# Link desks, widgets and people with @

> Type @ in a sticky, note, card or task note to link a desk, room, widget, document, table or person, then click the link to go there.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mentions
Section: Widgets > Widget basics
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-10

An @ mention is a link you write straight into your text. Type @ in a Sticky, a Note or a Card, pick a desk, room, widget, document, table or person from the list that opens, and PlexiDesk puts a link to it right where you are typing. Use mentions to point from a note to the desk where the work lives, to name the table a sticky is about, or to say who a card is for. Once you click away, the mention shows as a small chip, and clicking the chip takes you there.

Mentions work on every plan. The list always offers your desks, rooms, documents and tables. Widgets in the list are the ones on the desk you have open, and people appear when you are signed in and working in an organisation workspace.

## Where you can type @

- **Sticky**, **Note** and the body of a **Card**. When you click away, each mention shows as a chip you can click.
- **Notes** on a task in a **Tasks** widget. Click the arrow at the end of the task's row (its tooltip reads **Show details**), then type in **Notes**.
- The prompt box of a Page's **AI draft** and of a table's AI. See [Page widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-page) and [Build a table with AI](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-ai).
- A **Desk agent**'s standing instruction. See [Desk agent widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-desk-agent).
- The description box of a **Custom** widget. See [Custom widget: build your own tool](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-custom).

Plexii's message box understands @ too, and there it reads what you mention before it answers. See [Point Plexii at specific things with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help). For links inside a PlexiiDocs document, see [Insert with / and link with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help).

## Add a mention

1. Click into the text where you want the link, for example the body of a sticky.
2. Type `@`. A list of suggestions opens straight away.
3. Type a few letters of the name, with no spaces. For a desk called Q4 launch plan, `@launch` is enough. The list narrows as you type.
4. Press `↓` and `↑` to highlight the one you want, then press `Enter` or `Tab`. You can also click it.
5. The mention goes into your text with a space after it, so you can carry on typing.



> **Note:**
> While you are still typing, a mention shows in its written form: the name in square brackets, followed by a link in round brackets. Click outside the sticky, note or card and it turns into a chip with just the name.

### When the list opens

The list opens when the @ starts a word: at the very start of the text, after a space or a new line, or straight after an opening bracket, a quote, a comma or a colon. An @ in the middle of a word, such as the one in an email address, stays as plain text, so you can type addresses without the list getting in the way.

## What the list offers

The list shows up to eight suggestions at a time. Each row has an icon, the name, and a short label on the right that tells you what kind of thing it is.

| In the list | What you can pick | The label on the right |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Desks | Any desk in your workspace that is not archived. Tasks from your Tasks widgets are listed here too, and open as a desk. | **Desk** |
| Rooms | Any room that is not archived | **Room** |
| Widgets | Widgets on the desk you have open, by title, or by type when a widget has no title | The widget's type, such as **Sticky** or **Table** |
| Documents | Your PlexiiOffice files: documents, spreadsheets, slides, diagrams, designs and drawings | The kind of file |
| Tables | The tables in this workspace, wherever they sit | **table** |
| People | Members of your organisation, by name | Their email address |

Names that begin with what you typed come first, then names with a word that begins with it, then names that contain it anywhere. When two match equally well, the shorter name comes first, and widgets sit just below desks, rooms, documents and people. Type @ on its own and you see a first handful of suggestions before you type any letters.

## Keys in the list

These keys are the same on Mac and Windows.

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `↓` and `↑` | Move the highlight. It wraps from the bottom of the list back to the top. |
| `Enter` or `Tab` | Put the highlighted item into your text. |
| `Esc` | Close the list and keep what you typed as plain text. |
| `Space` | Ends the search, so the list closes. |

Clicking anywhere outside the text box also closes the list. While the list is open, `Enter` picks a suggestion rather than starting a new line or sending a prompt.

## Follow a mention

In a Sticky, a Note or a Card, a mention shows as a chip once you click away. Point at a chip to see **Open** and its name, then click it.

| You mentioned | Clicking the chip |
| --- | --- |
| A desk | Opens the desk. |
| A room | Opens the room. |
| A widget | Opens the desk the widget is on. |
| A document | Opens the Documents page, where you can open the file. See [The Documents page](https://plexiidesk.com/help). |
| A person | Nothing: the chip shows their name and is not a link. |

Clicking a chip never starts editing the text around it. To edit, click anywhere else in the sticky, note or card.

> **Tip:**
> To link to a table so that a click takes you to its desk, mention the Table widget while its desk is open, or mention the desk itself.

## Change or remove a mention

1. Click into the text, away from the chip. The mention shows in its written form.
2. Select the whole mention, from the @ to the closing round bracket, and delete it.
3. To link something else in its place, type `@` and pick again.

If you delete only part of a mention, what is left stays in your text as ordinary words, so check that you removed all of it.

## Mentions in AI prompts and Custom widgets

- **Page's AI draft and a table's AI.** A mention passes along the name of what you picked, as part of your request. To have Plexii read what is inside a desk, document or widget before it answers, mention it in a message to Plexii instead. See [Point Plexii at specific things with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help).
- **Custom widget.** In the description box, a mention also gives the tool you are building something to work with, the same as wiring a widget into it. Mention a Table widget on the desk, for example, and the finished tool can read its columns and rows. A Custom widget reads up to 12 wired or mentioned items. Custom is on the Pro and Team plans and builds with your own Anthropic API key. See [Custom widget: build your own tool](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-custom).
- **Desk agent.** A mention in the standing instruction names the item you mean. The agent works from the widgets wired into it, so wire in what it should read. See [Link widgets and set up wires](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-link-widgets).

## Tips

- Keep a sticky on a desk that mentions the other desks it depends on. Each one is then a click away.
- A widget with no text of its own, such as a Timer, still makes a good link: its chip takes you to the desk it sits on.
- To mention a widget on another desk, open that desk first, or mention the desk itself.
- Type a distinctive word from the name. For a table called Client retainers 2026, `@retainers` narrows the list more quickly than `@client`.

## Common questions

**I typed @ and nothing opened.** Check that the @ starts a word: put a space before it. Also check that you are typing in one of the places listed at the top of this page: Sticky, Note, the body of a Card, task notes, and the AI, Desk agent and Custom boxes.

**The list closed when I typed a space.** The search stops at a space. Type one word from the name instead, such as `@launch` rather than `@Q4 launch`.

**I cannot find a widget in the list.** The list offers widgets on the desk you have open. Open the widget's desk and try again, or mention the desk. Archived widgets are not listed.

**I cannot find a person.** People come from your organisation's members, so they appear when you are signed in and working in an organisation workspace rather than a personal one. See [Organisation settings and switching workspaces](https://plexiidesk.com/help).

**Does mentioning someone notify them?** No. A person mention adds their name to your text and sends them nothing.

**I renamed a desk. Does the mention change?** The chip keeps the name the desk had when you mentioned it, and it still opens the right desk. To show the new name, remove the mention and add it again.

**Why do I see square brackets and a link instead of a chip?** You are editing the text. Click outside the sticky, note or card and the chip comes back. In task notes and in the AI, Desk agent and Custom boxes, mentions always show in their written form.

## Related tasks

- [Add a widget to a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/add-a-widget)
- [Point Plexii at specific things with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help)
- [Sticky widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-sticky)
- [Card widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-card)
- [Tasks widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-tasks)
- [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist)
- [Widget sizes, limits and what some widgets need](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-requirements)