Outlink Node Size

Size graph view nodes by the combined size of the notes they link to.

Obsidian's graph sizes nodes by how many links they have. This plugin does something different: a note grows when it links to big notes, and notes that link to nothing stay small. It is the inverse of how Google ranks pages, where a page is important because others link to it. Here, a note is big because of what it links out to.

It changes only node size. Colors, forces, labels, filters and groups are left alone.

What it's good for

• Spotting hub and index notes (maps of content, overviews, project pages) that gather lots of other material.
• Seeing which notes sit on top of the largest clusters, not just which are most referenced.
• Telling leaf notes (linking to nothing) apart from notes that organize others, at a glance.

How size is computed

Each note gets a size based on the notes it links to:

size(note) = 1 + decay × (sum of size(t) for every note t that this note links to)

• A note with no outgoing links has size 1, the smallest.
• A note that links to bigger notes becomes bigger.
• The calculation repeats depth times, so each note also picks up size from the notes its linked notes link to. Because the number of rounds is fixed, link cycles can never make sizes run away.
• The results are mapped onto a display range between your smallest and largest node size.

Sizes are computed from your whole vault, so changing graph filters, search, or local graph depth won't change them. Obsidian's own Node size slider in the graph settings still scales everything.

Installation

From the community plugin directory

Once approved: Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for Outlink Node Size, then install and enable it.

Manual install

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release.
2. Create the folder <your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/outlink-node-size/ and put both files in it.
3. In Obsidian, go to Settings → Community plugins, reload the list, and enable Outlink Node Size.
4. Open the graph view (global or local).

Settings

Setting	What it does	Default
Enable outlink sizing	Turn off to get Obsidian's stock node sizes back.	On
Propagation depth	How many link-hops are followed. 1 means only a note's direct links count; higher values let it inherit size from notes further down the chain.	3
Decay	How much of a linked note's size is passed up to the note that links to it. Lower values make distant links matter less.	0.5
Count repeated links	Count every link to the same target instead of counting each target once.	Off
Include attachments	Let links and embeds of images, PDFs and other non-note files add to a note's size.	Off
Scale	How size maps onto the display range: logarithmic, square root, linear, or percentile rank.	Logarithmic
Smallest node	Display size of a note that links to nothing. Obsidian's default range is roughly 8 to 30.	6
Largest node	Display size of the note with the greatest aggregate outlink size.	40

There is also a command, Toggle outlink-based node sizing, which you can bind to a hotkey.

Tuning tips

• Only direct links matter: set depth to 1 and decay to 1. A note's size is then 1 plus its number of outgoing links.
• Big hubs dominate everything: use Logarithmic or Percentile rank. Linear scaling lets one huge note flatten all the others.
• Want even more spread between notes: use Percentile rank. It ignores the actual numbers and spreads notes evenly from smallest to largest.
• Everything looks the same size: raise Largest node, or lower Smallest node.

Good to know

• Tag nodes and unresolved-link ("ghost") nodes have no outgoing links, so they are drawn at the smallest size.
• Sizes update automatically when you add, remove, rename or edit links.
• Your links are read from Obsidian's own link index. The plugin makes no network requests and does not modify any notes.

Compatibility and limitations

Obsidian has no public API for customizing the graph, so this plugin hooks the graph renderer's internal node-sizing function. That has two consequences:

• A future Obsidian update could break it. If that happens, the graph should fall back to its stock look. Please open an issue with your Obsidian version.
• It conflicts with other plugins that also change node size, such as the node-size options in Extended Graph. Use one or the other.

Developed against Obsidian desktop. Mobile has not been tested.

Development

git clone https://github.com/goncasCartaxana/outlink-node-size.git
cd outlink-node-size
npm install        # Run to install required external packages
npm run dev        # rebuilds main.js on every change
npm run build      # type-check and produce a minified main.js

To try your build, copy main.js and manifest.json into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/outlink-node-size/ and reload Obsidian.

The code is small:

• src/sizes.ts contains the size calculation. It has no Obsidian dependency.
• src/main.ts contains the graph hooks and the settings tab.

Releasing

1. Run npm version patch (or minor / major). This updates package.json, manifest.json and versions.json, then commits and tags the release, for example 1.0.1.
2. Run git push --follow-tags.
3. The release workflow builds the plugin and publishes a GitHub release with main.js and manifest.json attached.

The release tag must exactly match the version in manifest.json, with no leading v. Obsidian uses this to find the files to install.

Issues and feedback

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue. Including your Obsidian version and the plugin settings you used helps a lot.

License

MIT