Exploring the Connections view
The Connections list is the core Smart Connections experience: a ranked list of notes (or blocks) that are related to what you are viewing right now.
If your vault has ever felt like "I know I wrote something about this, but where is it?", the Connections list is the answer. It resurfaces the most relevant context automatically so you can keep writing instead of organizing.
- Open any note and scan the top results.
- Preview 1-2 results (hover preview) to confirm relevance.
- Drag 1-3 results into your note to create links.
- Use Pause when you want to keep one note's connections visible while you browse elsewhere.
- Hide noisy items and pin the few that matter most (if available).
What the list is for
Use the list to:
- Rediscover forgotten work at the moment it becomes useful
- Link related notes without browsing folders or hunting with search
- Prevent duplicate work (reading, rewriting, re-researching)
- Keep your system lightweight (less tagging and manual maintenance)
Quick start workflow
- Open the Connections view.
- Open any note and scan the top results.
- Drag 1-3 results into your current note to create links.
- Use Pause when you want a stable set of connections while you switch notes.
See more workflows below.
Core interactions
These are the actions most people use every day.
Creating links
Creating links from the Connections view is as easy as dragging a connection into an open note. Links to all Connections can also be quickly copied to the clipboard.
Drag to add a link
Drag any result into an open note to create an Obsidian link.
This is the fastest path from "relevant" to "connected".
Copy as list of links
Create links from all connections in one-click. Find the copy icon in the menu (sidebar view) or in the row of icons (connections codeblock).
Hover preview before you commit
Holding ⌘/ctrl while hovering the mouse over a result will show the Obsidian native Hover Preview.
Use this to confirm relevance without leaving your current context.
Understanding the Connections list
Connections view results update automatically when you change notes. The name of the current note is located in the bottom-left of the Connections view. The Lookup list feature is similar to the Connections list, but it allows you to enter a query instead of using the current note as a reference point for the semantic reference point.
Connection score (underlined)
Each result includes a connection score. Higher generally means "more related" to your current context. The connections score algorithm uses cosine similarity by default. Pro users have access to additional algorithms in the settings.
- Treat the score as a relative signal, not an absolute grade.
- Score ranges vary by embedding model.
If results feel too broad or too noisy, adjust Sources vs Blocks, limits, filters, or ranking options in the Connections settings.
Show/hide content (expand or collapse)
Each connection can be expanded or collapsed to show more or less content within the list.
Use the top/menu control to expand/collapse all.
Updating the results (Play/Pause)
The play/pause buttons in the top-left of the Connections view is used to control whether to update the results as you change notes.
List controls
The menu contains useful utilitie
Pause updates
Pause freezes the list so it does not change as you switch notes.
Use it when:
- You are writing and want a stable set of related notes visible
- You want to browse while keeping one "anchor note" as your active context
- You are comparing multiple candidate notes against the same list
Menu
Refresh
Refresh recomputes results for the current note.
Common reasons:
- You made major edits and want the latest relationships
- You changed settings and want to re-run the list for this note
Send to Smart Context
Send to Smart Context is the fastest way to turn your Connections list into high-quality AI context (grounded in your own vault).
A practical workflow:
- Pause the list on the note you are working on.
- Send the results to Smart Context.
- Remove anything noisy and reorder what matters.
- Copy the final context to your AI chat or into a working note.
Copy as a list of links
If you only need references (not previews), copy the results as a simple list of Obsidian links.
Use cases:
- Create a "related notes" section in your draft
- Paste into a daily note as a research trail
- Drop into a task or project note as next reading
Managing noise: Hide and Pin
As your vault grows, some connections will be technically related but not useful right now. The list includes fast feedback controls so you can stay focused.
Hide results
Right-click a result to hide it from the list.
Unhide results
Right-click any result and choose Unhide All to bring hidden items back.
Pin results
If you see Pin in the right-click menu, use it to keep an item visible while you work.
Pinning is useful when you want a small set of "always relevant" notes to stay in view for the current session.
In Connections Pro, hidden and pinned signals can also be used by some algorithms to improve future ordering.
Connections displays
The default way to view connections is in the sidebar. Additional displays add visualization (graph view), convenient locations (footer display), and more granular results inside your notes (inline connections).
Graph view (Pro)
If you think spatially, enable the graph view to explore clusters of related notes.
Use the graph to:
- Visualize neighborhoods of ideas (clusters)
- Spot dense regions (many related notes) vs sparse ones
- Find bridge notes that connect two clusters
Interactions:
- Hover nodes to identify notes
- Click nodes to open them
- Use the list alongside the graph to stay in "scan -> act" mode
To enable it, set the Connections List Component option in the Connections settings to "Graph + List".
Footer connections (Pro)
Footer connections place a Connections panel at the bottom of your note so relevant links are always available while you write.
This is especially useful when:
- You want zero side-panel management while drafting
- You are on mobile (where side panels are slower)
- You want quick linking without breaking flow
Footer connections are a Pro feature. Enable them in Connections settings.
Inline connections
See Connections appear alongside content while you write, right inside the editor.
Learn more about the inline connections feature.
Workflow recipes
If you only remember one thing: use Connections to reduce context switching.
Writing: build a "related" section while you draft
- Open your draft note.
- Scan the top 5 results.
- Hover preview to confirm the best 1-3.
- Drag them into a "Related" section.
- Keep writing.
Outcome: your draft stays grounded in your existing work, without stopping to search.
Research: turn the list into a reading trail
- Pause on your anchor note (the topic you care about).
- Copy as a list of links.
- Paste into a new "Reading trail" note (or your daily note).
- Work through the links in order.
Outcome: you get a ranked, meaning-based reading order, not a folder crawl.
AI work: assemble grounded context fast
- Pause on the note you are working on.
- Send to Smart Context.
- Remove noise, reorder, and keep only what the model needs.
- Copy and paste into your AI tool.
Outcome: better outputs with less prompt wrangling (because your vault is doing the grounding).