diff --git a/plugs/index/anchor.test.ts b/plugs/index/anchor.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5cb317f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugs/index/anchor.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { parseMarkdown } from "../../client/markdown_parser/parser.ts";
+import {
+  cleanAnchor,
+  collectAnchor,
+  isValidAnchorName,
+} from "./anchor.ts";
+import { renderToText } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/tree";
+
+describe("anchor helpers", () => {
+  test("collectAnchor returns null when no anchor", () => {
+    const tree = parseMarkdown("Just some text.");
+    expect(collectAnchor(tree)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  test("collectAnchor returns the single anchor", () => {
+    const tree = parseMarkdown("A line with $pete in it.");
+    const a = collectAnchor(tree);
+    expect(a?.name).toBe("pete");
+    expect(typeof a?.from).toBe("number");
+    expect(typeof a?.to).toBe("number");
+  });
+
+  test("collectAnchor with two anchors returns the first and reports duplicate", () => {
+    const tree = parseMarkdown("A $first and $second on same line.");
+    const a = collectAnchor(tree);
+    expect(a?.name).toBe("first");
+    expect(a?.duplicateInHost).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("cleanAnchor strips NamedAnchor nodes from a clone", () => {
+    const tree = parseMarkdown("Hello $toc1 world");
+    cleanAnchor(tree);
+    expect(renderToText(tree).trim()).toBe("Hello  world".trim());
+  });
+
+  test("isValidAnchorName", () => {
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("pete")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a/b")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a:b")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a-b")).toBe(true);
+    // `.` is excluded so a sentence-ending period is not consumed.
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a.b")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("_foo")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("1abc")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a b")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("a!b")).toBe(false);
+    expect(isValidAnchorName("")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/plugs/index/anchor.ts b/plugs/index/anchor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7555e38e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugs/index/anchor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import {
+  collectNodesOfType,
+  type ParseTree,
+  renderToText,
+  replaceNodesMatching,
+} from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/tree";
+
+const anchorNameRegex = /^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_/:-]*$/;
+
+export function isValidAnchorName(name: string): boolean {
+  return anchorNameRegex.test(name);
+}
+
+export type CollectedAnchor = {
+  name: string;
+  from: number;
+  to: number;
+  // True when the host contained more than one NamedAnchor node.
+  duplicateInHost: boolean;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Returns the first NamedAnchor inside `n`, marking `duplicateInHost`
+ * if more than one was present. Returns null if none.
+ */
+export function collectAnchor(n: ParseTree): CollectedAnchor | null {
+  const nodes = collectNodesOfType(n, "NamedAnchor");
+  if (nodes.length === 0) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const first = nodes[0];
+  // The NamedAnchor's rendered text is the literal "$name". the leading
+  // `$` lives in a NamedAnchorMark child node so live-preview can style
+  // the sigil distinctly. We strip it here for the bare name.
+  const literal = renderToText(first);
+  const name = literal.slice(1);
+  return {
+    name,
+    from: first.from!,
+    to: first.to!,
+    duplicateInHost: nodes.length > 1,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Strips NamedAnchor nodes from the (typically cloned) tree, mirroring
+ * `cleanTags`. Mutates in place.
+ */
+export function cleanAnchor(n: ParseTree) {
+  return replaceNodesMatching(n, (node) => {
+    if (node.type === "NamedAnchor") {
+      return null;
+    }
+    return;
+  });
+}
diff --git a/plugs/index/data.test.ts b/plugs/index/data.test.ts
index 1c724977..9c26fe8a 100644
--- a/plugs/index/data.test.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/data.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
 import { parseMarkdown } from "../../client/markdown_parser/parser.ts";
 import { createMockSystem } from "../../plug-api/system_mock.ts";
 import type {
@@ -22,6 +22,25 @@ age: 101
 \`\`\`
 `.trim();
 
