Roam Research Cheat Sheet

Overview

Roam Research is a note-taking tool designed for networked thought. Unlike traditional hierarchical note-taking apps, Roam uses bidirectional linking and block-level references to create a web of interconnected ideas. Every page and every bullet point (block) is addressable and linkable, enabling emergent structure rather than requiring upfront organization.

Roam Research stores data in a graph database and features an outliner interface, daily notes as the default entry point, powerful queries using Datalog, support for LaTeX, code blocks, diagrams, and a plugin/extension ecosystem via roam/js.

Getting Started

Roam opens to today’s Daily Notes page by default. This is the primary entry point for capturing thoughts and tasks throughout the day.

Core Syntax

Page References

Syntax	Description
[[Page Name]]	Link to a page
#tag	Equivalent to [[tag]]
#[[multi word tag]]	Multi-word tag reference
[alias]([[Page Name]])	Display alias text for a link

Block References

Syntax	Description
((block-uid))	Reference a specific block
Ctrl+Shift+9	Copy block reference
{{embed: ((block-uid))}}	Embed a block (live copy)
{{embed: [[Page Name]]}}	Embed an entire page

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+U	Search / navigate to page
Ctrl+Shift+D	Go to Daily Notes
Ctrl+Shift+9	Copy block reference
Ctrl+Enter	Toggle TODO / DONE
Tab	Indent block
Shift+Tab	Unindent block
Alt+Up	Move block up
Alt+Down	Move block down
Ctrl+B	Bold
Ctrl+I	Italic
Ctrl+H	Highlight
Ctrl+Y	Strikethrough
Ctrl+\	Toggle sidebar
Shift+Click	Open page in sidebar
/	Slash command menu

Formatting

Text Formatting

Syntax	Result
**bold**	Bold text
__italic__	Italic text
^^highlight^^	Highlighted text
~~strikethrough~~	Strikethrough text
`inline code`	Inline code
$$LaTeX$$	Rendered LaTeX math

Block Types (Slash Commands)

Command	Block Type
/todo	Checkbox (TODO/DONE)
/heading 1-3	Headings
/code block	Code with syntax highlighting
/latex	LaTeX math block
/table	Create a table
/embed	Embed URL or block
/date picker	Date picker widget
/kanban	Kanban board
/pomodoro	Pomodoro timer
/diagram	Mermaid diagram

Queries

Basic Queries

{{[[query]]: {and: [[topic1]] [[topic2]]}}}
{{[[query]]: {or: [[topic1]] [[topic2]]}}}
{{[[query]]: {not: [[excluded]]}}}
{{[[query]]: {and: [[project]] {not: [[completed]]}}}}
{{[[query]]: {between: [[January 1st, 2025]] [[January 31st, 2025]]}}}

Query Operators

Operator	Description
{and:}	All conditions must match
{or:}	Any condition matches
{not:}	Exclude matches
{between:}	Date range filter

Advanced Queries (Datalog)

{{query:
  {:find [?block]
   :where
   [?block :block/refs ?page]
   [?page :node/title "Project Alpha"]
   [?block :block/refs ?tag]
   [?tag :node/title "TODO"]}}}

Templates

Creating Templates

- {{[[roam/templates]]}} Meeting Notes
  - **Date:**
  - **Attendees:**
  - **Agenda:**
    -
  - **Action Items:**
    - {{[[TODO]]}}
  - **Notes:**
    -

Using Templates

Type ;; to trigger template search, select the name, and content is inserted.

Attributes and Metadata

- [[Book]]: The Design of Everyday Things
  - Author:: [[Don Norman]]
  - Rating:: 5/5
  - Status:: #reading
  - Date Started:: [[January 10th, 2025]]

Advanced Usage

Kanban Board

- {{[[kanban]]}}
  - To Do
    - Task 1
    - Task 2
  - In Progress
    - Task 3
  - Done
    - Task 4

Tables

- {{[[table]]}}
  - Name
    - Alice
    - Bob
  - Role
    - Engineer
    - Designer

Custom CSS (roam/css page)

.roam-body .roam-app {
  font-family: 'Inter', sans-serif;
}

.rm-reference-item {
  border-left: 3px solid #137cbd;
  padding-left: 10px;
}

roam/js (Custom Scripts)

Create a page called roam/js and add code blocks with JavaScript to extend functionality.

Graph Visualization

Feature	Description
Graph Overview	Full graph of all pages and links
Page Graph	Connections for a specific page
Filter	Show/hide pages by tag
Node size	Proportional to number of references

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Slow performance	Reduce graph size; archive old daily notes
Sync conflicts	Only use one device at a time; wait for sync
Query returning nothing	Check page name spelling (case-sensitive)
Block ref showing UID	Referenced block may have been deleted
CSS not applying	Ensure code block is on roam/css page
roam/js not running	Enable developer mode in settings
Export incomplete	Use JSON export for full graph data
Graph view crashes	Reduce visible nodes; filter to specific pages