AI-powered note connection system using semantic similarity
Core Idea: Smart Connections is an Obsidian plugin that uses AI embeddings to automatically suggest related notes and blocks based on semantic similarity rather than just keywords or tags.
Key Elements
- Functionality: Analyzes your vault to create a "map of meaning" using vector embeddings, then ranks and displays note connections by semantic similarity
- Components:
- Smart Connections View: Displays related notes/blocks sorted by similarity score
- Smart Lookup: Semantic search capability through your vault
- Smart Chat: Optional QA interface to converse with your vault's content (requires API key or local LLM)
- Technical Implementation:
- Creates vector embeddings for notes or blocks
- Uses similarity calculations to generate connection suggestions
- Can operate completely locally with built-in embedding models
- Supports excluding specific folders, files, or headings from analysis
Practical Applications
- Surfaces unexpected connections between notes that keyword searches would miss
- Helps identify patterns in your thinking across your vault
- Enables discovery of past relevant ideas when working on new content
- Augments manual linking with AI-suggested connections
- Enhances the emergent potential of your PKM system
Privacy Features
- Can run completely locally with no data leaving your machine
- Provides built-in embedding models requiring no API keys
- Allows selective exclusion of confidential or sensitive content
Performance Considerations
- Embedding process is surprisingly fast (processed 236 notes in 0.3 seconds in testing)
- Block-level embedding provides more granular connections than note-level
- Compatibility depends on available CPU and RAM resources
- Minimum character threshold can exclude very short notes from analysis
Additional Connections
- Broader Context: Personal Knowledge Management (enhances traditional PKM approaches)
- Applications: Digital Garden Cultivation (helps identify growth areas in published notes)
- See Also: Obsidian Copilot (alternative AI integration approach for Obsidian)
References
- Smart connections.app official website
- GitHub repository for Smart Connections
#obsidian #ai-tools #pkm #note-connections #embeddings
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