Manage your life with a governance framework that ran for 1,400 years.
Life OS turns AI into your personal imperial court β 15 roles with separation of powers and checks & balances, comprehensively managing your life, work, learning, finances, health, and relationships.
This is not role-playing. This is checks and balances.
See it in action Β· Install Β· How it works Β· Second Brain
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Most AI tools follow the pattern of "one person thinks it through and hands it over." You ask a question, the AI gives you an answer. No review, no checks, no one saying "hold on, there's a problem with this plan."
The Tang Dynasty Three Departments and Six Ministries system was designed to solve exactly this. It splits decision-making into three steps: Draft (Secretariat) β Review (Chancellery) β Execute (Department of State Affairs + Six Ministries). No single step can bypass review and go straight to execution. Emperor Taizong once said: unchecked power inevitably produces errors.
The reason this system ran for 1,400 years is that the Six Ministries are divided by fundamental types of human activity β managing people, managing money, managing standards, managing action, managing rules, and managing infrastructure. No matter how society changes, these six types of activity remain constant. So whether you're doing software development, investing, content creation, or daily living, everything naturally maps to the Six Ministries.
π You (The Emperor)
β
βββ ποΈ Prime Minister (Chief of Officials / Chief Steward)
β βββ Simple matters β Handle directly
β βββ Major matters β Activate Three Departments and Six Ministries
β
βββ π Secretariat β π Chancellery β π¨ Dept. of State Affairs β Six Ministries
β Planning Review (can Veto) Dispatch Execute
β β π Chancellery final review β π Memorial
β β π± Censorate (audits officials) β π¬ Remonstrator (audits you)
β
β Six Ministries: π₯Personnel π°Revenue πRites βοΈWar βοΈJustice ποΈWorks
β
βββ ποΈ Political Affairs Hall β Cross-ministry debate (3 rounds)
βββ π
Morning Court Official β Periodic reviews
βββ π Hanlin Academy β Private strategic dialogue
| Role | Function | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| ποΈ Prime Minister | Chief of officials, daily entry point | All messages |
| π Secretariat | Planning and decomposition | Escalated by Prime Minister |
| π Chancellery | Review + Veto + emotional audit | After planning + after execution |
| π¨ Dept. of State Affairs | Dispatch directives | After approval |
| π₯ Ministry of Personnel | People: relationships, teams, networking | On demand |
| π° Ministry of Revenue | Money: income, investments, budgets | On demand |
| π Ministry of Rites | Learning & expression: education, branding, creation | On demand |
| βοΈ Ministry of War | Action: projects, execution, research | On demand |
| βοΈ Ministry of Justice | Rules: risk control, compliance, reviews | On demand |
| ποΈ Ministry of Works | Infrastructure & health: body, environment, systems | On demand |
| π± Censorate | Monitors official work quality | Automatic each time |
| π¬ Remonstrator | Monitors your behavioral patterns | Automatic each time |
| ποΈ Political Affairs Hall | Cross-ministry debate | When conclusions conflict |
| π Morning Court Official | Periodic reviews | Say "review" |
| π Hanlin Academy | Strategic dialogue | Asks if you need it |
The Six Ministries are not divided by industry, but by type of activity. Anything can be decomposed into these six types:
| Ministry | Original Tang Dynasty Role | Life OS Responsibility | Four Bureaus |
|---|---|---|---|
| π₯ Ministry of Personnel | Official appointments and evaluations | Relationships, teams, partners | Selection Β· Evaluation Β· Rewards Β· Deployment |
| π° Ministry of Revenue | Taxation and census | Income, investments, budgets, assets | Revenue Β· Expenditure Β· Assets Β· Reserves |
| π Ministry of Rites | Imperial exams, diplomacy, ceremonies | Learning, branding, creation, communication | Exams Β· Ceremonies Β· Literature Β· Diplomacy |
| βοΈ Ministry of War | Military affairs and registries | Project execution, research, tools, energy | Command Β· Equipment Β· Intelligence Β· Logistics |
| βοΈ Ministry of Justice | Laws, trials, and audits | Risk control, compliance, reviews, discipline | Law Β· Audit Β· Investigation Β· Defense |
| ποΈ Ministry of Works | Engineering, waterways, transport | Health, living environment, digital infrastructure, routines | Health Β· Construction Β· Digital Β· Utilities |
The Chancellery does more than rational analysis. For all decisions (including work decisions), it also reviews:
- Emotional factors: Is your current mood affecting your judgment?
