weekly planning, everything connects from pillars → quarters → weeks → days:

  1. Strategic Pillars (System/pillars.yaml)
    Your ongoing focus areas—NOT time-bound goals, but the broad themes you'll always focus on (configured during onboarding)

  2. Quarter Goals (01-Quarter_Goals/Quarter_Goals.md)
    Time-bound outcomes (3 months) advancing pillars (via /quarter-plan)

  3. Week Priorities (02-Week_Priorities/Week_Priorities.md)
    Top 3 this week advancing quarterly goals (via /week-plan)

  4. Daily Plan (07-Archives/Plans/)
    Today's work supporting weekly priorities (auto-archived after /daily-plan)

  5. Tasks (03-Tasks/Tasks.md)
    Backlog tagged with #pillar [Q1-2] [Week-1] connecting to goals

Note: Weekly planning (02-Week_Priorities/) is always available. Quarterly planning (01-Quarter_Goals/) is optional and created when you run /quarter-plan.

03-Tasks/ (Task Management)

Central task backlog managed by Work MCP.

03-Tasks/
└── Tasks.md          # Main task file with priority sections

This file is created when you:

  • Run /triage and extract tasks from meeting notes
  • Use Work MCP tools to create tasks
  • Run /daily-plan (creates if missing)

Structure

# Tasks

## This Week
[Tasks promoted from backlog for this week]

## P0 - Urgent (max 3)
[Critical/urgent tasks]

## P1 - Important (max 5)
[Important tasks]

## P2 - Normal (max 10)
[Normal priority]

## P3 - Backlog
[Lower priority backlog]

Tasks sync bidirectionally with person pages, company pages, and meeting notes via task IDs (^task-YYYYMMDD-XXX).

Quick Reference

Folder Purpose Lifespan Created When
04-Projects/ What you're building Until project ships Onboarding
05-Areas/ Ongoing responsibilities Indefinite Onboarding
06-Resources/ Reference material Indefinite Onboarding
07-Archives/ Historical record Indefinite Onboarding
00-Inbox/ Quick captures Days (until triaged) Onboarding
System/ Configuration Indefinite Onboarding
03-Tasks/ Task backlog Indefinite First /triage or /daily-plan
01-Quarter_Goals/ Quarterly goals Per quarter First /quarter-plan
02-Week_Priorities/ Weekly priorities Per week First /week-plan

First Time Setup

New to Dex? Run /setup or just ask to start onboarding. The structure will be customized for your role and working style.

The numbered folders (01-, 02-, 03-) appear as you use their respective features. Don't worry if you don't see them immediately—they'll be created when needed.

Demo Mode

Want to explore Dex with sample data before adding your own? Run /dex-demo on to work with pre-populated demo content for "Alex Chen," a fictional PM at TechCorp. Demo mode creates a sandboxed System/Demo/ folder so your real vault stays untouched.

Related Documentation

  • CLAUDE.md — Core system configuration
  • 06-Resources/Dex_System/Dex_Jobs_to_Be_Done.md — Why the system exists
  • 06-Resources/Dex_System/Dex_System_Guide.md — How to use everything
  • System/pillars.yaml — Your strategic pillars configuration