A graph view for your Markdown notes on a Mac

Checked November 2026 against obsidian.md, which lists a graph among Obsidian's features. Coffee isn't affiliated with Obsidian.

A graph view draws every note as a dot and every link between two notes as a line. Notes that link to each other pull together, and notes that link to nothing drift to the edge. It's the picture that made Obsidian famous, and it's useful for more than screenshots, as long as you know what to look for.

Coffee has one built in. Here's what it's good for, and how to get a graph that tells you something.

What a graph of your notes shows

• Hubs. The big dots are the notes everything else points to: a project page, a person, a topic you keep coming back to. If a hub surprises you, it's often a note worth tidying.
• Islands. A cluster that touches nothing else is a part of your life or work that never links to the rest. Sometimes that's right. Sometimes it's two notes that should know about each other.
• Orphans. Dots with no lines at all are notes nothing links to. They're the ones you'll lose. A link from a daily note or a project page brings them back.
• The neighbourhood of one note. Far more useful day to day than the whole map: the note you're in, what it links to, and what links to it, two steps out.

How to get a graph worth looking at

A graph is only as good as the links in your notes. A few habits make it come alive:

1. Link as you write. Type [[ and pick a note, rather than saving links for later. In Coffee a link can't break when you rename a note, so there's no reason to hold back. More in links that don't break.
2. Make hub notes on purpose. A note per project, person or topic, with links out to the notes about it, gives the graph a shape.
3. Link from your daily note. If you keep one, a link to whatever you worked on that day ties new notes into the rest.
4. Use folders for where, links for what. A graph shows meaning, folders show filing. Both are useful, as in folders or tags.

The graph in Coffee

Open it from the Note menu, choose Graph…, or press <kbd>⌥⌘G</kbd>.

• This note or all notes. It opens on the note you're in and the notes within two links of it. Switch to All notes for the whole library.
• Move around. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and Fit brings every note back into view.
• Hover to read it. Resting the pointer on a note lights up its links and shows a small card with its folder and how many links it has.
• Click to open. A click on any dot opens that note.
• Colour by folder. Notes take the colour of the folder they're in at the top, so the parts of your library show as groups. The note you're in has a soft ring around it.

It reads the same links as backlinks: [[wiki links]] and ordinary Markdown links to other notes. Private notes are left out, along with what they link to. The graph is worked out on your Mac, and big libraries are fine: thousands of notes are laid out in about a second, away from your typing.

Nothing is written into your files. The graph comes from the links already there, so your notes stay plain Markdown that any other app can open.

Questions

Do I need a plugin for a graph view?

Not in Coffee. The graph is built in, under Note > Graph… or <kbd>⌥⌘G</kbd>.

Which links does the graph show?

[[wiki links]] and Markdown links from one note to another, in either direction. Links to websites aren't part of it, and neither are Private notes.

Can I see only the notes around the one I'm writing?

Yes. The graph opens on the note you're in and the notes within two links of it. All notes shows the whole library.

Does the graph change my files?

No. It only reads the links already in your notes.

Coffee is Mac only, with macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates.