Smart Connections Plugin for Obsidian: Install & Setup

Install Smart Connections, then use the note already in view to surface related notes without writing a search query.

Still deciding whether Smart Connections fits your workflow? Start with the Smart Connections overview.

Use this when

Use Connections when a note is already open and you are about to search for earlier work, reconstruct a decision, or wonder what relevant material is missing.

You might be drafting a project brief and start rebuilding an earlier decision from memory. Connections surfaces a meeting note that uses different wording. Preview the results to help remember that previously discussed topic. Drag the result into the note to create a link for future reference.

Quick Start

Before you start

• Install Smart Connections from Obsidian Community Plugins and enable it.
• On the first run, give Smart Connections a few minutes to finish preparing your Smart Environment.

Surface one useful related note

1. Open the note you are actively working on.
2. Open the command palette and run Smart Connections: Open connections view.
3. Scan the first few results.
4. Expand one promising result to inspect its contents.

Use the result

Add the useful material to the current note.

You might write the recovered insight in your own words, drag the result into the editor to create a link, or open the source when it needs closer review.

A populated list is not the goal; progress in the current note is.

If useful results do not appear (troubleshooting)

1. Try a richer note

Open a different note with more meaningful text, then reopen Connections.

Empty or very short notes often provide too little material for useful results.

2. Verify the active note

If a substantive note still produces no results:

1. Right-click the Smart Connections status-bar item.
2. Select Inspect active note.
3. Confirm that should embed and vectorized appear in green.

If either is not green, the note may be below the configured minimum character count or excluded from preparation.

Review Smart Environment settings, correct the issue, then reopen Connections for the same note.

3. Verify vault coverage

If several substantive notes produce no results:

1. Right-click the Smart Connections status-bar item.
2. Select Show stats.
3. Check Embedding coverage.

Coverage should be greater than 0%.

If it is still 0%, allow vault preparation to finish or review:

• Smart Milestones
• Smart Environment settings

When coverage becomes non-zero, reopen Connections from a meaningful note and preview one result.

Choose the right starting point

Connections is for current-note discovery, not every search job.

Use Smart Lookup when you are starting from a question instead of the current note.

Make it routine

For the lowest-friction routine, leave the Connections view open beside your notes while you work.

Return to it whenever the note in view makes you:

• search for earlier work
• reconstruct prior reasoning or a decision
• wonder what relevant material is missing

Repeat the same loop:

1. Open or return to Connections.
2. Preview one promising result.
3. Apply one useful result to the work already in progress.

Before moving on, use one useful result to change the note, decision, or next action.

Continue from here

Once you can repeat the loop above: