Getting Started with Connections Early

Connections Early brings next generation Smart Connections features to Obsidian insiders before they ship in the stable channel. It layers inline decorators, a footer panel, and configurable ranking on top of the Smart Connections core so you can see the right notes at the right time without leaving the editor.

Note

Connections Early is an early release. Options may change and some features may be removed before the stable release. Share feedback to guide the roadmap. See the README for more details.

Prerequisites

Smart Connections core installed and indexing your vault
Recent Obsidian release
Community supporter access

Install with Smart Plugins plugin

Sign in with your supporter key in the Smart Connections Obsidian settings
Navigate to Smart Plugins in the Obsidian settings
Install Smart Connections from the list

Enable Connections Early features

Open Obsidian settings, then Smart Connections settings.

Turn on Inline connections or Footer connections under Smart Plugins or Connections Lists
Select a score algorithm and optional post processing

Inline connections

Inline decorators appear next to blocks while you write and surface semantically related blocks or notes based on your configured threshold.

Hover the inline icon to preview related results
Hold cmd or ctrl while hovering a result to trigger Obsidian Hover Preview
Click a result to open the note
Click the top Connections line to open all matches in the main Connections view

Tip

If decorators are not appearing, lower the inline score threshold or confirm embeddings are up to date in Smart Sources.

Tuning inline visibility

Inline score threshold controls how confident a match must be before a decorator shows
Results limit caps items returned to inline surfaces
Include and exclude filters scope candidates by file path

Footer connections panel

Keep the highest scoring connections visible in a persistent panel while drafting. The footer updates as you type so you can capture ideas before they drift.

Toggle Footer connections on
Use pin and hide to teach the system what is useful
Switch algorithms to see different ranking behaviors

Ranking and post processing

Connections Early exposes ranking inputs and optional post processing so you can tune how results are shaped.

Results collection key selects Smart Sources or Smart Blocks as the candidate pool
Score algorithm selects the primary ranking strategy
Post processing allows a secondary rerank stage such as Cohere via Smart Rank when configured

Tip

Try Smart Blocks as the collection for fine grained context when your notes have strong headings. Use Smart Sources for broader note level discovery.

Bases integration

Bring Smart Connections scores into Obsidian Bases to compare notes while planning.

Run Add: Connections score base column in a .base file to create a similarity column powered by your current scoring algorithm.
Use score_connection(file, compared_to) or file.score_connection(compared_to) for ad-hoc formulas.
Pair the score column with list_connections(file) to render quick links beside numeric insights.

Note

score_connection reacts to inline feedback—pinning or hiding items updates Base scores the next time the column recalculates.

Quick start workflow

Open a note with relevant context
Toggle Inline connections and Footer connections
Pin useful results and hide noisy ones
Adjust the score threshold and results limit
Try alternate algorithms and optional rerank to match your style

Connections view

Inline and footer surfaces complement the main Connections view. Use the view to explore all matches for the current note, drag to link, and manage hidden items.

Note

You can drag a result into an open note to create a link. Right click a result to hide it. Use Unhide from the menu to restore items.

Smart Lookup

Use the Smart Lookup to make semantic queries across your vault.