--- description: "How Jotaid's backlinks work: write one direction and the reverse appears by itself, the three tabs of a node's detail view, and how the node list keeps up." --- # Backlinks ## Write Once, Both Sides Have It Write `[[some concept]]` in note A and two things happen at once: 1. A clickable link appears in A's body 2. A **backlink** appears on that node — A is listed among the notes referencing it The second needs nothing from you. You only ever write one direction; the other is **indexed**, not maintained. That is what separates a backlink from an ordinary hyperlink: a link on the web is one-way, and the far end never knows about it. Writing links and their autocomplete (the cursor-following popover on macOS, the bar above the keyboard on iOS, hover previews) are covered in [Insert Links](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/insert-links). This page is about the **structure** those links form. ## The Three Tabs of a Node Open any node from the node list and the main area splits into three tabs: | Tab | Holds | |-----|-------| | **Content** | The node's own body, editable like any note | | **Backlinks** | Every note referencing it, sortable and filterable | | **Relations** (iOS) / **Co-occurrence** (macOS) | Which nodes it keeps appearing with, plus predictions and AI suggestions | That Content tab is where Jotaid parts ways with plain backlink tools: **a concept is not just an intersection, it is a note you can keep writing**. ## The Node List In Node view the left pane lists the current project's nodes, each row carrying: - A **reference count** — how many notes cite it - Its **[type badge](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/node-types)** — Core / Bridge / Emerging - Sorting by reference count or name from the funnel menu, plus filters by tag and theme The list **tracks your links live**: write a new `[[ ]]` and that node's count goes up immediately; delete the link and it goes down. There is no "rebuild index" step. A node whose count drops to zero stays in the list — it still has a body, it just has no notes citing it right now. The graph's [network insight](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/graph) calls these out as **isolated nodes** and suggests connecting them. ## The Ones Not Yet Connected You will not have wrapped every occurrence of a concept in `[[ ]]`. Those **plain-text mentions** are not links yet: absent from backlinks, absent from the graph. Jotaid finds them so you can backfill in one click — see "Backfilling Mentions Into Links" in [Managing Nodes](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/manage-nodes), and [Semantic Relations](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/semantic-relations). ## Next Steps - [Knowledge Graph](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/graph) — These links as a network - [Unlinked Mentions](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/unlinked-mentions) — Connections not yet made - [Co-occurrence Matrix](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/matrix) — Another reading of relationship strength