Context Trees shows the headings and parent list items above each search result and backlink

Name: Context Trees
Author: theluckystrike

See the headings and parent list items above each search result and backlink, in one side view.

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

A search for pricing in the Context Trees view, with 11 matches in 6 notes drawn as trees of headings and list items. — Open larger

version: 1.0.0
released: 2026-10-10
downloads: 3
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
listed for: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

The end-to-end test setup runs the desktop app at Obsidian 1.13.4 and at the latest version. The directory lists the plugin for mobile, and no mobile test exists yet.

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-10 18:14 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About Context Trees

You write notes as outlines or long documents, and a matching line alone doesn't tell you what it belongs to.

The core Search and Backlinks panes show the matching text and, with Show more context, more text around it. In a nested list, that line often means little without the items above it. Context Trees is a side view that puts each hit under its headings and parent list items.

Hits that share a parent show that parent once, so a note with five matches reads as one small outline. The view opens in the right sidebar and doesn't change the core panes. Search, backlinks, folding and open at the line are free.

The view runs a search for pricing, a second search with no matches, folds five notes, then shows the backlinks of Project Atlas.

Free features

Search with context trees

Type a word or a quoted phrase, and the view lists each note that has every word on one line. Each note shows a tree with the headings above the match, then the parent list items, then the line with the hit marked. Two matches in the same list share the parents above them.

Backlinks with context trees

Open the Backlinks tab to see the notes that link to the open note. Each linking line comes with its heading path and its parent items, so you see why a note links here. The view follows the open note, and embeds count as links.

The Backlinks tab lists 5 backlinks of Project Atlas in 4 notes, each under its headings and parent list items. — Open larger

Fold, unfold and open at the line

Select the arrow of a note or of a branch to fold it, or use the two buttons above the results for everything. Select a line to open its note with the cursor on that line. Hold Ctrl, or Cmd on macOS, to open it in a new tab.

Search results for pricing with two notes open as trees and four notes folded to their names and match counts. — Open larger

Match case, commands and settings

The Aa switch makes the search match case. Three commands open the view, put the cursor in the search box, and show the backlinks of the current note. The settings set the search delay, the notes per page, and whether notes start folded.

The free version has search, backlinks, folding, open at the line and the Match case switch, with no cap on notes or matches.

Pro features

Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in all 18 plugins.

Regular expressions and saved queries Pro

Switch on the regular expression button to test each line against a pattern, and a bad pattern shows an error. Select Save to keep a query and its switches as a chip above the results, up to 50 chips. Select a chip to run it again, or its cross to delete it.

A regular expression query with the pattern switch on, one saved query chip, and 13 matches in 6 notes. — Open larger

Unlinked mentions with context Pro

The Unlinked mentions tab lists the notes that name the open note, or one of its aliases, as plain text. The name must be a whole word, and text that already is a link doesn't count. Each mention shows its context tree.

The Unlinked mentions tab with 2 mentions in 2 notes, the words Project Atlas and Atlas marked under their headings. — Open larger

Export the results Pro

The download button, or the command Export the results as a note, writes the current results to a new Markdown note. Each result note is a heading with a link, and its tree follows as a nested list. The matching lines are highlighted with ==.

An exported note with the line 11 results in 6 notes, a link for each note, and its tree as a nested list. — Open larger

See how Pro works

Set up Context Trees

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later
Search covers the body text of Markdown notes. It skips the properties block, file names and attachments.

steps

Install Context Trees from Community plugins and enable it.
Select the tree icon in the ribbon, or run the command Open the side view. The view opens in the right sidebar.
Type in the search box and wait a moment, or press Enter.
Select Backlinks to see the links to the open note.
Run the command Search the vault to open the view with the cursor in the search box.

If the app can't find a new plugin yet, try again later. Obsidian says a plugin that passes the review shows in the app within 24 hours.

Why this exists

A forum request from October 2022 asks Backlinks and Search to show parent list items and heading breadcrumbs, and it has 78 likes. Better Search Views does this inside the core panes, has about 50,000 downloads, and had its last release in December 2024.

How to show the headings and parent list items of search results and backlinks in Obsidian

How it compares

Better Search Views: Better Search Views changes the core panes by patching private parts of Obsidian. Context Trees is its own view, uses only the public API, and has no code from Better Search Views.
Core Search and Backlinks panes: The core panes work as before, and their syntax, such as path: and tag:, is not available in Context Trees. Context Trees searches the text of each line.

Questions about Context Trees

How do I see which heading a search result is under in Obsidian?

The core Search pane shows the matching text and, with Show more context, more text around it. Context Trees adds a side view where each match sits under its headings and parent list items. Select a line there to open the note at that line.

Does Context Trees change my notes or the core panes?

No. It only reads notes, and Export creates a new note. The core Search and Backlinks panes work as before, because Context Trees is a separate view.

Can I use path or tag operators in the Context Trees search?

No. The syntax of the core search, such as path: and tag:, is not available here. Context Trees searches the text of each line, and every word of your query must be on one line. The core Search pane still takes those operators.

How fast is the search on a large vault?

The end-to-end test builds a vault of 2,000 short notes and fails if the first results take 1 second or more. The view reads notes in batches and draws the first page as soon as a batch has a match. Times on your vault depend on its size and on your device.

Does Context Trees work on a phone?

The directory lists it for desktop and mobile, and the plugin isn't marked desktop only. The end-to-end tests run on the desktop app only. Report a phone problem in the GitHub issues of the plugin.

Network use

Context Trees makes no network requests until you select Sign in with GitHub in the settings. After sign in, it asks GitHub about your sponsorship at most once every 7 days, or when you select Refresh. It sends no note content, file names or other vault data, and it has no telemetry.

Read the full network disclosure

Context Trees 1.0.0, MIT license

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub