Graph mode
Freeform Knowledge Graph in Your Browser
A web of ideas, not a tree of them. Nodes anywhere, connections in any direction, shapes that mean something to you — and it all runs offline, with no install, no login, no Obsidian-style vault setup.
Why this matters
Why a graph view, not just a tree?
Mind maps assume your ideas fit a hierarchy. Most don't. A literature review has citations that loop back. A novel has characters who appear in three subplots. A project has dependencies that cut across teams. The tree shape collapses all of that into a single parent for each child — and the real connections vanish into a sidebar.
Graph mode is what you get when you stop pretending. Drag any node anywhere on the canvas, connect it to any other node, and the canvas remembers the spatial logic you built. It's the second mode that ships alongside offline mind mapping — same app, same shortcuts, different shape — so you can pick the canvas that fits the thinking instead of forcing every project into a tree.
Everything stays on your device. No vault to configure, no plugin store to navigate, no graph database server humming on your laptop. Open the page, drop a node, draw a line. That's the whole onboarding.
How it stacks up
How the graph view stacks up vs Obsidian + Heptabase
| Capability | Dumbnote | Obsidian | Heptabase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edit nodes directly on the graph | ✓ | × | ✓ |
| 6 native node shapes | ✓ | × | partial |
| User-draggable edge curves | ✓ | × | × |
| Runs offline in any browser | ✓ | partial | × |
| No vault / no install / no account | ✓ | × | × |
| Free | ✓ | partial | $$ |
For your work
Mapping a Literature Review? The Graph View Sees the Citations Your Outline Can't.
For researchers, the linear branch hierarchy of a traditional mind map hides the cross-connections between sources. Open a Graph document and the clusters appear — three papers all citing the same framework, two arguments that quietly contradict, the gap in the literature where your thesis goes.
Because Dumbnote is fully offline, you can map sensitive sources — unpublished findings, interview transcripts, IRB-restricted data — without anything syncing to a third-party server. No license agreement decides what happens to your research.
How it works
How Graph mode works
-
Drop nodes anywhere
Double-click any empty canvas spot to spawn a node. No hierarchy, no required parent — every node is freeform from frame one.
-
Connect freely in any direction
Drag from one node to another to draw an edge. Edges can curve, cross, and loop back — they reflect actual relationships, not parent-child fictions.
-
Choose a shape that means something
Switch a node between circle, rectangle, diamond, and sticky-note shapes. Use shape as a category cue (e.g. circle = source, diamond = argument, sticky = open question).
-
Pick the mode that fits the thought
Mindmap mode is the right tool when ideas branch out from a root. Graph mode is the right tool when ideas link in every direction. You decide which canvas you open — each document lives in one mode.
-
Export when done
Graph exports preserve node labels and edge relationships — ready to drop into Markdown, share as PNG/SVG, or hand off as a Mermaid diagram.
See it in depth
Six shapes. Curved edges. Every handle on the canvas.
The graph view ships with the visual grammar real thinking needs — circles, rectangles, ellipses, diamonds, sticky notes, image nodes. Pick one and drag, resize, or reshape until the map looks like how you actually think.
- You always know what's selected — the ring around a node changes color when you click it, multi-select it, or start drawing a connection.
- When two lines want to cross, grab the handle on the curve and bend it out of the way — the line stays clean, the argument stays readable.
- Any node can be bigger or smaller. Drag the handle on the right edge to scale it up for emphasis, down for a footnote — it snaps back to normal when you let go near full size.
Common questions
Questions visitors ask before they try it.
How is this different from Obsidian Graph View?
Obsidian Graph is a read-only visualization of your note links — you can browse, but you can't directly arrange or freeform-draw nodes on the graph itself. Dumbnote Graph is interactive: every node is a first-class object you place, connect, and edit on the canvas. And it runs entirely offline in any browser with no vault setup.
Do I need to install anything to use the graph view?
No. Open the page, create a Graph document, start placing nodes. Everything runs in the browser. The same HTML file works on a Chromebook, a research workstation, or a phone.
Can I use both the mind map and graph in one project?
Yes — Dumbnote ships both modes, and you decide which canvas fits the thinking. A document lives in one mode, so a graph project stays a graph and a mind map stays a tree. Use whichever mode the work asks for, and open a separate document for the other when you need it.
Is there a node count limit?
No hard cap, but browsers start to feel sluggish above a few thousand nodes. For research projects, that's typically several hundred sources before performance becomes a concern.