Relation

A relation is a structural typed link between two elements.

Relation is a first-class primitive — it has its own page, its own identity, and user-defined properties. It is not just an arrow drawn between two elements.

Where a relation appears

A relation manifests in three places:

Map — rendered as a Connection (the visual line or arrow between elements). See Connection.
Database — appears as a relation property column on both connected elements. Both the from element and the to element show this relation in their property rows.
Page view — opens as its own page with from, to, and all user-defined properties.

Structural fields

Every relation has two built-in structural fields:

from — the element the relation originates from
to — the element the relation points to

Everything else on a relation is a user-defined property.

What relations are not

A relation is not:

A wikilink. A wikilink is an inline navigable reference in rich text. A relation is a structural entity with its own page and properties. See Wikilink.
An edge drawn on a map. That visual line is a Connection — the map rendering of a relation.

Relation as a property type

“Relation” is also one of the available property types — a property that references another element or relation. This is distinct from the Relation entity. A relation property is a pointer; the Relation entity is a first-class object.

Vocabulary note

“Relation” replaces “edge” everywhere — in the UI, in the codebase, and in conversation. In map/visual contexts, use Connection instead. Never use “edge.”

Element — what relations connect
Connection — how a relation looks on a map
Property — what you can add to a relation