diff --git a/plug-api/lib/ref.test.ts b/plug-api/lib/ref.test.ts
index 535f15db..93f67fb4 100644
--- a/plug-api/lib/ref.test.ts
+++ b/plug-api/lib/ref.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
 import {
   decodePageURI,
   encodePageURI,
@@ -117,6 +117,50 @@ test("isValidPath() and isValidName()", () => {
   expect(!isValidName("hello>there")).toBeTruthy();
 });
 
+describe("anchor refs", () => {
+  test("parseToRef bare anchor", () => {
+    expect(parseToRef("$pete")).toEqual({
+      path: "",
+      details: { type: "anchor", name: "pete" },
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("parseToRef page-qualified anchor", () => {
+    expect(parseToRef("Some Page$pete")).toEqual({
+      path: "Some Page.md",
+      details: { type: "anchor", name: "pete" },
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("parseToRef accepts allowed character classes", () => {
+    for (const name of ["toc1", "tasks/7", "a:b", "a-b", "_foo"]) {
+      const ref = parseToRef("$" + name);
+      expect(ref?.details).toEqual({ type: "anchor", name });
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("parseToRef rejects digit-leading anchors", () => {
+    // "$100" should NOT be parsed as an anchor; falling through to
+    // the path branch should fail because the path would be "$100"
+    // which is not a valid path either.
+    expect(parseToRef("$100")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  test("encodeRef round-trips bare anchor", () => {
+    expect(encodeRef({ path: "", details: { type: "anchor", name: "pete" } }))
+      .toBe("$pete");
+  });
+
+  test("encodeRef round-trips page-qualified anchor", () => {
+    expect(
+      encodeRef({
+        path: "Some Page.md",
+        details: { type: "anchor", name: "pete" },
+      }),
+    ).toBe("Some Page$pete");
+  });
+});
+
 test("Page URI encoding", () => {
   expect(encodePageURI("foo")).toEqual("foo");
   expect(encodePageURI("folder/foo")).toEqual("folder/foo");
diff --git a/plug-api/lib/ref.ts b/plug-api/lib/ref.ts
index edbf33c5..672e7af0 100644
--- a/plug-api/lib/ref.ts
+++ b/plug-api/lib/ref.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ export type Ref = {
   details?:
     | { type: "position"; pos: number }
     | { type: "linecolumn"; line: number; column: number }
-    | { type: "header"; header: string };
+    | { type: "header"; header: string }
+    | { type: "anchor"; name: string };
 };
 
 /**
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ export function isValidPath(path: string): path is Path {
  * TO THE INNER WORKINGS OF SILVERBULLET AND CHANGES COULD INTRODUCE MAJOR BUGS
  */
 const refRegex =
-  /^(?<meta>\^)?(?<path>(?!.*\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+\.md$)(?!\/?(\.|\^))(?!.*(?:\/|^)\.{1,2}(?:\/|$)|.*\/{2})(?!.*(?:\]\]|\[\[))[^@#|<>]*)(@(?<pos>\d+)|@[Ll](?<line>\d+)(?:[Cc](?<col>\d+))?|#\s*(?<header>.*))?$/;
+  /^(?<meta>\^)?(?<path>(?!.*\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+\.md$)(?!\/?(\.|\^))(?!.*(?:\/|^)\.{1,2}(?:\/|$)|.*\/{2})(?!.*(?:\]\]|\[\[))[^@#|<>$]*)(@(?<pos>\d+)|@[Ll](?<line>\d+)(?:[Cc](?<col>\d+))?|#\s*(?<header>.*)|\$(?<anchor>[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_/:-]*))?$/;
 
 /**
  * Parses a reference string into a ref object.
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ export function parseToRef(stringRef: string): Ref | null {
       type: "header",
       header: groups.header,
     };
+  } else if (groups.anchor !== undefined) {
+    ref.details = { type: "anchor", name: groups.anchor };
   }
 
   return ref;
@@ -158,6 +161,8 @@ export function encodeRef(ref: Ref): string {
     stringRef += `@${ref.details.pos}`;
   } else if (ref.details?.type === "header") {
     stringRef += `#${ref.details.header}`;
+  } else if (ref.details?.type === "anchor") {
+    stringRef += `$${ref.details.name}`;
   }
 
   return stringRef;
@@ -191,6 +196,8 @@ export function getOffsetFromRef(
     case "header": {
       return getOffsetFromHeader(parseTree, ref.details.header);
     }
+    case "anchor":
+      return -1;
   }
 }