+const defaultPageMeta: PageMeta = {
+  ref: "Page",
+  name: "Page",
+  tag: "page",
+  created: "",
+  lastModified: "",
+  perm: "rw",
+};
+
+async function indexDataForTest(
+  markdown: string,
+  pageName = "Page",
+): Promise<ObjectValue<any>[]> {
+  const meta: PageMeta = { ...defaultPageMeta, ref: pageName, name: pageName };
+  const tree = parseMarkdown(markdown);
+  const frontmatter = extractFrontMatter(tree);
+  return indexData(meta, frontmatter, tree);
+}
+
 test("Test indexers", async () => {
   createMockSystem();
   const tree = parseMarkdown(testPage);
@@ -56,3 +75,36 @@ test("Test indexers", async () => {
   expect(datas[1].name).toEqual("Hank");
   expect(datas[1].age).toEqual(101);
 });
+
+describe("$ref anchor in fenced data blocks", () => {
+  test("$ref field becomes ref and is stripped from the object", async () => {
+    createMockSystem();
+    const md = `\`\`\`#person\nname: Pete\n$ref: pete\n\`\`\``;
+    const results = await indexDataForTest(md);
+    const person = results.find((o) => o.tag === "person")!;
+    expect(person).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(person.tag).toBe("person");
+    expect(person.ref).toBe("pete");
+    expect(person.name).toBe("Pete");
+    expect("$ref" in person).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test("regression: block without $ref retains Page@docStart ref", async () => {
+    createMockSystem();
+    const md = `\`\`\`#person\nname: Alice\n\`\`\``;
+    const results = await indexDataForTest(md, "Page");
+    const person = results.find((o) => o.tag === "person")!;
+    expect(person).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(person.ref).toMatch(/^Page@\d+$/);
+  });
+
+  test("invalid $ref (digit-leading) is ignored; ref falls back to Page@docStart", async () => {
+    createMockSystem();
+    const md = `\`\`\`#person\nname: Bob\n$ref: 1bad\n\`\`\``;
+    const results = await indexDataForTest(md, "Page");
+    const person = results.find((o) => o.tag === "person")!;
+    expect(person).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(person.ref).toMatch(/^Page@\d+$/);
+    expect("$ref" in person).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/plugs/index/data.ts b/plugs/index/data.ts
index 515dac1d..5b10b89f 100644
--- a/plugs/index/data.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/data.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
   ObjectValue,
   PageMeta,
 } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/type/index";
+import { isValidAnchorName } from "./anchor.ts";
 
 type DataObject = ObjectValue<
   {
@@ -56,8 +57,21 @@ export function indexData(
           cursor += docs[i].length;
           continue;
         }
+        // Extract $ref anchor from the YAML doc. Lint surfaces duplicate
+        // names; the indexer accepts the first valid value here.
+        let anchorName: string | undefined;
+        if (typeof doc === "object") {
+          const d = doc as Record<string, unknown>;
+          if ("$ref" in d) {
+            const candidate = d.$ref;
+            if (typeof candidate === "string" && isValidAnchorName(candidate)) {
+              anchorName = candidate;
+            }
+            delete d.$ref;
+          }
+        }
         const dataObj = {
-          ref: `${pageMeta.name}@${docStart}`,
+          ref: anchorName ?? `${pageMeta.name}@${docStart}`,
           tag: dataType,
           itags: ["data"],
           pos: docStart,
diff --git a/plugs/index/header.test.ts b/plugs/index/header.test.ts
index 1e39d7ac..46cdcafd 100644
--- a/plugs/index/header.test.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/header.test.ts
@@ -34,3 +34,40 @@ test("Test header indexing", async () => {
   expect(headers[1].name).toEqual("Header 1.1");
   expect(headers[1].level).toEqual(2);
 });
+
+function makePageMeta(name = "test"): PageMeta {
+  return {
+    ref: name,
+    name,
+    tag: "page",
+    created: "",
+    lastModified: "",
+    perm: "rw",
+  };
+}
+
+test("header with $anchor uses anchor as ref", async () => {
+  createMockSystem();
+  const src = `# Some heading $sec1`;
+  const tree = parseMarkdown(src);
+  const frontmatter = await extractFrontMatter(tree);
+  const headers = await indexHeaders(makePageMeta(), frontmatter, tree);
+
+  expect(headers.length).toEqual(1);
+  expect(headers[0].ref).toBe("sec1");
+  // $sec1 must not appear in name or text
+  expect(headers[0].name).not.toContain("$sec1");
+  expect(headers[0].text).not.toContain("$sec1");
+  expect(headers[0].name.trim()).toBe("Some heading");
+});
+
+test("header without anchor keeps Page@pos ref shape", async () => {
+  createMockSystem();
+  const src = `# Plain header`;
+  const tree = parseMarkdown(src);
+  const frontmatter = await extractFrontMatter(tree);
+  const headers = await indexHeaders(makePageMeta("MyPage"), frontmatter, tree);
+
+  expect(headers.length).toEqual(1);
+  expect(headers[0].ref).toMatch(/^MyPage@\d+$/);
+});
diff --git a/plugs/index/header.ts b/plugs/index/header.ts
index be453936..8c66870a 100644
--- a/plugs/index/header.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/header.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import type { CompleteEvent } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/type/client";
 import type { FrontMatter } from "./frontmatter.ts";
 import { cleanAttributes, collectAttributes } from "./attribute.ts";
 import { cleanTags, collectTags } from "./tags.ts";
+import { cleanAnchor, collectAnchor } from "./anchor.ts";
 
