pull-openbrain-gemini-starter

name	pull-openbrain-gemini-starter
description	Pull the latest changes from the upstream openbrain-gemini-starter repo, diff against this vault's infrastructure, and interactively apply each change with user approval.

/pull-openbrain-gemini-starter

Pull improvements from the upstream openbrain-gemini-starter repo into this vault. The inverse of /push-openbrain-gemini-starter: that skill pushes vault improvements upstream; this skill pulls template improvements downstream.

The template repo must be cloned locally — by default at ~/openbrain-gemini-starter. Set the OPENBRAIN_TEMPLATE_DIR environment variable to override.

Inputs

• $1 (optional): scope hint — one of all (default), skills, hooks, claude-md, templates, obsidian, or a specific path like .gemini/skills/capture-meeting/SKILL.md. Limits which files the skill compares.
• $2 (optional): --dry-run — show the planned changes but do not write anything to the vault.

Scope: what's comparable

Same in-scope paths as /push-openbrain-gemini-starter, but in the reverse direction (template → vault):

Template path	Vault path	Notes
.gemini/skills/*/SKILL.md	.gemini/skills/*/SKILL.md	Procedure improvements
.openbrain/pre-commit.sh	.openbrain/pre-commit.sh	Pre-commit linter
.openbrain/env.example	.openbrain/env.example	Secrets template
+ Extras/Templates/*.md	+ Extras/Templates/*.md	Note templates
GEMINI.md	GEMINI.md	Operating manual (most delicate — see §"GEMINI.md handling")
.obsidian/app.json, core-plugins.json, appearance.json, graph.json	same	Only universally useful settings
bootstrap/	bootstrap/	Bootstrap scripts — include in diff, but flag for careful review
README.md	README.md	Only if the template has real improvements

Out of scope (never touch from template):

• Content folders: + Atlas/, + Spaces/, + Inbox/, + Sources/, + Archive/
• ~/.claude/projects/.../memory/ — auto-memory
• ~/.config/openbrain/.env — secrets
• .obsidian/workspace.json, .obsidian/plugins/* — per-machine state

Procedure

1. Fetch latest template

Resolve paths:

VAULT="$(pwd)"
TEMPLATE="${OPENBRAIN_TEMPLATE_DIR:-$HOME/openbrain-gemini-starter}"

If the template directory exists, pull the latest changes; otherwise clone it:

if [ -d "$TEMPLATE/.git" ]; then
  cd "$TEMPLATE" && git checkout main && git pull --rebase --autostash
else
  git clone [e-mail]:davidianstyle/openbrain-gemini-starter.git "$TEMPLATE"
fi

2. Inventory drift

For each in-scope path, compare template vs. vault:

diff -rq "$TEMPLATE/.gemini/skills/" "$VAULT/.gemini/skills/"
diff -rq "$TEMPLATE/.openbrain/" "$VAULT/.openbrain/"
diff -rq "$TEMPLATE/+ Extras/Templates/" "$VAULT/+ Extras/Templates/"
diff -u "$TEMPLATE/GEMINI.md" "$VAULT/GEMINI.md"
diff -rq "$TEMPLATE/bootstrap/" "$VAULT/bootstrap/"

Build a working list with three categories:

• Template-only files (exist in template, not in vault) — candidates for add
• Vault-only files (exist in vault, not in template) — skip (vault extensions, not regressions)
• Differing files (exist in both, different content) — candidates for update

Filter to in-scope paths. Drop anything matching out-of-scope rules.

3. Per-file analysis

For each candidate, read both versions. Classify each hunk:

• (I) Improvement from template: a real procedure change, bug fix, new feature, schema update, clearer wording that the vault should adopt. → propose to apply.
• (P) Personal in vault: the vault version has the user's specific data (account slugs, names, gids) where the template has placeholders. The vault version is correct for this vault — keep it. → skip.
• (G) Generic placeholder: the template uses {{PLACEHOLDER}} or <slug> where the vault has resolved values. The vault values are correct. → skip.
• (N) Noise: whitespace, formatting nits, generated timestamps. → skip.
• (V) Vault-ahead: the vault has an improvement the template doesn't — this is a /push-openbrain-gemini-starter candidate, not a pull candidate. → flag for future /push-openbrain-gemini-starter run.

4. De-genericize template content

When applying template content to the vault, reverse the genericization:

Template form	Vault form
the user / you (as subject)	The user's real name (where the vault convention uses it)
{{USER_NAME}}	The user's full name (from GEMINI.md §1)
{{USER_EMAIL}}	The user's primary email
{{GOOGLE_ACCOUNTS_TABLE}}	Keep the vault's existing resolved table
{{SLACK_WORKSPACES_TABLE}}	Keep the vault's existing resolved table
{{ASANA_ROUTING_TABLE}}	Keep the vault's existing resolved table
{{FATHOM_TABLE}}	Keep the vault's existing resolved table
{{BOOTSTRAP_DATE}}	Keep the vault's existing date
~/OpenBrain	The vault's actual path
$HOME/... (generic)	The vault's absolute paths (if the vault uses them)
mcp_google_<slug>__*	Vault's concrete MCP names
mcp_slack_<workspace_slug>__*	Vault's concrete Slack MCP names
<slug> pattern references	Keep vault's concrete slugs where they exist

Important: Never blindly replace the vault's resolved routing tables or identity sections with template placeholders. Only port the structural/procedural improvements around them.

5. Present changes interactively

For each file with applicable (I) hunks, present the diff to the user via AskUserQuestion:

File: <path>

The template has the following improvement over the vault:

<unified diff of just the (I) hunks, de-genericized>

Options:

• Apply — write this change to the vault
• Skip — leave the vault version as-is
• Show full file — display both versions side by side
• Edit — apply with modifications (describe what you want changed)

Process files one at a time (or in small batches of closely related changes). Never bulk-apply without per-change confirmation.

6. Apply approved changes

For each approved change:

1. Read the current vault file.
2. Apply only the approved hunks using the Edit tool.
3. Verify the result is valid (no broken frontmatter, no orphaned placeholders).

After all approved changes are applied:

cd "$VAULT" && git status && git diff --stat

Do not commit. The vault's stop hook handles commits automatically. Just leave the changes as unstaged modifications.

7. Report

Output to the user:

• Applied: list of files changed in the vault, one line each, with a summary of what was pulled in.
• Skipped (personal/placeholder): files where the diff was entirely resolved-vs-generic and nothing needed porting.
• Skipped (user declined): files the user chose to skip.
• Vault-ahead (push candidates): files where the vault has improvements the template doesn't — suggest running /push-openbrain-gemini-starter to port them upstream.
• Template-only files not added: new files in the template that weren't added to the vault (with a note on why, or ask if the user wants them).

Notes

• This skill is read-only on the template side, write-only on the vault side. It must never edit the template repo.
• The skill is idempotent: running it twice yields no changes the second time.
• The skill never touches secrets: it never reads ~/.config/openbrain/.env and never writes credentials into the vault.
• --dry-run mode does steps 1–4 and shows what would be proposed, but skips the interactive apply loop and writes nothing.
• If the scope is all and the diff is large, batch the interactive prompts by category (skills first, then hooks, then templates, then GEMINI.md last since it's most sensitive).
• GEMINI.md changes require extra care — the vault version has fully resolved tables and user-specific content. Only port structural changes (new sections, reworded rules, new skill entries in tables). Never overwrite the resolved routing tables with {{PLACEHOLDER}} markers.
• The bootstrap/ folder is included in the diff but flagged as "careful review" — bootstrap changes may require re-running bootstrap/setup.sh after applying.