OPEN STANDARDdraft / 0.2

Turn coaching notes into trusted context.

An open format that keeps notes readable, portable and ready for follow-up, reflection and private local analysis.

session.coach.md

01 ## 2026-03-10 · Session 4
02
03 ### Discussion
04 - What made that possible?
05   - ! "I let the team decide, and they were right"
06 - J: That is the first decision I heard
07 - = the shift leads plan the April schedule
08
09 ### Experiments
10 - [ ] Ask what they would change next

reference parserroadmap / help wanted

plain text/valid Markdown/tool agnostic/human readable/open specification

spec0.2 draft

extension.coach.md

documentationCC BY 4.0

toolingMIT

// the premise

Unstructured conversation.
Just enough syntax.

Most notes already contain the meaning. Coachdown marks only the parts a parser should not have to guess.

          (c_o)
         /  |  \
    coach  notes  coachee
            |
      session.coach.md
            |
            v
    structured record

SYNTAX_MAP

Six useful signals.

They work inside normal Markdown and take one or two characters to type.

01"…"quote

The exact words matter

02?question

A question, usually from the coach

03!insight

A realisation by the coachee

04=decision

Something decided in the session

05[ ]experiment

Something to try and review later

06J:speaker

An explicit participant tag

no marker is also valid. Defaults do most of the work.

// no technical background required

“I’m not a tech coach. What is all this?”

Markdown is simply a way of saving notes as ordinary text files. They stay readable without a particular app, can be moved anywhere and are less likely to become trapped in a coaching platform that changes or disappears.

ownership

The notes remain yours.

Plain files are not tied to a subscription, proprietary database or one software company. Open them with many tools and move them whenever needed.

longevity

They remain useful for years.

Text files are durable, searchable and easy to back up. Change editors without converting the coaching history first.

continuity

Context can move with the person.

A coachee can read, correct and keep the shared log. A co-coach, supervisor or future coach can understand the same record.

inspectability

You can see what a tool sees.

There is no hidden database schema. The source remains readable, and every marker can be inspected or removed.

adoption

Start without migrating anything.

Existing Markdown notes are already valid Coachdown. Add one marker today, more later or none where the meaning is already clear.

ecosystem

Tools can compete without capturing the notes.

Editors, local assistants and future coaching tools can work with the same files instead of locking the engagement into separate platforms.

A PRIVATE SETUP CAN LOOK LIKE THIS

Local notes. Optional local intelligence.

Obsidian is one practical editor because its notes are ordinary files stored locally by default. A downloaded model can also run on the same computer and read those files without sending the conversation to a model provider.

That could make it possible to find recurring themes, recover forgotten decisions or prepare a review across years of sessions while the source material stays on the coach’s device.

1Obsidianlocal notes

→

2Coachdownshared meaning

→

3Local modelprivate analysis

How Obsidian handles local data ↗How local models can work offline ↗

// important boundaries

AI-ready, not AI-dependent.The files remain useful without any model or automation.

Local does not automatically mean secure.Device access, disk encryption, plugins, sync services and operating-system security still matter.

Sync is not a backup.Keep a separate, tested backup of the local files.

Model quality varies.Local models trade some capability and speed for greater control. Cloud features, web search and plugins may send data elsewhere.

Read the writing guide No code. No required app. No required AI.

// processing model

Markdown in.
Structure out.

A parser or agent can turn each statement into a structured record, with confidence attached to anything it inferred.

Read processing in the spec

input.coach.md

- ! I check everything because
  I do not trust myself #delegation

illustrative record.json

{
  "type": "insight",
  "speaker": "coachee",
  "themes": ["delegation"],
  "confidence": 1.0
}

WANTED: COLLABORATORS

Build the ecosystem with us.

The format is useful when different tools agree on it. The specification is open and young enough to shape.

parser/

Reference parser

Turn Coachdown files into a stable structured record.

See the roadmap ↗

editors/

Editor support

Add syntax highlighting, validation and helpful snippets.

Open an issue ↗

agents/

Agent prompts

Infer unmarked attribution without pretending certainty.

Read the model ↗

research/

Anonymous analysis

Study structure and growth without exporting session content.

Read privacy ↗

The spec has opinions.

01Write first, structure later. Nothing required during a session may add cognitive load.
02Every Markdown file stays valid. Markers increase certainty. They never become a gate.
03Two authors, one log. Coach and coachee can both read, write and correct the record.
04Privacy is structural. Analyse patterns without moving the words people shared.

Two people speaking face to face during a coaching session

// why the machinery matters

The format serves the conversation.

Machines can sort, link and summarise. That leaves the human work to humans: listening, noticing and asking the next honest question.

CONTRIBUTE.md

Bring a real edge case.

Try Coachdown in practice, challenge the spec, add a language alias or build a tool around it.

How to contribute Copy the template ↗