Knowledge Graph Model
Knowledge Graph Model
How Synap automatically connects your thoughts
Traditional note apps store notes in folders. Synap stores them in a knowledge graph where everything is automatically connected.
The Problem with Folders
Issues:
- Manual organization is time-consuming
- Related content gets siloed
- Connections are implicit, not explicit
- Hard to discover patterns
- Folder structure is rigid
Synap's Solution: Everything is Connected
Benefits:
- ✅ Automatic connections by AI
- ✅ Bi-directional navigation
- ✅ Relationship types (not just generic links)
- ✅ Graph visualization
- ✅ Pattern discovery
Core Concepts
1. Entities (Nodes)
Every piece of content is an entity with a type:
Example Entity:
2. Relations (Edges)
Connections between entities, with typed relationships:
Example Relation:
How Connections are Created
1. Automatic (AI-Powered)
When you create content, AI automatically extracts entities:
AI Extraction:
- People names → Contact entities
- Project names → Project entities
- Dates → Event entities
- Action items → Task entities
- Companies → Organization entities
2. Manual (Explicit)
You can explicitly create connections:
3. Implicit (Activity-Based)
System automatically infers connections from actions:
Querying the Graph
Basic Queries
Advanced Queries
Graph Traversal
UI Patterns You Can Build
1. Entity Pages
Click on any entity (person, project, note) to see everything related:
2. Graph Visualization
Obsidian-style network graph:
Implementation:
3. Smart Suggestions
AI-powered relationship suggestions:
4. Backlinks
Like Obsidian/Roam, but automatic:
Comparison with Other Tools
vs Obsidian
| Feature | Obsidian | Synap |
|---|---|---|
| Links | Manual [[links]] | Automatic + Manual |
| Graph | ✅ Visualization | ✅ Visualization + AI |
| Relations | Generic | Typed (mentions, assigned_to, etc.) |
| Discovery | Manual tags | AI suggestions |
| Backlinks | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| API | Plugin-based | Full API |
When Obsidian is Better:
- Markdown purists
- Offline-first simplicity
- Local files only
When Synap is Better:
- Want automatic connections
- Need typed relationships
- Building a platform/app
- Team collaboration
vs Roam Research
| Feature | Roam | Synap |
|---|---|---|
| Daily notes | ✅ Core feature | ✅ Supported |
| Block references | ✅ Yes | ✅ via entities |
| Graph | ✅ Yes | ✅ + AI insights |
| Auto-linking | Page titles only | Everything (AI) |
| Relation types | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Self-hosted | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Real-World Example
Let's say you're working on an "App Redesign" project:
Best Practices
1. Let AI Do the Work
2. Use Typed Relations
3. Review AI Suggestions
Next Steps
- Tutorial: Build a Graph View - Visualize your data
- Guide: Querying the Graph - Advanced queries
- API Reference: Graph API - Complete API docs
- Event Sourcing - How it all works underneath
Resources
- Inspiration: Obsidian, Roam Research, Notion relations
- Technology: PostgreSQL foreign keys + pgvector for semantic similarity
- Visualization: D3.js, Vis.js, Cytoscape.js compatible output
:::info Learn more on the website
- User-friendly guide to Entities — practical overview of the data model behind the knowledge graph
- Search in Synap — how to find anything across your knowledge graph :::