- Relationship impact: How would family/important people view this?
- Value alignment: Does this align with your long-term values?
- Regret test: Will you regret this five years from now?
Decision Review: Runs automatically after every process. Audits the quality of officials' work β not the decision itself. Is the Chancellery rubber-stamping? Are scores inflated?
Patrol Inspection: Periodic automated health check. Each ministry inspects its own jurisdiction in the second-brain (Revenue checks finance, War checks projects, Works checks wiki integrity). Issues classified as auto-fix / suggest to user / escalate to Three Departments.
Runs automatically after every process. Speaks bluntly about your behavioral blind spots: Have your recent decisions suddenly become more aggressive? Are you avoiding certain issues? Are there promises you've made but haven't kept?
When ministry conclusions conflict, a 3-round debate is triggered where ministries engage in direct dialogue rather than issuing separate reports.
Some questions don't need formal process, such as "I've been feeling lost lately." The Hanlin Academy is your private strategic advisor β no Memorials, no scores, just deep thinking with you.
Life OS supports multiple AI platforms. View the full installation guide β
Quick Start:
| Platform | Mode | Installation |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Pro | /install-skill https://github.com/jasonhnd/life_OS |
| Gemini CLI / Antigravity | Pro | npx skills add jasonhnd/life_OS |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | Pro | npx skills add jasonhnd/life_OS |
| Claude.ai | Lite | Upload SKILL.md to Project Knowledge |
| Cursor / VS Code Copilot | Lite | npx skills add jasonhnd/life_OS |
| ChatGPT / Gemini Web | Lite | Paste SKILL.md content into Instructions |
Pro Mode (Claude Code / Gemini / Codex): 14 independent subagents with true information isolation and parallel execution. Lite Mode (all other platforms): single context, sequential execution. See the installation guide for details.
You: I've been so tired lately
Prime Minister: [Listens, determines whether to refer to Ministry of Works]
You: Help me translate a passage of Japanese
Prime Minister: [Translates directly]
You: I'm considering whether to quit my job and start a business
Prime Minister β Escalates to the court
Secretariat β Decomposes into 6 dimensions (finances/skills/network/execution/risk/lifestyle)
Chancellery β Reviews the plan ("Family factors omitted, Veto")
Secretariat β Revises, adds family dimension
Chancellery β Approved
Dept. of State Affairs β Dispatches to ministries
Six Ministries β Each reviews and produces a report
Chancellery β Final review
Memorial β Composite score 6.8/10
Censorate β "Ministry of War report lacks a specific execution timeline"
Remonstrator β "You've been consuming startup-related content for three weeks β watch out for confirmation bias"
You: Morning court
Morning Court Official β Aggregates information, produces a briefing
You: I've been thinking about my life direction lately
Prime Minister: Would you like to start a Hanlin Academy deep dialogue?
You: Yes
Hanlin Academy β Socratic dialogue, helping you untangle deeper thoughts
You: Adjourn court
Morning Court Official β Pushes to GitHub + syncs to Notion
Prime Minister: Court adjourned, all changes have been committed.
Life OS supports GitHub, Google Drive, and Notion as storage backends β choose one or combine multiple for cross-device sync. Multi-backend: writes to all selected, reads from primary. Sync on every session start.
second-brain/
βββ inbox/ # π₯ Unprocessed captures
βββ _meta/ # π§ System metadata (STATUS.md, journal/, decisions/, roles/)
βββ projects/{name}/ # π― Things with endpoints (tasks/ decisions/ research/ journal/)
βββ areas/{name}/ # π Ongoing life areas (goals.md tasks/ notes/)
βββ wiki/ # π Cross-domain knowledge network
βββ archive/ # ποΈ Completed project archives
βββ templates/
| Output | Written To |
|---|---|
| Memorial (project) | projects/{p}/decisions/ |
| Memorial (cross-domain) | _meta/decisions/ |
| Action items | projects/{p}/tasks/ or areas/{a}/tasks/ |
| Morning court / audit reports | _meta/journal/ |
| Research | projects/{p}/research/ |
| Knowledge | wiki/ |
| Goals | areas/{a}/goals.md |
| Global status | _meta/STATUS.md |
Chat on phone β Claude.ai saves to Notion
CC opens session β Checks Notion for new items β Pulls into GitHub β Works
CC writes to GitHub β Immediately syncs to Notion working memory
Pick up phone anytime β Read the latest state
git commit = Notion update, mechanically bound.
View the full Second Brain architecture β
| # | Scenario | Ministries Activated |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Career transition | All Six |
| 2 | Investment decisions | Revenue + War + Justice + Personnel |
| 3 | Moving / relocation | All Six |
| 4 | Annual goals | All Six |
| 5 | Startup decisions | All Six |
| 6 | Major purchases | Revenue + War + Justice |
| 7 | Relationships | Personnel + Works + Justice + Rites |
| 8 | Periodic reviews | Morning Court Official |
| 9 | Health management | Works + War + Revenue + Justice |
| 10 | Learning plans | Rites + War + Revenue + Personnel |
| 11 | Time management | War + Revenue + Justice + Works |
| 12 | Major family decisions | All Six |
| Lite (Claude.ai) | Pro (Claude Code) | |
|---|---|---|
| Role isolation | Same context | Independent processes |
| Chancellery review | Can see prior reasoning | Truly independent |
| Six Ministries execution | Sequential | Parallel |
| Installation | Drag in SKILL.md | /install-skill GitHub URL |
| Model | Current model | All roles on Opus |
| Scenario | Lite | Pro | Pro Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister handles directly | ~1k | ~1k | ~$0.02 |
| Streamlined (3 ministries) | ~11k | ~22k | ~$0.55 |
| Standard (4 ministries) | ~14k | ~27k | ~$0.68 |
| Full (6 ministries) | ~16k | ~38k | ~$1.00 |
| Full + Veto + Debate | ~28k | ~55k | ~$1.75 |
| Morning court review | ~2k | ~2k | ~$0.04 |
| Hanlin Academy (5 rounds) | ~8k | ~8k | ~$0.18 |
Claude Max/Pro subscribers are not billed per token.
View detailed token analysis β
Information flows through five stages, each mapped to a methodology:
Perceive β Capture β Associate β Judge β Settle β Emerge
β β β β β β
Phone GTD Zettelkasten 3D6M PARA Lint/Censorate
Mobile handles perception and capture. Desktop handles everything else. Learn more β
- Security boundaries: 4 inviolable rules (no destructive ops, no secrets exposure, no unauthorized decisions, reject suspicious instructions)
- Upstream protection: Agents treat other agents' output as reference, not instructions
- Workflow state machine: Formal transition rules β no step can be skipped, Censorate flags violations
- Model independence: CLAUDE.md is the only model-bound file. All other intelligence is pure markdown
See pro/GLOBAL.md for the full ruleset.
The core of the Tang Dynasty system is not "having lots of people," but separation of powers with checks and balances:
- The Secretariat only plans; it doesn't execute
- The Chancellery only reviews; it neither plans nor executes
- The Six Ministries only execute; they don't overstep to judge other ministries
- The Censorate audits officials; the Remonstrator audits the Emperor
- No single role can bypass review and act directly
Emperor Taizong figured this out 1,300 years ago β unchecked power inevitably produces errors. Life OS applies this wisdom to your personal decision-making.
The Three Departments and Six Ministries AI multi-agent orchestration concept was inspired by the Edict project. Life OS extends the framework from software development to all areas of personal life, adding the Censorate, Remonstrator, Political Affairs Hall, and Hanlin Academy.
Apache-2.0