Configuration Overview¶

Trail's power comes from its flexible configuration. Define custom relations, set up automatic inference rules, organize relations into groups, and control how they're displayed.

Settings Location¶

Access Trail settings at Settings → Trail (under Community plugins).

Configuration Sections¶

Relations¶

Relations are the building blocks—named connection types like up, down, parent, or any custom type you define.

Each relation has:

Name: Unique identifier (up, parent, contains)
Aliases: Frontmatter keys that map to this relation
Implied relations: Automatic inferences when this relation exists
Visual direction: How the relation displays in the Trail pane

Configure relations

Implied Relations¶

Implied relations let you define once, link everywhere. When A -up-> B exists, Trail can automatically create B -down-> A.

Set up implied relations

Groups¶

Groups organize relations in the Trail pane. Instead of a flat list, see "Ancestors", "Children", and "Siblings" as separate sections.

Each group can:

Include multiple relation types
Traverse to a specific depth
Extend from other groups
Filter which files appear
Sort items by properties

Configure groups

Filtering¶

Control which notes appear in groups using property-based filters:

Filters: Only show files matching certain criteria
Show conditions: Only show the group when the active note matches

Set up filtering

Sorting¶

Customize how items are ordered within groups:

Property sorting: Sort by frontmatter values
Chain sorting: Keep sequential relations (next/prev) in order

Configure sorting

Display Properties¶

Show frontmatter values as badges next to file names in the Trail pane.

Configure display properties

Configuration Philosophy¶

Start Simple¶

Trail's defaults work out of the box:

up/down for hierarchies
next/prev for sequences
Automatic bidirectional linking
Sensible groups for ancestors, children, and siblings

Customize Incrementally¶

Add complexity only when you need it:

First: Use default relations, learn the syntax
Then: Add custom relations for your domain
Later: Set up groups with filtering for specific note types
Finally: Fine-tune sorting and display properties

Relation Names Are Stable¶

Once you start using a relation name, treat it as permanent. Changing names requires updating all notes that use them. Choose meaningful names from the start:

Less Clear	More Clear
`r1`, `r2`	`parent`, `child`
`link`	`cites`, `references`
`conn`	`precedes`, `follows`

Quick Reference¶

Feature	Where	Key Settings
Add relation	Relations section	Name, aliases
Bidirectional links	Each relation	Implied relations
Visual hierarchy	Each relation	Visual direction
Pane organization	Groups section	Name, members
Depth limit	Each group member	Depth (0 = unlimited)
Filter items	Each group	Filters, match mode
Context visibility	Each group	Show conditions
Sort order	Each group	Sort keys, chain sort
Property badges	Each group	Display properties