Graph View: enable selection and batch actions on linked notes

As a writer and knowledge worker, I constantly build thematic clusters of deeply interconnected notes. At some point, I need to extract an entire subgraph — all notes linked (directly or indirectly) to a central note — to archive, publish, move to another vault, or share as a self-contained unit. Currently, there’s no efficient way to select and act on such a group as a whole. I have to manually open backlinks, copy filenames, and handle files one by one — which is slow, fragile, and breaks workflow.

Proposed solution
Add a bulk management mode to the Graph View:

  • Right-click a node (or use a dedicated button) to open an extended context menu with actions like:
    Select direct links (1st level)
    Select all reachable notes (full subgraph)
    Export / Move / Copy / Tag selected notes

  • After selection, show a transient file list panel (like a mini file explorer) where users can perform batch operations on the selected notes.

  • Optionally, introduce a temporary “Working Graph” view focused on analysis and action, not just visualization.

This would allow users to treat a knowledge subgraph as a real, manipulable object — not just a diagram.

Current workaround (optional)
Manually track down linked notes via backlinks, note their names, then operate on them via file system or plugins like “Note Refactor.” Extremely tedious for large clusters.

Related feature requests (optional)
(You can search the forum for terms like “bulk note operations”, “graph selection”, or “export linked notes” and link relevant threads here later.)

1 Like

+1 for this feature.
It’d also be nice to be able to select different degrees of separation (something between 1 link and any number of links)

1 Like

Use case or problem
Building on my previous request about graph selection: I need to group interconnected notes into hierarchical clusters (like “lemon”, “lemon1”, “lemon2”) where each level has visual priority. Currently, I manually tag files with hashtags and adjust colors - this breaks workflow and is error-prone. My vault contains 2000+ notes, and I often need to:

  • Identify all notes linked to a central theme
  • Assign them to subgroups with decreasing significance
  • See hierarchy at a glance via color gradients (e.g., lemon → pale yellow)

Proposed solution
Extend the Graph View to support auto-tagged hierarchical groups:

  1. Selection-based grouping:

    • Right-click a selected node cluster → “Create hierarchical group”
    • Enter base name (e.g., “lemon”)
  2. Automatic tagging & coloring:

    • Core group (direct links): auto-tag with group:lemon, bright yellow highlight
    • 1st level (indirect): group:lemon1, 20% desaturated yellow
    • 2nd level: group:lemon2, 40% desaturated, etc.
  3. YAML injection:

    • Tags auto-injected into frontmatter of every grouped file:
      group: lemon1
      group-color: “#FFEE99
  4. Dynamic filtering:

    • Search group:lemon* to see entire hierarchy
    • Toggle color intensity in graph settings

Current workaround (optional)
Manually:

  • Select notes in graph → copy filenames → batch-edit YAML headers with external scripts
  • Use Dataview queries to simulate hierarchy (fragile, slow)
  • Apply colors via CSS snippets (doesn’t survive vault migrations)

Related feature requests (optional)
This complements the existing feature request “Graph View: enable selection and batch actions on linked notes” by adding persistent, visual hierarchy to selected clusters.