Smart Lookup
Smart Lookup finds notes by meaning when you know the idea but not the exact words. It starts from a query rather than from the active note.
Start with Getting started with Smart Lookup. Run one real query. Review one result. Use the source.
A ranked row, score, and excerpt help you decide what to inspect. Lookup does not compose an answer or establish that a source is correct.
Search Obsidian notes by meaning with Smart Lookup
Use Lookup when a question, idea, or remembered concept is the starting point. Use Connections when the current note is the starting point. Use Obsidian Search when exact text or syntax matters.
Open the Lookup view
Open Smart Lookup from its ribbon action or run this Command Palette command:
Smart Lookup: Open: Lookup view
- Filter the Command Palette to Smart Lookup.
- Run Smart Lookup: Open: Lookup view.
The text in the Lookup query box is the retrieval anchor. Lookup does not automatically treat the entire current note as the query.
Write a useful semantic query
Use one clear idea, topic, or question in ordinary language. A useful pattern is:
subject + context + distinguishing detail
Examples:
customer onboarding friction and activation
prior decisions about Context Builder tradeoffs
preventing information overload during research
When the intended query already exists in a note, select the complete phrase. From the editor context menu, choose Search selection with Smart Lookup.
- Select only the text that expresses the retrieval intent.
- Choose Search selection with Smart Lookup to send it into the Lookup pane.
Describe the material you want to recover, not the report you want an AI to write afterward. Search for project risks, unresolved decisions, and next actions rather than summarize everything and recommend what to do.
Use Auto-submit
With Auto-submit enabled, Lookup runs after a short pause in typing. Disable it when you want to review the complete query before each run.
Run Lookup manually
With Auto-submit disabled, choose Lookup to execute the current query. One clear intent usually works better than a long multi-part prompt.
Read result rows
- The query remains visible above the result set.
- Each row is a ranked source candidate, not a generated answer.
Rows can include the note or block identity, heading or line context, a relative score, and an expand control. Use the score to choose what to inspect first. Do not use it as a correctness grade.
Expand a result
Expand a promising row to read the matched excerpt without leaving Lookup. Check the note title, path, heading, and line range before using the passage.
Preview on hover
On desktop, hold Cmd/Ctrl while hovering a result to use Obsidian Hover Preview when available. Open the source when you need more context than the preview provides.
Drag a reviewed result into the next workflow
A reviewed result can be dragged to supported destinations such as:
- a Markdown editor to create an Obsidian link
- Smart Chat as current response context
- a named-context dashboard for durable curation
- Smart Graph as the current graph scope
- the live Connections view as a fixed current target
After the drop, confirm that the expected source appears in the destination.
Review a result set in Smart Graph
Use the Lookup list menu when a reviewed set should be explored spatially.
- Keep the Lookup question visible.
- Review the ranked sources before transfer.
- Choose Explore in Smart Graph.
Smart Graph opens with the transferred source set. Review the source identities there. Narrow the graph before you take another action.
Use Smart Context when the reviewed sources should become an inspectable AI context package rather than a graph.
Open a result
Open the source when the excerpt is not enough to judge the match. A useful Lookup workflow ends with a real note-level action, not merely a ranked list.
Choose Sources or Blocks
Sources returns whole notes. Blocks returns smaller sections.
Start with Sources for discovery. Switch to Blocks when the correct note appears but the useful passage is buried inside a long source.
Choose Lookup, Connections, or Obsidian Search
| Starting point | Use |
|---|---|
| A typed idea or question | Smart Lookup |
| The active note | Smart Connections |
| An exact word, filename, heading, tag, syntax, or regex | Obsidian Search |
Why did Lookup return a note without my exact words?
Lookup ranks semantic similarity. Different wording can express the same idea. Use Obsidian Search when literal text matters.
Does Lookup answer my question?
No. It finds candidate source material. Review a small set. Then use Smart Context or Smart Chat when you need a grounded answer.
Improve weak or overly broad results
| Symptom | First adjustment |
|---|---|
| Too broad | Add one distinguishing project, audience, constraint, or problem. |
| Too narrow | Remove the least important detail. |
| Exact phrase needed | Use Obsidian Search. |
| Whole note hides the passage | Switch to Blocks. |
| Empty or stale across known topics | Check Environment import, embeddings, exclusions, and readiness. |