Obsidian search: pick your tool by what you remember — a practical decision thread
dSebastien · x · 2026-10-28
dSebastien shared a practical thread on choosing the right Obsidian retrieval tool based on what you remember, tied to his paid ebook "Obsidian Search Handbook" (€19 with code LAUNCH until Oct 29, €29 after).
The decision flow:
- Only the title → Quick Switcher (Ctrl/Cmd+O): fuzzy match, aliases, title matches ranked first
- Just a word or phrase → Search view (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F): "exact phrase", -exclude, path:, tag:, [property:value], task-todo:, /regex/
- A date, link, or relation → Bases: search can't do date math, backlinks, or folders, but Bases can
- A related note you can't name → start there: backlinks, unlinked mentions, local graph, Map of Content
- Nothing at all → semantic search, or an AI agent running the other methods for you
Counterintuitive tip: too many results is a signal to move to the next step, just like zero results — go name → phrase → filters, and stop as soon as you find the note.
More from Apps
- Mejuri pivoted to AI-generated slide decks and growth took off, now valued in billions — dunkhippo33 · 2026-10-28
- Starlink connection helps rural Zimbabwe doctor complete lifesaving emergency surgery — elonmusk · 2026-10-28
- SEO controversies revisited: most Google denials about ranking signals turned out true — lilyraynyc · 2026-10-28
- Once My OpenAI Device Can Make Phone Calls, It's Over — ritakozlov · 2026-10-28
- Paradigm Brings Back Tag Clusters for Visual Node Groupings in Flywheel — tensorqt · 2026-10-28
- Apple folds AI editing tools into Final Cut Pro: rotoscoping, tracking, Generate Fill — lmoroney · 2026-10-28