 type HeaderObject = ObjectValue<
   {
@@ -40,16 +41,20 @@ export function indexHeaders(
     (t) => !!t.type?.startsWith("ATXHeading"),
   )) {
     const level = +n.type!.substring("ATXHeading".length);
-    const name = renderToText(n).slice(level + 1);
     const tags = collectTags(n);
+    const anchor = collectAnchor(n);
     const attributes = collectAttributes(n);
     const nClone = cloneTree(n);
     cleanTags(nClone);
     cleanAttributes(nClone);
-    const text = renderToText(nClone).slice(level + 1);
+    cleanAnchor(nClone); // strip $anchor token from clone
+    // Compute name from the cleaned tree so $anchor is stripped from both name and text.
+    const name = renderToText(nClone).slice(level + 1);
+    const text = name;
 
     headers.push({
-      ref: `${pageMeta.name}@${n.from}`,
+      // First anchor wins; T12 lint flags duplicates.
+      ref: anchor ? anchor.name : `${pageMeta.name}@${n.from}`,
       tag: "header",
       tags: [...tags],
       level,
diff --git a/plugs/index/item.test.ts b/plugs/index/item.test.ts
index 0c09b7dd..f64aba13 100644
--- a/plugs/index/item.test.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/item.test.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,53 @@ test("Test item indexing", async () => {
   expect(new Set(items[8].ilinks)).toEqual(new Set(["link", "link 2"]));
 });
 
+// --- Anchor tests ---
+
+async function indexItemsForTest(
+  md: string,
+  pageName = "TestPage",
+): Promise<ReturnType<typeof indexItems> extends Promise<infer T> ? T : never> {
+  createMockSystem();
+  const tree = parseMarkdown(md);
+  const frontmatter = extractFrontMatter(tree);
+  const pageMeta: PageMeta = {
+    ref: pageName,
+    name: pageName,
+    tag: "page",
+    created: "",
+    lastModified: "",
+    perm: "rw",
+  };
+  return indexItems(pageMeta, frontmatter, tree);
+}
+
+test("list item with $anchor uses anchor as ref", async () => {
+  const items = await indexItemsForTest("- Item with anchor $foo here\n");
+  const item = items.find((i) => i.tag === "item")!;
+  expect(item.ref).toBe("foo");
+  expect(item.name).not.toContain("$foo");
+});
+
+test("task with $anchor uses anchor as ref", async () => {
+  const items = await indexItemsForTest("- [ ] Task body $bar\n");
+  const task = items.find((i) => i.tag === "task")!;
+  expect(task.tag).toBe("task");
+  expect(task.ref).toBe("bar");
+  expect(task.name).not.toContain("$bar");
+});
+
+test("item without anchor keeps Page@pos ref", async () => {
+  const items = await indexItemsForTest("- Plain item #tag\n", "MyPage");
+  const item = items.find((i) => i.tag === "item")!;
+  expect(item.ref).toMatch(/^MyPage@\d+$/);
+});
+
+test("task without anchor keeps Page@pos ref", async () => {
+  const items = await indexItemsForTest("- [ ] Plain task #tag\n", "MyPage");
+  const task = items.find((i) => i.tag === "task")!;
+  expect(task.ref).toMatch(/^MyPage@\d+$/);
+});
+
 // Regression test for https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet/issues/1932
 // and https://github.com/silverbulletmd/silverbullet/issues/1903
 const nestedListMd = `
diff --git a/plugs/index/item.ts b/plugs/index/item.ts
index 9c8a89e9..a0bdc4f1 100644
--- a/plugs/index/item.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/item.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   traverseTree,
 } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/tree";
 import { cleanTags, collectTags, updateITags } from "./tags.ts";
+import { cleanAnchor, collectAnchor } from "./anchor.ts";
 import type { FrontMatter } from "./frontmatter.ts";
 import type {
   ObjectValue,
@@ -136,6 +137,10 @@ export function extractItemFromNode(
     nameNode = { type: "Paragraph", children: taskNode.children!.slice(1) };
   }
 
+  // Collect anchor from nameNode only (not the whole itemNode) so that
+  // child sublist anchors don't bleed into the parent item's ref.
+  const anchor = nameNode ? collectAnchor(nameNode) : null;
+
   // Now let's extract tags and attributes
   const tags = collectTags(itemNode);
   const attributes = collectAttributes(itemNode);
@@ -147,11 +152,17 @@ export function extractItemFromNode(
     const nameNodeClone = cloneTree(nameNode);
     cleanTags(nameNodeClone);
     cleanAttributes(nameNodeClone);
+    cleanAnchor(nameNodeClone);
     item.name = renderToText(nameNodeClone).trim();
   } else {
     item.name = item.text;
   }
 
