Backlinks

Backlinks are one of Ariv’s most powerful features for building a connected knowledge base. They show you which notes link to the current note, revealing relationships you might not have noticed. Combined with outgoing links, you get a complete picture of how any note fits into the broader web of your thinking.

Incoming links (backlinks)

An incoming link — or backlink — is any note in your vault that references the current note. If you’re looking at a note called “Project Alpha,” the backlinks panel will show every other note that contains a link to “Project Alpha.”

This is valuable because it surfaces context you didn’t have to organize. You write a link once, and the connection works in both directions automatically.

Outgoing links

The backlinks panel also lists the outgoing links from the current note — every note that the current note links to. This gives you a quick overview of all the connections radiating outward from the note you’re reading.

Creating links with wiki-link syntax

To link between notes in Ariv, use the wiki-link syntax:

Check the [[Project Alpha]] notes for details.

This relates to the ideas in [[brainstorm-session-2024-03]].

When you type [[, Ariv shows a suggestion dropdown with matching note names, so you can link quickly without remembering exact filenames.

Tip

You don’t need to include the file extension. [[Project Alpha]] will match a file called Project Alpha.md in your vault.

The backlinks panel

The backlinks panel lives in the right sidebar. When you have a note open, it displays two sections:

1. Incoming links — Notes that link to the current note, with a preview of the surrounding text so you can see the context of each reference.
2. Outgoing links — Notes that the current note links to.

Click any entry in either list to open that note.

How indexing works

Ariv indexes all links in your vault using SQLite. This means:

• Lookups are instant. Even in vaults with thousands of notes, backlinks appear immediately.
• Links stay current. When you add, remove, or change a link, the index updates in real time.
• Renames are handled. When you rename a note, Ariv updates the links pointing to it so nothing breaks.

Note

Link indexing happens automatically in the background. You don’t need to trigger a rebuild or wait for a sync — your backlinks are always up to date.

Building a knowledge graph

Backlinks are the foundation of an organic knowledge graph. Instead of forcing notes into a rigid folder hierarchy, you create connections by simply linking between related ideas. Over time, clusters of densely connected notes emerge naturally.

Combined with Ariv’s auto-tagging system, these connections become even richer. Tags group notes by topic, links connect them by relationship, and together they create a navigable web of knowledge — without any manual organization.

Best practices

• Link generously. Whenever you mention a concept that has its own note, link to it. The cost of an extra link is zero, but the backlink it creates can be invaluable later.
• Check backlinks when revisiting a note. Before editing a note you haven’t touched in a while, scan its backlinks. You may find new context that changes how you think about the topic.
• Use backlinks for literature notes. When you capture ideas from a book or article, link to the source note. Later, the source note’s backlinks will show every idea you extracted from it.
• Don’t worry about perfect link names. Ariv’s search and suggestion system makes it easy to find the right note to link to.

Tip

Backlinks are especially powerful for “hub” notes — broad topic notes like “Machine Learning” or “Q2 Goals.” These naturally accumulate many backlinks, becoming navigational anchors in your vault.

---

Related: Visual Maps — See your note connections as an interactive graph | Search — Find notes by name or content