# Smart Connections - Getting Started Quick-start guide to installing and using Smart Connections for AI-powered note discovery in Obsidian. ## Pre-Installation Checklist ✅ Obsidian installed (desktop version recommended) ✅ Vault created with existing notes (at least 20-30 notes for meaningful results) ✅ ~200MB free storage space for embeddings ✅ Community plugins enabled in Settings ## Installation Steps ### Step 1: Enable Community Plugins 1. Open Obsidian Settings (**⌘ ,**) 2. Navigate to **Community plugins** 3. If first time: Click "Turn on community plugins" 4. Confirm the security prompt ### Step 2: Install Smart Connections 1. Click **Browse** button in Community plugins 2. Search for "Smart Connections" 3. Select plugin by **Brian Petro** 4. Click **Install** 5. After installation completes, click **Enable** **What you'll see:** - Download progress (plugin is ~50MB) - Installation confirmation - Plugin appears in installed plugins list ### Step 3: Initial Embedding Process **Automatic startup:** Once enabled, Smart Connections immediately begins processing your vault. **Status messages you'll see:** ``` Import complete. 5900 sources imported in 3.251s Embedding complete. 9618 embeddings created. 17202 tokens/sec using TaylorAl/bge-micro-v2 ``` **What's happening:** - Plugin scans all markdown files in vault - Creates embeddings for each note, heading, and block - Processes at ~17,000 tokens/second (modern hardware) - Typical vault: 30-60 seconds total **Progress indicator:** - Watch the Smart Connections view for status updates - Or check Obsidian's status bar (bottom right) ### Step 4: Verify Installation **Open Smart Connections view:** - Click connections icon in left ribbon, or - Command palette (**⌘ P**) → "Smart Connections: Open view" - Hotkey: **⌥ C** (Alt+C) **You should see:** - List of related notes for current file - Similarity scores (0.0 to 1.0) - Preview snippets **If nothing appears:** - Wait for embedding process to complete - Try opening a different note with more content - Check console for errors (Cmd+Opt+I, then Console tab) ## First Use: Finding Related Notes ### Basic Workflow **Step 1: Open any note in your vault** Example: Open your "Project Planning" note **Step 2: Open Smart Connections sidebar** (**⌥ C**) **Step 3: Review results** You'll see notes ranked by similarity: ``` 0.89 | Goal Setting Framework 0.85 | Weekly Review Process 0.82 | Task Management System 0.78 | Time Blocking Guide ``` **Step 4: Interact with results** - **Hover** over a result to see preview - **Hold ⌘/Ctrl + hover** for Obsidian's full preview - **Click** preview to open that note - **Drag** result into your current note to create link ### Understanding the Results **Similarity score explained:** - **0.90 - 1.0**: Extremely related (nearly identical topic) - **0.80 - 0.89**: Highly related (closely connected concepts) - **0.70 - 0.79**: Moderately related (overlapping themes) - **Below 0.70**: Loosely related (consider if relevant) **Why a note appears:** - Similar concepts even with different words - Overlapping themes or topics - Related methodologies or frameworks - Complementary information ## First Use: Semantic Search ### Lookup Command **Opening Lookup:** - Command palette (**⌘ P**) → "Smart Connections: Lookup" - Or use keyboard shortcut (set in Hotkeys settings) **How it works:** 1. Type a concept or question 2. Results appear ranked by semantic similarity 3. Not keyword matching—concept matching **Example searches:** | Query | Finds | |-------|-------| | "productivity system" | GTD notes, time management, workflow docs | | "learning techniques" | Study methods, spaced repetition, note-taking | | "creative process" | Writing routines, brainstorming, ideation notes | | "habit formation" | Behavior change, routines, atomic habits | **Pro tip:** Use natural language. Ask questions or describe concepts, not just keywords. ## First Use: Chat with Your Notes ### Opening Chat **Method 1: Command Palette** - **⌘ P** → "Smart Connections: Open Smart Chat" **Method 2: Sidebar** - Open Smart Connections view - Click chat icon at top ### Simple Chat Workflow **Step 1: Add Context** 1. Click "Edit context" 2. Type note names to search 3. Select 2-3 relevant notes 