+  // First anchor wins; T12 lint flags duplicates.
+  if (anchor) {
+    item.ref = anchor.name;
+  }
+
   if (tags.length > 0) {
     item.tags = tags;
   }
diff --git a/plugs/index/paragraph.test.ts b/plugs/index/paragraph.test.ts
index e208f837..21ea1efc 100644
--- a/plugs/index/paragraph.test.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/paragraph.test.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,25 @@ import type { PageMeta } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/type/index";
 import { extractFrontMatter } from "./frontmatter.ts";
 import { indexParagraphs } from "./paragraph.ts";
 
+async function indexParagraphsForTest(
+  text: string,
+  pageName = "TestPage",
+) {
+  const { config } = createMockSystem();
+  config.set("index.paragraph.all", false);
+  const tree = parseMarkdown(text);
+  const frontmatter = extractFrontMatter(tree);
+  const pageMeta: PageMeta = {
+    ref: pageName,
+    name: pageName,
+    tag: "page",
+    created: "",
+    lastModified: "",
+    perm: "rw",
+  };
+  return indexParagraphs(pageMeta, frontmatter, tree);
+}
+
 const testPage = `
 #tag-only
 
@@ -45,3 +64,28 @@ test("Test paragraph indexing", async () => {
   paragraphs = await indexParagraphs(pageMeta, frontmatter, tree);
   expect(paragraphs.length).toEqual(1);
 });
+
+test("paragraph with $anchor uses anchor as ref", async () => {
+  const objects = await indexParagraphsForTest(
+    `Paragraph with anchor $pete here. #marker`,
+  );
+  const para = objects.find((o) => o.tag === "paragraph")!;
+  expect(para.ref).toBe("pete");
+  expect(para.text).not.toContain("$pete");
+});
+
+test("standalone-line $anchor still indexes the paragraph", async () => {
+  const objects = await indexParagraphsForTest(`$standalone\n`);
+  const para = objects.find((o) => o.tag === "paragraph");
+  expect(para).toBeDefined();
+  expect(para!.ref).toBe("standalone");
+});
+
+test("paragraph without anchor keeps Page@pos ref", async () => {
+  const objects = await indexParagraphsForTest(
+    `Tagged paragraph without anchor #foo`,
+    "MyPage",
+  );
+  const para = objects.find((o) => o.tag === "paragraph")!;
+  expect(para.ref).toMatch(/^MyPage@\d+$/);
+});
diff --git a/plugs/index/paragraph.ts b/plugs/index/paragraph.ts
index a27e62f2..86237515 100644
--- a/plugs/index/paragraph.ts
+++ b/plugs/index/paragraph.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   traverseTree,
 } from "@silverbulletmd/silverbullet/lib/tree";
 import { cleanTags, collectTags, updateITags } from "./tags.ts";
+import { cleanAnchor, collectAnchor } from "./anchor.ts";
 import type { FrontMatter } from "./frontmatter.ts";
 import type {
   ObjectValue,
@@ -46,9 +47,10 @@ export async function indexParagraphs(
 
     // Collect tags
     const tags = collectTags(p);
+    const anchor = collectAnchor(p);
 
-    if (tags.length === 0 && !shouldIndexAll) {
-      // Don't index paragraphs without a hashtag
+    if (tags.length === 0 && !anchor && !shouldIndexAll) {
+      // Don't index paragraphs without a hashtag or anchor
       return true;
     }
 
@@ -59,18 +61,21 @@ export async function indexParagraphs(
     const pClone = cloneTree(p);
     cleanTags(pClone);
     cleanAttributes(pClone);
-    const text = renderToText(pClone);
+    cleanAnchor(pClone);
+    const cleanedText = renderToText(pClone);
 
-    if (!text.trim()) {
-      // Empty paragraph, just tags and attributes maybe
+    if (!cleanedText.trim() && !anchor) {
+      // Empty paragraph, just tags, attributes, and/or anchor maybe
       return true;
     }
 
     const pos = p.from!;
     const paragraph: ParagraphObject = {
       tag: "paragraph",
-      ref: `${pageMeta.name}@${pos}`,
-      text: fullText,
+      // "First anchor wins" anchor.duplicateInHost is intentionally ignored
+      // here. lint flags multi-anchor hosts at edit time.
+      ref: anchor ? anchor.name : `${pageMeta.name}@${pos}`,
+      text: anchor ? cleanedText : fullText,
       page: pageMeta.name,
       pos,
       range: [p.from!, p.to!],