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Getting Started

Get Trail up and running in under 5 minutes. By the end of this guide, you'll have created your first relation and explored it in the Trail pane.

Installation

BRAT (Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tester) is the easiest way to install Trail while it's in beta.

  1. Install the BRAT plugin from Settings → Community plugins → Browse
  2. Enable BRAT
  3. Open BRAT settings and select Add Beta plugin
  4. Enter https://github.com/theoryzhenkov/trail and select Add Plugin
  5. Enable Trail in Settings → Community plugins

Manual Installation

  1. Download main.js, styles.css, and manifest.json from the latest release
  2. Create a folder at <YourVault>/.obsidian/plugins/trail/
  3. Copy the downloaded files into that folder
  4. Restart Obsidian
  5. Enable Trail in Settings → Community plugins

Your First Relation

Let's create a simple parent-child relationship between two notes.

Step 1: Create a Parent Note

Create a new note called Projects.md:

# Projects

This note contains all my projects.

Step 2: Create a Child Note with a Relation

Create another note called Website Redesign.md with an up relation pointing to Projects:

# Website Redesign

up::[[Projects]]

This is my website redesign project.

---
relations:
  up: "[[Projects]]"
---

# Website Redesign

This is my website redesign project.

Both syntaxes create the same relation. Use whichever feels more natural to you.

Step 3: Open the Trail Pane

  1. Open the Command Palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P)
  2. Search for Trail: Open Trail pane
  3. Press Enter

The Trail pane appears in your sidebar. With Website Redesign open, you'll see:

📄 Website Redesign

▼ Ancestors
  up  Projects

Step 4: See Implied Relations in Action

Trail's default configuration includes implied relations. Because Website Redesign has an up relation to Projects, Trail automatically creates a down relation in the reverse direction.

Open Projects.md and look at the Trail pane:

📄 Projects

▼ Children
  down  Website Redesign

You didn't have to add a link in Projects.md — Trail inferred it automatically.

Understanding the Default Setup

Trail comes preconfigured with four relations and three groups:

Default Relations

Relation Visual Direction Implied Relation
up Ascending Creates down in reverse
down Descending Creates up in reverse
next Sequential Creates prev in reverse
prev Sequential Creates next in reverse

Default Groups

Group Shows Use Case
Ancestors up relations (unlimited depth) Parent notes, categories
Children down relations (unlimited depth) Child notes, contents
Siblings next and prev (depth 1) Sequential navigation

What's Next?

Now that you've created your first relation, explore these topics:

  • Learn the syntax options

    Master inline and frontmatter syntax for creating relations.

    Syntax guide

  • Customize your relations

    Create custom relation types with your own semantics.

    Configure relations

  • Set up implied relations

    Define rules so Trail automatically creates bidirectional links.

    Implied relations

  • Explore real examples

    See how to build family trees, project hierarchies, and more.

    Examples