frontmatter-reference

#meta/authoring#meta/reference

Frontmatter Reference

Every note in vault/ can include a YAML frontmatter block between --- delimiters at the very top of the file. All fields are optional except publish.

Full Example

---
publish: true
title: "My Note"
tags:
  - programming/rust
  - tech
aliases:
  - my note
  - rust note
graph:
  shape: dodecahedron
  color: "#F74C00"
  collapsible: false
  callout: false
  calloutText: "Start Here!"
---

Field Reference

publish

publish: true

Required to appear on the site. Without this field (or with publish: false), the note is completely invisible — no graph node, no page, no edges, no tag nodes from this note’s tags.

Default: false

title

title: "My Note"

Display name shown in the graph node label, the page <title>, and the note page heading. If omitted, the filename (without .md) is used.

tags

tags:
  - programming/rust
  - tech

Or inline: tags: [programming/rust, tech]

Tags become octahedron nodes in the graph. Use / for hierarchy: #programming/rust and #programming/js are both under the #programming family and share a colour.

Inline #tags in the note body are also detected.

aliases

aliases:
  - alternate name
  - short name

Alternative names for this note. If another note has [[alternate name]], it resolves to this note. Useful for notes with long titles.

graph.shape

graph:
  shape: sphere

The shape of this note’s node in the 3D graph. See the Graph Features note for the full list of valid values and a usage guide.

Default: sphere

graph.color

graph:
  color: "#e74c3c"

Hex colour for the node. Any valid CSS hex string.

Default: #3498db

graph.collapsible

graph:
  collapsible: true

When true, the node starts with all its downstream wikilink targets hidden. A + badge is shown on the node. Clicking expands the subtree; Shift+clicking an expanded node re-collapses it.

Default: false

graph.callout and graph.calloutText

graph:
  callout: true
  calloutText: "Start Here!"

When callout: true, an animated arrow and floating label appear on the landing page pointing to this node, inviting first-time visitors to click it as their entry point into the graph.

  • calloutText sets the text shown in the bubble. Defaults to "Click to get started" if omitted.
  • Only one note should have callout: true at a time.
  • The callout auto-dismisses when the user clicks the node or the bubble, or after 30 seconds.
  • Once dismissed it does not reappear for the rest of that browser session (sessionStorage).
  • The pulsing rings and arrow colour match the node’s graph.color.

Default: false

Notes on Frontmatter Parsing

  • YAML must be valid. An invalid frontmatter block (unclosed quotes, bad indentation) will cause the note to be treated as publish: false — a warning is logged but the build continues.
  • The --- delimiters must be the very first characters in the file with no blank line or BOM before them.
  • Gray-matter is the YAML parser used internally.