File Organizer (PARA)

Name: File Organizer (PARA)
Author: smithjoshua

Organize files using the PARA method (Building a Second Brain): intelligent categorization into Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive…

You say

Buy it · $35 Read it before you buy $35 Written by smithjoshua · unverified publisher

Context cost: 5.5k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle: 4 files · 22.2 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence: MITpaid listing
Last change: —no release on file
Servers it uses: Noneruns standalone

What it does

Organize files using the PARA method (Building a Second Brain). Intelligent categorization into Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive with inbox workflow. Triggers on "organize my files", "organize my downloads", "second brain", "PARA method", "clean up files". Creates numbered PARA folders, renames poorly-named files, and maintains rollback logs. Works via bash commands in Claude Code terminal.

Installed, it changes the agent in these ways.

What this skill changes about the agent is not written down here yet. The listing was collected from its source, and the description is in its own SKILL.md.

Workflow

Runs a procedure end to end.

file-managementorganizationparacleanup

Filed under

Files & Storage

The skill itself

This is the whole product. A skill is instructions the model reads, so there is nothing behind the listing you cannot see first — the front matter loads with every session, and the body below it loads when the skill triggers.

SKILL.md11.8 kB · 399 lines

--- name: file-organizer description: Organize files using the PARA method (Building a Second Brain). Intelligent categorization into Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive with inbox workflow. Triggers on "organize my files", "organize my downloads", "second brain", "PARA method", "clean up files". Creates numbered PARA folders, renames poorly-named files, and maintains rollback logs. Works via bash commands in Claude Code terminal. ---

6# File Organizer (Claude Code - PARA Method)

8Organizes files using the PARA methodology with bash commands. Intelligent categorization and audit trails.

10## What is PARA?

13|---|----------|----------|----------|

20## Workflow

22```

23Phase 1: Discovery → ls, find, file commands to scan and assess

24Phase 2: Analysis → Read file contents for poor names (use Read tool for PDFs)

25Phase 3: Triage → Create categorization table, flag sensitive/scam files

26Phase 4: Preparation → mkdir -p to create PARA structure, get approval

27Phase 5: Execution → mv commands with logging

28Phase 6: Cleanup → Remove empty folders, delete temp files

29Phase 7: Completion → Generate summary, verify PARA folder roots are clean

30```

32### 0-Review Staging Workflow

34For large batches of poorly-named files, use a staging folder:

36```bash

37# Create staging folder for files needing content analysis

38mkdir -p ~/Downloads/0-Review

40# Move cryptic/poorly-named files to review

41mv ~/Downloads/U0BPA6*.pdf ~/Downloads/0-Review/

42mv ~/Downloads/[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9].pdf ~/Downloads/0-Review/

44# Analyze each file, then move to proper PARA location

45# Remove staging folder when empty

46rmdir ~/Downloads/0-Review

47```

49## Quick Start

51```bash

52# 1. Create PARA folder structure

53mkdir -p ~/Downloads/{0-Inbox/_REVIEW,1-Projects/{Work,Personal},2-Areas/{Finance,Health,Legal,Career},3-Resources/{Media/{Images,Videos,Audio,Screenshots},Tools/{Installers,Utilities},Learning/{Articles,Books,Courses}},4-Archive/{Completed-Projects,Past-Years},_ORG}

55# 2. Scan target directory

56find ~/Downloads -maxdepth 1 -type f | wc -l

57ls -la ~/Downloads | head -50

59# 3. Move files (log each operation)

60mv "~/Downloads/file.pdf" "~/Downloads/2-Areas/Finance/"

61```

63## PARA Folder Structure

65```bash

66# One-liner to create full PARA structure

67mkdir -p ~/Downloads/{0-Inbox/_REVIEW,1-Projects/{Work,Personal},2-Areas/{Finance,Health,Legal,Career,Home},3-Resources/{Media/{Images,Videos,Audio,Screenshots},Tools/{Installers,Utilities},Learning/{Articles,Books,Courses},Templates},4-Archive/{Completed-Projects,Past-Areas,Old-Resources},_ORG}

68```

70Visual structure:

71```

72Target-Directory/

73├── 0-Inbox/ # New files land here first

74│ └── _REVIEW/

75├── 1-Projects/ # Active work with deadlines

76│ ├── Work/

77│ └── Personal/

78├── 2-Areas/ # Ongoing responsibilities

79│ ├── Finance/

80│ ├── Health/

81│ ├── Legal/

82│ └── Career/

83├── 3-Resources/ # Reference materials

84│ ├── Media/

85│ ├── Tools/

86│ └── Learning/

87├── 4-Archive/ # Inactive items

88│ └── Completed-Projects/

89└── _ORG/ # Tracking files

90```

92## Inbox Review Workflow

94### Daily Review (5 min)

96```bash

97# List inbox contents

98ls -la ~/Downloads/0-Inbox/

100# For each file, determine PARA destination:

101# Actionable with deadline? → 1-Projects

102# Ongoing responsibility? → 2-Areas

103# Reference material? → 3-Resources

104# Completed/inactive? → 4-Archive

105```

106

107### Weekly Review (15 min)

108

109```bash

110# 1. Check for remaining inbox items

111ls ~/Downloads/0-Inbox/

112

113# 2. Find completed projects (no recent modifications)

114find ~/Downloads/1-Projects -maxdepth 2 -type d -mtime +30

115

116# 3. Archive completed projects

117mv ~/Downloads/1-Projects/old-project ~/Downloads/4-Archive/Completed-Projects/

118```

119

120## File Naming Convention

121

122Format: [DATE]_[CODE]_[description].[ext]

123

124```bash

125# Examples

126mv "Document.pdf" "2025-01_FIN_tax-statement.pdf"

127mv "IMG_1234.jpg" "2025-01_REF_vacation-photo.jpg"

128mv "Screenshot 2025-01-13.png" "2025-01-13_PROJ_meeting-notes.png"

129```

130

131### PARA Category Codes

132

133| Code | Category | Destination |

134|------|----------|-------------|

135| PROJ | Projects | 1-Projects/ |

136| FIN | Finance | 2-Areas/Finance/ |

137| HEALTH | Health | 2-Areas/Health/ |

138| LEGAL | Legal | 2-Areas/Legal/ |

139| REF | Reference | 3-Resources/ |

140| LEARN | Learning | 3-Resources/Learning/ |

141

142## Content Analysis (Bash)

143

144For poorly-named files, extract content to determine proper naming:

145

146```bash

147# PDFs - extract text

148pdftotext "Document.pdf" - | head -50

149

150# If pdftotext unavailable, try:

151strings "Document.pdf" | head -100

152

153# Images - check EXIF data

154file "IMG_1234.jpg"

155exiftool "IMG_1234.jpg" 2>/dev/null | grep -E "Date|Title|Description"

156

157# Office docs - unzip and read

158unzip -p "document.docx" word/document.xml | head -100

159```

160

161## Files to Analyze

162

163Trigger content analysis for:

164

165```bash

166# Generic names

167ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^(document|untitled|copy of|new )"

168

169# Camera defaults

170ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^(IMG_|DSC_|DCIM|scan[0-9])"

171

172# Screenshots

173ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^(screenshot|screen shot|capture)"

174

175# Numbered duplicates

176ls ~/Downloads | grep -E "$[0-9]+$\."

177

178# Random alphanumeric strings (auto-generated filenames)

179ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^[A-Z0-9]{16,}\.[a-z]+$"

180

181# Numeric-only filenames (e.g., 65440.pdf)

182ls ~/Downloads | grep -E "^[0-9]+\.[a-z]+$"

183

184# Scan prefixes with timestamps

185ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^scan_.*[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}"

186

187# Gmail exports

188ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "^Gmail.*\.pdf$"

189```

190

191## Auto-Categorization by Type

192

193```bash

194# Move images to Resources/Media

195find ~/Downloads/0-Inbox -maxdepth 1 $ -name "*.jpg" -o -name "*.png" -o -name "*.gif" $ -exec mv {} ~/Downloads/3-Resources/Media/Images/ \;

196

197# Move installers to Resources/Tools

198find ~/Downloads/0-Inbox -maxdepth 1 $ -name "*.dmg" -o -name "*.exe" -o -name "*.pkg" $ -exec mv {} ~/Downloads/3-Resources/Tools/Installers/ \;

199

200# Move PDFs with financial keywords to Areas/Finance

201for f in ~/Downloads/0-Inbox/*.pdf; do

202 if pdftotext "$f" - 2>/dev/null | grep -qiE "invoice|receipt|statement|tax"; then

203 mv "$f" ~/Downloads/2-Areas/Finance/

204 fi

205done

206```

207

208## Logging Template

209

210Create _ORG/_LOG.md:

211

212```bash

213cat > ~/Downloads/_ORG/_LOG.md << 'EOF'

214# Organization Log (PARA Method)

215**Started**: $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')

216

217## Operations

219|------|--------|------|------|-----------|

220EOF

221

222# Log each move

224```

225

226## Safety Rules

227

2281. **Never delete** - only move to 0-Inbox/_REVIEW if uncertain

2292. **Log everything** - append to _LOG.md before each mv

2303. **Approval checkpoints** - pause and confirm before bulk moves

2314. **Preserve dates** - use mv (not cp+rm) to keep timestamps

2325. **Sensitive files** - flag anything in 2-Areas/{Finance,Health,Legal}

233

234## Security & Scam Detection

235

236Flag and quarantine potential scam/phishing files:

237

238```bash

239# Common scam patterns in PDFs (fake invoices, tech support scams)

240# Keywords to search: "Norton", "McAfee", "Microsoft Support",

241# "Your account", "Payment required", "Call immediately"

242

243# Check PDF content for scam indicators

244for f in ~/Downloads/*.pdf; do

245 if pdftotext "$f" - 2>/dev/null | grep -qiE "norton|mcafee|geek squad|call.*1-[0-9]{3}"; then

246 echo "⚠️ POTENTIAL SCAM: $f"

247 mv "$f" ~/Downloads/0-Inbox/_REVIEW/

248 fi

249done

250```

251

252**Scam indicators:**

253- Random alphanumeric filename (e.g., U0BPA6IUWL6FUQRUHYCZ.pdf)

254- Fake invoice from security software companies

255- "Call this number" with toll-free numbers

256- Urgent payment demands

257

258**Action:** Move to _REVIEW folder, flag for user, recommend DELETE

259

260## Sensitive Document Handling

261

262Flag and secure sensitive documents:

263

264```bash

265# Tax documents (W-2, 1099, tax returns)

267

268# Documents with SSN patterns

269grep -l "[0-9]\{3\}-[0-9]\{2\}-[0-9]\{4\}" ~/Downloads/*.pdf 2>/dev/null

270

271# Financial statements

272ls ~/Downloads | grep -iE "(statement|account.*summary|routing.*number)"

273```

274

275**Sensitive file types:**

276| Type | Flag | Destination |

277|------|------|-------------|

278| W-2, 1099, Tax forms | ⚠️ SENSITIVE | 2-Areas/Finance/Tax/ |

279| Contracts with signatures | ⚠️ LEGAL | 2-Areas/Legal/ |

280| Medical records | ⚠️ HEALTH | 2-Areas/Health/ |

281| Password/credential files | ⚠️ SECURE | Encrypted storage |

282

283**Action:** Flag in categorization table, confirm with user before moving

284

285## Duplicate Detection

286

287```bash

288# Find duplicates by name pattern

289ls ~/Downloads/0-Inbox | grep -E "$[0-9]+$\." | while read f; do

290 original="${f/ ([0-9])/}"

291 echo "Duplicate: $f -> Original: $original"

292done

293

294# Find duplicates by content (md5)

295find ~/Downloads -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec md5sum {} \; | sort | uniq -d -w32

296```

297

298## Large File Handling

299

300```bash

301# Find files > 100MB

302find ~/Downloads -maxdepth 1 -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \;

303

304# Large media files typically go to Resources

305find ~/Downloads/0-Inbox -maxdepth 1 -size +100M $ -name "*.mp4" -o -name "*.mov" $ -exec mv {} ~/Downloads/3-Resources/Media/Videos/ \;

306```

307

308## Session Resume

309

310If interrupted, check last operation:

311

312```bash

313tail -5 ~/Downloads/_ORG/_LOG.md

314```

315

316## Temp File Cleanup

317

318Remove common junk files before organizing:

319

320```bash

321# Office temp files (~$...)

