Find notes by meaning with Smart Lookup

Smart Lookup searches your Obsidian vault by meaning, not only by exact words.

Type an idea, topic, or question. Lookup returns a ranked list of notes or note sections that may contain useful source material, even when your notes use different wording.

You know it worked when:

One result contains useful material related to your query, even though the note may use different words.

Quick start

1. Open Smart Lookup

Use either route:

• Click the Smart Lookup magnifying-glass icon in Obsidian's ribbon.
• Press Ctrl/Cmd + P, then run:

Smart Lookup: Open: Lookup view

The Smart Lookup view opens in the sidebar with a query box that says:

Describe the idea, topic, or question you want to explore...

2. Describe what you want to find

Use ordinary language. A useful pattern is:

subject + context + distinguishing detail

Examples:

preventing information overload while researching

prior decisions about the Smart Context Builder

customer onboarding friction and activation

A question also works:

What have I written about information overload and focus?

Lookup uses the question to find likely source notes. The result is still a list, not a composed answer.

3. Run the search

• With Auto-submit enabled, pause briefly after typing and the results update automatically.
• With Auto-submit disabled, click Lookup.

Use one clear intent per query. A longer prompt is not automatically a better search.

4. Verify the strongest candidates

Start with the first 1 to 3 results.

1. Click the arrow beside a promising result to expand its excerpt.
2. Read enough to confirm why it matched.
3. On desktop, hold Ctrl/Cmd while hovering the result to use Obsidian's preview when available.
4. Click the result title when you need the full note.

Treat each result as a lead to inspect, not a conclusion to trust.

5. Use the result

A useful result should change the work, not remain in a result list.

You can:

• recover an idea, decision, example, or constraint from the source
• add a normal Obsidian link to the note you are working in
• drag the result link into the editor where your version supports it
• add the verified note to Smart Context Builder when it should ground an AI request

A purposeful link is easier to reuse:

## Context

- [[Useful result note]]
	- Use for: [why this note matters to the current question or outcome]

Choose the result you want

Idea or question -> Smart Lookup finds sources.
Current note -> Smart Connections finds related sources.
Exact words -> Obsidian search finds exact matches.
Written answer -> AI uses the sources you approve.

Write better Lookup queries

Describe the material you want to find, not the report you want an AI to write afterward.

Avoid using Lookup as though it were a chat prompt:

Summarize my notes and recommend the best next actions.

Search for the source material instead:

notes about project risks, unresolved decisions, and next actions

Then give the summarizing or recommendation instruction to the AI workflow that receives the verified notes.

If results are too broad, add one distinguishing detail. If they are too narrow, remove the least important detail.

How to read Lookup results

Depending on your result settings, a row may show:

Use the score to decide what to inspect first.

Do not assume that a high score makes the source correct, that the first result is the only useful result, or that scores from different queries are directly comparable.

Preview before opening. Open before trusting. Link only when the result improves the current work.

Get a written answer from the notes you found

For a vault with hundreds or thousands of notes, use this flow:

search the local index -> verify a small source set -> send only approved sources -> review the answer

Do not send all 1,500 notes to a model for every question.

Answer inside Obsidian with Smart Chat API Extension (Pro)

1. Open Smart Chat API Extension.
2. Add the notes you verified, or use Smart Chat's Lookup context action.
3. Review the proposed source list and remove anything that should not guide the answer.
4. Ask the question.
5. Compare the response with the attached sources before adding anything to a trusted note.

Answer with the AI tool you already use

1. Open Smart Context Builder.
2. Add the notes or sections you verified in Lookup.
3. Remove anything unrelated, stale, duplicated, or untrusted.
4. Copy the reviewed context bundle.
5. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another AI tool and ask the question.

Prompt starter:

Use only the attached notes as source material.

Question: [your question]

Name the notes or sections you relied on.
If the sources do not contain enough information, identify the exact missing note, fact, or decision instead of guessing.

Useful workflows

Recover an idea without remembering its words

1. Describe the idea.
2. Expand the top results.
3. Open the note that confirms the match.
4. Add the recovered insight or a purposeful link to the current work.

Find prior decisions before repeating work

1. Search for the topic plus decision, tradeoff, or the project name.
2. Preview the strongest candidates.
3. Open the source containing the actual reasoning.
4. Add the useful decision or constraint to the current note in your own words.

Prepare source-grounded AI context

1. Search for the evidence the assignment needs.
2. Verify each useful result.
3. Add the approved notes in Smart Context Builder.
4. Remove noise before copying.
5. Ask for the outcome only after the source set is reviewable.

When results are weak

If this is your first run, verify readiness before judging result quality:

• Smart Milestones
• Smart Environment settings

Optional: Sources vs Blocks

Start with the default result type and find one useful result before tuning.

Lookup reuses result-list configuration from Smart Connections, so some changes can affect both retrieval surfaces.

Start with Sources. Use Blocks when the correct note appears but the useful section is buried inside it.

For the current controls, see Smart Connections settings.

FAQ

Why did a result appear without my exact words?

That is the purpose of searching by meaning. Use Obsidian search when exact wording matters.

Should I trust the first result?

No. Expand or preview it, open the source when needed, and decide whether it actually helps the work.

Where is Add to Context?

The current Lookup view does not expose that action. Open or identify the result, then add the verified note from Smart Context Builder.

Related pages

• Find notes related to the current note
• Build a reviewed source set with Smart Context
• Get a written answer with Smart Chat API Extension
• Check Smart Environment readiness