Foam Queries

Foam Queries let you show dynamic lists, tables, and counts of notes inside the Markdown preview.

Use them when you want a note to answer questions such as “show my research notes”, “list notes linked to this topic”, or “count notes in this folder”.

For static note embeds, see Note Embeds.

Basic Query

Use a foam-query code block:

```foam-query
filter: "#research"
sort: title ASC
limit: 10
```

This renders a list of matching notes in the preview. Query results update as your workspace changes.

If you omit filter, Foam searches all notes:

```foam-query
format: count
```

Query Options

• filter: choose which notes to include
• select: choose which fields to display. Default: title and path
• sort: sort results, for example title ASC or backlink-count DESC. Include the sort field in select, otherwise it will not be available after projection.
• limit: show only the first n matches
• offset: skip the first n matches
• format: render as list, table, or count

When you select more than one field, Foam renders a table by default.

Filters

Simple Filters

Use these shortcuts for common cases:

• "#tag": notes with that tag
• "[[note-id]]": notes linked to or from that note (use the same identifier as in wikilinks, e.g. the filename without extension)
• "/regex/": notes whose path matches the regular expression
• "*": all notes

Example:

```foam-query
filter: "[[project-alpha]]"
```

Structured Filters

Use YAML when you need more control:

```foam-query
filter:
  and:
    - tag: "#research"
    - not:
        path: "^/archive/"
select: [title, tags, backlink-count]
sort: title ASC
```

Supported filter keys:

• tag: notes that have this tag (e.g. tag: "#research")
• type: notes of this type (e.g. type: "daily-note")
• path: notes whose path matches this regex (e.g. path: "^/projects/")
• title: notes whose title matches this regex
• links_to: notes that link to the given note identifier. Use "$current" to refer to the note containing the query
• links_from: notes that are linked from the given note identifier. Use "$current" to refer to the note containing the query
• expression: a JavaScript expression evaluated against each note, e.g. "resource.tags.length > 2". Only evaluated in trusted workspaces.
• and, or, not: combine filters logically

Use "$current" in links_to or links_from to query relative to the note containing the query block:

```foam-query
filter:
  links_to: "$current"
```

Displayed Fields

You can select these fields:

• title
• path
• type
• tags
• aliases
• sections
• blocks
• properties
• backlink-count
• outlink-count

Example table:

```foam-query
filter: "#research"
select: [title, tags, backlink-count]
sort: backlink-count DESC
format: table
```

Count Queries

Use count when you only need the number of matches:

```foam-query
filter:
  path: "^/projects/"
format: count
```

JavaScript Queries

Use foam-query-js when YAML is not enough. JavaScript queries only run in a trusted workspace.

```foam-query-js
const recentResearch = foam.pages('#research')
  .sortBy('title')
  .limit(5)
  .format('list');

render('Recent research notes:');
render(recentResearch);
```

foam.pages(filter?) returns a query builder. Omit the filter to include all notes.

foam.current is the URI of the note containing the query. Use it to write queries that are relative to the current note:

```foam-query-js
// Show all notes that link to this note
render(foam.pages({ links_to: foam.current }).sortBy('title'));
```

```foam-query-js
// Show all notes that this note links to
render(foam.pages({ links_from: foam.current }).sortBy('title'));
```

foam.current is null if no document is active in the editor.

Available builder methods:

• where(fn): keep only notes where fn(note) returns true, e.g. .where(n => n.tags.includes('draft'))
• sortBy(field, direction?): sort by field, direction is 'asc' (default) or 'desc'
• limit(n): return at most n results
• offset(n): skip the first n results
• select(fields): project to the given fields
• format(fmt): set the output format ('list', 'table', or 'count')
• toArray(): return results as a plain array for use in custom logic

Call render(...) to show output in the preview. You can pass a query builder or a plain string.

Trust And Limitations

• foam-query-js requires a trusted workspace
• expression filters are only evaluated in trusted workspaces
• Queries render in Markdown preview, not directly in the editor
• Query results link back to the matching notes

LINKS TO THIS PAGE

Using Foam Note Embeds