322find ~/Downloads -name "~\$*" -delete

323

324# macOS metadata

325find ~/Downloads -name ".DS_Store" -delete

326find ~/Downloads -name "._*" -delete

327

328# Empty files

329find ~/Downloads -maxdepth 1 -type f -empty -delete

330```

331

332## PARA Root-Level Audit

333

334After initial organization, check for loose files at PARA folder roots:

335

336```bash

337# Files should be in subfolders, not at PARA root level

338echo "=== 2-Areas root files (should be in subfolders) ==="

339find ~/Downloads/2-Areas -maxdepth 1 -type f ! -name ".DS_Store"

340

341echo "=== 3-Resources root files ==="

342find ~/Downloads/3-Resources -maxdepth 1 -type f ! -name ".DS_Store"

343

344echo "=== 4-Archive root files ==="

345find ~/Downloads/4-Archive -maxdepth 1 -type f ! -name ".DS_Store"

346```

347

348## Empty Folder Cleanup

349

350After processing, remove empty staging folders:

351

352```bash

353# Remove empty review/staging folders

354rmdir ~/Downloads/0-Review 2>/dev/null

355rmdir ~/Downloads/0-Inbox/_REVIEW 2>/dev/null

356

357# Find and remove empty subdirectories

358find ~/Downloads -type d -empty -delete

359```

360

361## Categorization Table Format

362

363Present recommendations in a clear table before executing:

364

365```markdown

366### 🚫 DELETE (scam/junk)

367| File | Reason |

368|------|--------|

369| U0BPA6...pdf | SCAM - Fake Norton invoice |

370

371### ⚠️ SENSITIVE → 2-Areas/Finance

372| File | Content |

373|------|---------|

374| 65440.pdf | W-2 Tax Form 2024 |

375

376### 📁 4-Archive

377| File | Suggested Rename |

378|------|------------------|

379| old-project.pdf | 2023-01_PROJ_project-name.pdf |

380

381### 📚 3-Resources

382| File | Destination |

383|------|-------------|

384| manual.pdf | 3-Resources/Tools/ |

385```

386

387**Emoji flags:**

388- 🚫 DELETE - Scam, junk, or duplicate

389- ⚠️ SENSITIVE - Tax, legal, medical, credentials

390- 📁 ARCHIVE - Old/completed items

391- 📚 RESOURCES - Reference materials

392- 📂 AREAS - Ongoing responsibilities

393- 📝 PROJECTS - Active work

394

395## Reference Files

396

397- **references/config.md**: Customize PARA structure and detection keywords

398- **references/templates.md**: Tracking file templates

399

In the file

SKILL.md1,556 words

Files4

LicenceMIT

Why you can read it

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≈110

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5,440

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2.8%

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050k100k150k200k context window

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What it asks for

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What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

If this is not it

9 other skills in Files & Storage

What is in the bundle

4 files, 22.2 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

README.md2.6 kB
SKILL.md11.8 kB
references/config.md4.1 kB
references/templates.md3.7 kB

What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 4 files you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

$35 once

File Organizer (PARA) · MIT · smithjoshua

one-time

Price$35 once

LicenceMIT — the author’s, unchanged by this purchase

Paid throughStripe, once, on the card you add at the checkout

Keeps workingfor good — the files are yours once they are on disk

Updatesevery update its author ships, delivered through this account

You can read the whole bundle before paying — the SKILL.md above is the product, not a preview of it. What the money buys is the delivery: the folder packaged and handed to your machine by key, every update its author ships, and our support if it does not do what this listing says. The terms of use are MIT, set by the author and unchanged by buying it here.

Payment runs through Stripe, on a page like this one rather than a redirect. Once there is an account it joins the same mcprush invoice as everything else you run, so there is never a second card to enter.

Which clients pick it up on their own

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Claude Code.claude/skills/

Claude Desktop

ChatGPT

Cursor.cursor/skills/

VS Code.github/skills/

Codex CLI.agents/skills/

Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/

Grok.grok/skills/

Zed.agents/skills/

Windsurf.windsurf/skills/

Agent SDK.claude/skills/

HTTP / API

This release

Versionnot versioned

Publishedno release date on file

Price$35

Referencesmithjoshua/file-organizer-para

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

No earlier releases have been published to the marketplace.

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smithjoshua

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