Choosing the Right Type
You don't need to memorise the taxonomy. Just ask yourself one question before typing a link: why am I connecting these two notes right now?
Decision guide
Does one note provide evidence or a source for the other?
→ Source
Does one note extend or develop an idea introduced in the other?
→ Deepening or Continuation
Does one note give a concrete example of what the other describes abstractly?
→ Illustration
Do the two notes disagree — but you want to hold both for now?
→ Tension
Do the two notes reach opposite conclusions?
→ Opposition
Five concrete cases
Situation: You read an article that backs up something you already wrote.
Intention: The article provides evidence for my existing note.
Situation: You wrote a new note that takes an idea from a previous note much further.
Intention: The new note develops and extends the earlier one.
Situation: Two of your notes reach different conclusions on the same question.
Intention: There's a real disagreement I want to track — not a nuance.
Situation: You notice that a case study you captured perfectly illustrates a principle in another note.
Intention: One note is the abstract idea; the other makes it concrete.
Situation: Two frameworks you've read pull in slightly different directions but you're not sure which is right.
Intention: There's a productive tension — I don't want to resolve it yet.
When you're unsure
If you genuinely can't decide, leave the link untyped. An untyped link is still a connection — it still contributes to the graph, still appears in backlinks, still influences suggestions.
You can revisit and type it later, when the relationship becomes clearer. Sometimes the right type only becomes obvious after you've written more around both notes.
Tension vs Opposition:This is the most common hesitation. Use Tension when you want to hold both ideas open — you're not sure which is right. Use Opposition when you're confident they conflict and you want to track the disagreement explicitly.