Repair missing parent links

Inbox identifies notes that do not declare a valid up link to another indexed note.

Why it matters

Tasks Eye uses up links to keep the note tree independent from the vault’s folders. A captured note can live anywhere inside the indexed boundary while still declaring the note that owns it.

Inbox distinguishes a missing property from a link that points at a note that does not exist, so each repair has a precise next step.

Missing property: Note needs an \up` link to its parent.`
Unresolved target: “up link points to a note that doesn’t exist.”

How to fix

A note lands in Inbox with this violation for one of two reasons. Read the exact message on the row, then follow the matching fix.

Case 1 — “Note needs an `up` link to its parent.”

The note has no up property at all. Add one that points at the note that owns it, using a wikilink in the note’s frontmatter:

---
up: "[[Projects]]"
status: open
---

up must be a wikilink: [[Note name]] (an alias like [[Note name|label]] also works). A bare string is not resolved.
The parent is matched by its note name (basename), so the parent can live in any folder inside the indexed boundary.
Pick the note that best describes this note’s context — Tasks Eye derives the context label from the first-level ancestor under the root.

Save the note. It leaves Inbox as soon as the up link resolves to an indexed note.

Case 2 — “`up` link points to a note that doesn’t exist.”

The note already has an up link, but nothing in the indexed vault matches it. Fix whichever is wrong:

Typo or renamed parent — correct the name inside the wikilink so it matches an existing note exactly:
```
up: "[[Projcts]]"   # wrong
up: "[[Projects]]"  # matches an existing note
```
Parent lives outside the indexed folder — move the parent note into the indexed boundary, or repoint up at a note that is already indexed.
Parent does not exist yet — create it (see the root note below for the shape of a top-level note), then keep the wikilink pointing at it.

Every tree needs exactly one root note

The chain of up links has to end somewhere. That end is the root note — the single note that owns the whole tree. A root note declares the literal value - instead of a wikilink:

---
up: -
status: open
---

up: - (a bare hyphen, not "[[-]]") marks the note as the root.
There must be exactly one root. If you declare up: - on two notes, both are reported with “Only one note can act as root.” — see Repair tree structure.
The root is an ordinary note otherwise: it still needs a valid status, and if it is open it still needs an unchecked, dated task like any other note.
It can live in any folder. Many vaults keep a single note such as Home or Index as the root and point every top-level note’s up at it.

A complete root note

A root note is a normal note that happens to declare up: -. Here is a full, valid example — frontmatter plus an unchecked, dated task so an open note also satisfies the task and due-date rules:

---
status: open
up: -
---

- [ ] Review the tree 📅 2026-07-09

A closed root note needs no unchecked task:

---
status: closed
up: -
---

- [x] Reviewed the tree ✅ 2026-07-09

Once one root exists and every other note’s up chain reaches it, the missing- parent violations clear.

What to expect

A note without an up property reports Note needs an up link to its parent..
A note whose up link does not resolve reports up link points to a note that doesn’t exist.
A valid root declares up: - and is not reported as missing its parent.
Broken parent links do not prevent otherwise valid notes from appearing in Open.

Example note to repair

---
status: open
---

- [ ] Route this capture to its parent note 📅 2026-07-08

What it looks like

Note without an up link

Inbox row explaining that a captured note needs an up link to its parent — Note without an up link

Broken note in Open

Open row showing a captured note that still needs an up link — Broken note in Open