Groups¶

Groups organize relations in the Trail pane. Instead of a flat list of all connections, you see organized sections like "Ancestors", "Children", and "Siblings"—each with its own configuration for what to show and how.

Power User Option

For advanced group configuration with rich filtering, date arithmetic, and complex expressions, see the Trail Query Language (TQL).

Creating a Group¶

Open Settings → Trail
In the Groups section, click Add group
Configure the group settings

Group Settings¶

Name¶

The label displayed in the Trail pane. Choose something descriptive:

"Ancestors"
"Project Tasks"
"References"
"Related Notes"

Members¶

Members define which relations appear in this group and how they're traversed.

Each member has three settings:

Relation¶

Which relation type to include. Select from your defined relations.

Depth¶

How many levels to traverse:

Depth	Behavior
`0`	Unlimited—follow the chain as far as it goes
`1`	Direct connections only
`2`	Direct connections + one level deeper
`n`	Up to n levels

Example: With up at depth 0, if your note links up to a parent, which links up to a grandparent, which links up to a great-grandparent—you see all of them.

With up at depth 1, you only see the direct parent.

Extend¶

Optionally continue traversal using another group's configuration.

Use case: The default "Siblings" group extends from "Ancestors":

First, find notes via next and prev (depth 1)
Then, for each sibling found, apply the "Ancestors" group's traversal

This lets you see siblings' context without redefining the traversal rules.

TQL Equivalent

In TQL queries, use the chaining operator (>>) with a group reference: from next >> @"Ancestors"

Default Groups¶

Trail includes three groups out of the box:

Ancestors¶

Member	Depth
`up`	0 (unlimited)

Shows the full chain of parent notes above the current note.

Children¶

Member	Depth
`down`	0 (unlimited)

Shows all descendant notes below the current note.

Siblings¶

Member	Depth	Extend
`next`	1	Ancestors
`prev`	1	Ancestors

Shows notes linked via next/prev, then shows their ancestry for context.

Multiple Members¶

Groups can include multiple relation types:

Group: "Project Context"

Member	Depth
`project`	0
`milestone`	1
`related`	1

This shows:

All projects up the chain (unlimited)
Direct milestone connections
Direct related notes

All combined in one section.

Visual Direction and Groups¶

The relations' visual direction affects how the group renders:

Ascending Relations¶

For up-style relations (visual direction = ascending), Trail inverts the tree so the deepest ancestor appears at the root:

▼ Ancestors
  up  Great-Grandparent
    up  Grandparent
      up  Parent

Descending Relations¶

For down-style relations (visual direction = descending), the tree shows direct connections at the root:

▼ Children
  down  Child A
    down  Grandchild A1
    down  Grandchild A2
  down  Child B

Sequential Relations¶

For next/prev relations (visual direction = sequential), items appear in a flat sorted list:

▼ Siblings
  prev  Previous Note
  next  Next Note

Managing Groups¶

Reordering¶

Groups appear in the Trail pane in the order they're configured. Use the arrow buttons to reorder.

Deleting¶

Expand the group section
Click Delete group

Examples¶

Academic Paper Hierarchy¶

Group: "Paper Context"

Member	Depth
`field`	0
`topic`	2

Shows the research field hierarchy and immediate topic context.

Project Management¶

Group: "Project Hierarchy"

Member	Depth
`project`	0
`epic`	1

Group: "Task Children"

Member	Depth
`subtask`	0
`blocks`	1

Separate groups for looking up vs looking down.

Daily Notes Sequence¶

Group: "Timeline"

Member	Depth
`next`	3
`prev`	3

Shows three days forward and back, not the entire timeline.

Best Practices¶

One Purpose Per Group¶

Each group should answer one question:

"What contains this note?" → Ancestors
"What does this note contain?" → Children
"What's related to this note?" → Related

Don't cram everything into one group.

Use Depth Limits¶

Unlimited depth (0) is useful for hierarchies, but can be overwhelming for other relations. Start with depth 1-2 and increase if needed.

Order Groups by Importance¶

Put the most useful groups first. You'll see them without scrolling.

Use Extend Sparingly¶

Extend is powerful but can create complex traversals. Make sure you understand what it does before using it.

Consider TQL for Complex Groups¶

If you need advanced filtering (date ranges, complex boolean logic, regex matching), consider using the Trail Query Language instead of the visual editor.