# Obsidian links (redux)

> I keep refining how I link back to my Obsidian notes. This feels pretty close to perfect.

{/* This is a crime against CSS: they're en-dashes. */}

> Previously:  
> – [Things: cross-link to Obsidian and back](/22.00.0111/)  
> – [Obsidian tip: link directly to a header](/22.00.0130/)

I'm going to start creating 'permalinks' for each of my Obsidian notes using the `^block` syntax.

I link to my notes prolifically _from outside Obsidian_. My primary use-case is Things, where every project has this block at the top (mirrored in the Obsidian note).[^mirror]

[^mirror]:
    Yes, Things links to itself, as does Obsidian when I copy it over. But now this block of links is copy/pastable anywhere as it's complete.

    This is why I use Markdown bullets and not Obsidian's properties: I prefer that my frontmatter be human-readable, and copy/pastable to other Markdown-compatible apps. I don't need to query it or use Bases.

<JDImage
  folder="blog"
  src="0173A-Things--light-752x512.png"
  alt="The notes section at the top of a Things project. I have two Markdown links, one to Obsidian, one to Things."
  width={752}
  height={512}
  noBorder
/>

If that Obsidian URL is the traditional format, where you link to the title of the note, it's very fragile. My note titles are fluid; I shouldn't be afraid to change them.

So I use the [Advanced URI](obsidian://show-plugin?id=obsidian-advanced-uri) plugin which allows you to link to a `^block`, and at the top of every note I create a permalink using the ID of the note.

<JDImage
  folder="blog"
  src="0173B-Obsidian--light-424x282.png"
  alt="Links as described in the post at the top of an Obsidian note."
  width={424}
  height={282}
/>

Note that right-clicking on the block and selecting **Copy URI for current block** gives you a longer URI which contains the note's title. If you're strict about making your block identifiers unique – easy when they mirror the ID of the note they're in – you can remove that part of the URI, leaving it much neater.

`obsidian://adv-uri?vault=D25%20JDex&block=50105`

– because now I can leave that URI string in the templates for both Obsidian notes and Things projects, and all I need to do each time is change the last couple of digits of that block ID. So this only takes a few seconds and is low-friction.

## A note on the experimental `50105~14.54` syntax

That's the note: it's experimental. There's a healthy debate [over on Discord](https://discord.com/channels/822215537589354566/1448385281681002687) and there'll be a blog post shortly.