No technical know-how needed. Here's the whole thing, start to finish.
You just need one free tool that can open a folder for you: Codex (from OpenAI / ChatGPT) or Claude (Claude Code or Claude Desktop). It's the same AI you may already use — this kind can also work with files on your own computer. Pick either one.
Grab the download for your computer from the download page, then:
Open the downloaded file and you'll see Second Brain Installer. The first time, right-click it → Open → Open (a one-time step for new apps). The installer does the rest.
In your Downloads folder, right-click the zip file → Extract All… → Extract. Open the folder it made and double-click Install Second Brain. If Windows asks whether to run it, choose Run. No Python on your PC? The installer sets that up for you, once.
This one takes a terminal, but it's copy-paste:
cd ~/Downloads tar xzf second-brain-linux.tar.gz cd second-brain bash install.shIt needs Python 3, which nearly every Linux already has.
You'll know it worked: a folder called “My Second Brain (Zuzora)” appears in your home, and a small icon appears in your menu bar or taskbar.
In Codex or Claude, choose Open Folder and select your “My Second Brain (Zuzora)” folder. That's the important part: selecting the folder is how your AI knows this is the brain it should work with.
Once the folder's open, just say hi. Your brain introduces itself and asks you a few quick, skippable questions — that's it getting to know you. Takes a minute.
You: “hi”Put a pile of files — bank statements, notes, receipts, anything — into the inbox folder, then ask it to sort them. It files everything into sensible areas it names for you, never changes your files, and tells you one true thing it noticed about you. That's the first “wow.”
You: “sort my inbox”Here's what really makes it work: instead of using ChatGPT on its own, bring your Second Brain in every time. Then everything you do gets kept and built on, instead of vanishing when you close the chat. The first few days it won't know much about you yet — that's normal. Feed it a little every day, and by about a week in it really starts to know you and gets genuinely useful.
Because this is a free download from a small team, your computer may show a caution the very first time you open it — standard for new apps, not a sign anything is wrong. Here's how to get past it (you only do this once):
If you see “can't be opened,” right-click the app → Open → Open. That's it.
Your browser may double-check the download — choose Keep. When you run Install Second Brain, Windows may ask “Do you want to run this file?” — choose Run (or More info → Run anyway if you see “Windows protected your PC”).
Everything stays on your computer.
It never sends anything out unless you ask.
It's yours. To uninstall, just delete the folder.