Forge can generate relationship indexes that map how notes connect across your vault.

Forge calls these ontology indexes because they describe relationships between concepts, notes, projects, systems, and entities.

You do not need to be an ontology expert to use them.

In practice, they are:

structured maps of how your notes relate to each other.

---

---

Run the Export

Run:

Forge: Export Ontology Index

Forge scans matching notes, extracts relationships, and generates structured relationship indexes.

---

Before Running

Configure:

Settings → Export

Recommended setup:

1. Enable export
2. Click Reload from schema
3. Choose a filter field, usually type
4. Select filter values such as:
   • project
   • reference
   • research
   • system
5. Set a relationship heading, usually:
   • Related
   • References
   • Depends On

Forge uses these settings to decide which notes participate in the export and which sections contain relationships.

---

Generated Files

For each selected filter value, Forge writes:

A-I/Forge/Exports/<value>-index.json
A-I/Forge/Exports/<value>-index.md

Example:

A-I/Forge/Exports/project-index.json
A-I/Forge/Exports/project-index.md

These files contain structured relationship maps and readable summaries.

---

How Relationships Are Found

Forge scans matching notes and reads configured relationship sections.

Example:

## Related

- [[Project Alpha]]
- [[Research Notes]]
- [[Client Dashboard]]

Forge extracts:

• linked notes
• outbound references
• observed relationship keys
• selected metadata fields

This creates a structured map of how notes connect across the vault.

---

Why Relationship Indexes Matter

As vaults grow, notes gradually become networks instead of isolated documents.

Projects connect to:

• people
• ideas
• systems
• research
• decisions
• tasks
• references

Over time, those relationships become difficult to track manually.

Relationship indexes help surface that structure automatically.

---

Dataview, Bases, and Dashboards

Relationship indexes become much more useful when metadata is consistent.

Forge works best when:

• note types are standardized
• statuses are predictable
• tags are normalized
• schemas are enforced consistently

That consistency improves:

• Dataview queries
• Bases
• dashboards
• exports
• graph workflows
• AI-assisted retrieval systems

Reliable structure produces more reliable relationships.

---

Common Use Cases

Relationship indexes are useful for:

• project mapping
• research systems
• knowledge management
• dependency tracking
• dashboard generation
• vault audits
• AI workflows
• large vault navigation

You might use them to answer questions like:

• Which projects depend on this system?
• Which topics appear together most often?
• Which notes are isolated?
• Which concepts connect multiple domains?
• Which projects reference the same research?

---

Folder Exclusions

Use:

Settings → Export → Excluded folders

to omit areas that should not participate in exports.

Common exclusions include:

• archives
• templates
• generated content
• scratch notes
• temporary workspaces

This helps keep exports cleaner and more useful.

---

Relationship Workflow Example

A common workflow looks like this:

1. Define schemas
2. Normalize metadata
3. Run Vault Lint
4. Repair inconsistencies
5. Add relationship sections
6. Export relationship indexes
7. Build dashboards from results

Over time, the vault becomes easier to:

• navigate
• query
• audit
• maintain
• understand

---

Shapes and Relationship Structure

Shapes work especially well alongside relationship indexes.

Shapes help keep note structures consistent.

Relationship indexes help surface how those structures connect.

Together they help larger vaults remain:

• understandable
• queryable
• navigable
• maintainable

---

Related Notes

• Export Overview
• Schema Reference
• Vault Lint
• Shapes Overview