Support internal links to work in reference-style links

[jbeder]

Use case or problem

Allow internal links to work as reference links (i.e., the Markdown link style where you write [link text][link-id] and [link-id]: the/url).

Proposed solution

[notes][1]

[1]: Notes.md

should work exactly the same as

[notes](Notes.md)

Current workaround (optional)

You can write these as a URL (see, e.g., here).

Related feature requests (optional)

Related bug report:

Internal links don't work as reference links

Steps to reproduce Create a reference link to an internal file, e.g.: [notes][1] [1]: Notes.md Expected result I’d expect the link to look the same as if I wrote [notes](Notes.md) which is to say, like a regular link, and if I click on it, it should open the Notes.md file. Actual result It produces a link that has a “box with an arrow” next to it (I think this symbolizes an external link?), and when I click on it, it brings up a dialog saying "Are you sure you want to open this link? L…

[gledos]

I had the same problem, hope Obsidian will consider this feature.

[gledos]

another similar post:

Problem with link labels (internal links)

Hi, I’m trying to improve the readability of my note and I thought to use the markdown link system (instead of wikilinks) without enter the link right in the middle of the text but defining a label at the and of my note, like this: Here I want to enter a [link][] to a file. [link]: /path/of/the/file.md I think this is the right markdown syntax, but when I click on the link Obsidian opens my browser using it as an external link. I also used Vs Code to edit and view the note and the link work…

Hope to solve this problem one day.

[sstallion]

I just ran into this myself and had a bug report rejected since this feature request already existed.

I’m not sure I agree with treating this as a feature request; not supporting reference-style links with URLs that work in other contexts should be treated as a bug as Obsidian is not correctly handling Markdown (for reference, see Basic Syntax | Markdown Guide).

CC: @ariehen @WhiteNoise