4. Close context builder **Step 2: Ask Question** Type in chat input: ``` "Based on these notes, what are my main goals for Q4?" "Summarize the key ideas from these productivity articles" "What connections exist between these concepts?" ``` **Step 3: Review Response** AI responds using *only* the context notes you selected. **Step 4: Iterate** - Add more notes to context for depth - Ask follow-up questions - Refine context if response misses the mark ## Customizing Your Setup ### Keyboard Shortcuts **Recommended hotkeys to set:** 1. Settings → Hotkeys → Search "Smart Connections" 2. Set shortcuts for: - Open Smart Connections view: **⌥ C** - Open Smart Chat: **⌥ ⇧ C** - Lookup: **⌥ ⇧ L** ### Plugin Settings **Access settings:** Settings → Community plugins → Smart Connections → Settings icon **Key settings to review:** - **Embedding model**: Default (bge-micro-v2) works well - **Results count**: How many connections to show (default: 10) - **Similarity threshold**: Minimum score to display (default: 0.7) - **Auto-refresh**: Update embeddings on note save (recommended: enabled) ### Sidebar Position **Move Smart Connections sidebar:** 1. Click and drag the Smart Connections view tab 2. Dock to left or right panel 3. Or keep as floating pane **Pro tip:** Dock to right panel to keep it always visible while writing. ## Common First-Time Issues ### No results appear **Possible causes:** - Embeddings still processing (wait 30-60 seconds) - Current note too short or generic (try a longer note) - Vault too small (need 20+ notes for patterns) **Solution:** Open a well-developed note on a specific topic and check again. ### Results seem random **Possible causes:** - Notes lack semantic clarity (vague writing) - Threshold too low (showing weak connections) - Newly created note with minimal content **Solution:** - Write more descriptive content - Increase similarity threshold in settings - Focus on notes with 200+ words ### Slow performance **Possible causes:** - Large vault (10,000+ notes) still processing - Low RAM or older hardware - Multiple heavy plugins running **Solution:** - Wait for initial embedding to complete - Close other applications - Consider excluding large folders (Settings → Exclusions) ## Next Steps ### Week 1: Exploration - Use Smart Connections sidebar daily - Notice which unexpected connections appear - Follow connections to rediscover old notes ### Week 2: Integration - Try semantic search (Lookup) instead of keyword search - Use chat to synthesize across notes - Create links to related notes you discover ### Week 3: Workflow Refinement - Set up hotkeys for frequent commands - Adjust similarity threshold to your preference - Experiment with chat context building ### Ongoing: Maintenance - Embeddings update automatically on note save - No manual intervention needed - Plugin runs silently in background ## Learning Resources ### Documentation - [[Smart Connections - Overview]] - Complete feature guide - [[Smart Connections - Chat Interface]] - Advanced chat workflows - [[Vector Embeddings for Note Retrieval]] - How it works technically ### Community - **GitHub Repository**: [github.com/brianpetro/obsidian-smart-connections](https://github.com/brianpetro/obsidian-smart-connections) - **Discussions**: GitHub Discussions for Q&A and workflows - **Issues**: GitHub Issues for bug reports - **Smart Guide GPT**: AI assistant for advanced tips ### Tips and Tricks - Use Smart Connections during weekly reviews - Combine with Dataview for structured + semantic search - Build chat context sets for recurring research topics - Link discovered connections manually for permanent structure ## Quick Reference | Task | Command | Shortcut | |------|---------|----------| | Open connections view | Command palette | ⌥ C | | Semantic search | Lookup | ⌥ ⇧ L | | Open chat | Smart Chat | ⌥ ⇧ C | | Refresh results | Refresh button in sidebar | - | | Drag to link | Click and drag result | - | | Preview | Hover over result | - | | Full preview | ⌘/Ctrl + hover | - | ## See Also - [[Smart Connections - Overview]] - Main documentation - [[Vector Embeddings for Note Retrieval]] - Technical explainer - [[Obsidian Plugin Ecosystem]] - Other essential plugins - [[Second Brain Methodology]] - PKM context