Query canvas in Lattuce — live boards from your notes vault
Build query-driven boards that refresh from vault metadata — spatial organization without chasing full whiteboard parity.
Query canvas turns vault filters into live whiteboards on lattuce.app — materialize matching notes as cards, refresh when metadata changes, and reconcile without duplicating every note by hand.
It is synthesis infrastructure, not an infinite-canvas Miro competitor.
Who this is for
| You are… | Query canvas helps when… |
|---|---|
| PKM-heavy researcher | Your vault has hundreds of notes tagged by project |
| Thesis author | You want a board that always shows “methods” notes |
| Visual thinker | You like spatial layout but hate stale copy-paste |
For freehand sketching, use Magic notebook notes — not the spatial canvas.
Before you start
| You need | Notes |
|---|---|
| Vault notes | With consistent tags, properties, or kinds |
| A whiteboard | Create from Notes → Whiteboards or open a canvas note |
| Saved preset (optional) | Reuse filters across projects |
Create a query board
- Open Notes → Whiteboards (or a canvas note in the vault).
- Open the Query canvas panel on the board.
- Define filters — tags, properties, text search, or saved presets.
- Click Preview to see which notes would appear as cards.
- Click Materialize to place cards on the board.
Materialize creates note cards with live previews — double-click to read beside the board.
Live refresh
Query boards carry live refresh metadata:
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Re-run the query; new matches appear as cards |
| Reconcile | Align board layout with current query results (add/remove/move) |
| Reconcile live | Continuous sync while you work (use when the vault changes often) |
When a note’s tags change in the vault, the next refresh pulls it onto (or off) the board — you do not maintain two copies.
Canvas agent (propose → confirm)
Right-click empty canvas → Place card with AI…:
- Enter a short prompt.
- Review the proposal — which cards to add and where.
- Place to confirm, or cancel.
The agent proposes layout; it does not silently rewrite your vault. Undo restores the previous board state.
From MCP-connected IDEs, query_canvas_layout, materialize_canvas, and reconcile_canvas expose the same flows — see MCP guide.
vs whiteboard tools
| Tool class | Strength | Lattuce query canvas |
|---|---|---|
| Heptabase / Miro | Workshop facilitation, card UX polish | Not chased — see Heptabase vs Lattuce |
| AFFiNE | Fused doc + infinite canvas | Lattuce links boards to cited export — AFFiNE vs Lattuce |
| Obsidian canvas | Local plugin ecosystem | Lattuce adds query-driven refresh + Writer handoff |
Bottom line: query canvas is for boards that stay true to your vault and feed papers — not for org-wide whiteboarding sessions.
Related reading
Bahasa Melayu: Query canvas dalam Lattuce — papan langsung dari vault nota