Get Backlinks
vault_get_backlinksFind all notes and canvases that link to a given note or canvas, including wikilinks, markdown links, embeds, property links, and canvas cards, to assess connectivity before editing or deleting.
Instructions
Find all notes and canvases that link to a given note or canvas — captures [[wikilinks]], markdown, ![[embeds]], wikilinks inside properties (e.g. related:), and canvas cards that embed the file. Heading anchors ([[note#heading]]) and aliases ([[note|alias]]) resolve as backlinks to the base note. Links inside code blocks are ignored; a note linking to itself appears in its own backlinks.
Example: vault_get_backlinks({ path: "Projects/vault-cortex.md" }) Example: vault_get_backlinks({ path: "Diagrams/architecture.canvas" })
When to use: Understanding what references a note or canvas, assessing its connectivity before editing or deleting, or finding related notes via the graph. For outgoing links (what a note links TO), use vault_get_outgoing_links. To find notes nothing else links to, use vault_find_orphans.
Parameters:
path: pass the target's own path, never a link's text: a link written as [[Note]], as a relative ../Note.md, or as a full path counts toward the note it resolves to.
Returns: JSON with path (the queried note or canvas), backlinks (array of { path, title, bytes } sorted by title; bytes is the source's on-disk size), and count.
Errors:
"path must end in …" — add the .md or .canvas extension
A path nothing links to returns an empty result (count 0), not an error; links from a note written or changed in the last few seconds may not appear yet. If you expected links, find valid paths with vault_search, vault_list_notes, or vault_list_files.
"[SqliteError]: …" — the index failed, not the call; the message says what to do
Tool call template
Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.
{
"id": 1,
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"arguments": {
"path": "<path>"
},
"name": "vault_get_backlinks"
}
}Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| path | Yes | Exact vault-relative path including .md or .canvas extension (e.g. "Projects/vault-cortex.md"). Case-sensitive. |