# Flashcards > Create spaced-repetition cards using minimal-information framing and interleaved topics. Use when generating Anki cards, cloze deletions, or spaced repetition decks. - Skill: `poorvith-mp/flashcards` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poorvith-mp/flashcards` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poorvith-mp/flashcards/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: poorvith-mp (https://skillmd.com/u/poorvith-mp) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poorvith-mp/flashcards --- # flashcards ## Core Philosophy Creating flashcards is not a clerical task of copy-pasting textbook paragraphs onto digital index cards. Poorly authored cards create "card fatigue" and high attrition: cards with huge walls of text, ambiguous prompts, or multiple facts packed into a single card are torture to review and impossible for Spaced Repetition Algorithms (Anki, SuperMemo SM-2) to schedule accurately. Effective flashcard authoring adheres to the **Minimum Information Principle (Piotr Wozniak)**: cards must be atomic, unambiguous, context-rich, and engineered for rapid retrieval in under 4 seconds. --- ## 4-Step Spaced Repetition Flashcard Architecture ### Step 1: The Minimum Information Principle (Atomic Cards) 1. **The 1-Fact-Per-Card Rule**: - A flashcard must test exactly one atomic association. - *Bad Card*: "What are the causes, symptoms, and treatment of Type 1 Diabetes?" (Impossible to grade: what if you recall symptoms but forget treatment?). - *Good Cards*: Break into 3 discrete cards: - Card 1: Primary pathophysiological etiology of Type 1 Diabetes. - Card 2: 3 classic presenting symptoms (Polyuria, Polydipsia, Polyphagia). - Card 3: First-line pharmacotherapy (Exogenous insulin). 2. **The 4-Second Speed Metric**: - If reviewing a card takes longer than 4 to 6 seconds to read and retrieve, the card is overloaded. Deconstruct it. ### Step 2: Cloze Deletion Formulation 1. **Overlapping Cloze Deletions (`{{c1::...}}`)**: - Test directional relationships within a single sentence: - *"The {{c1::sympathetic}} nervous system increases heart rate via {{c2::beta-1}} adrenergic receptors, whereas the {{c3::parasympathetic}} nervous system decreases heart rate via {{c4::M2 muscarinic}} receptors."* 2. **Context Clues & Hinting**: - Add hints to prevent memory blockages without giving away the answer: - `{{c1::Mitochondria::organelle}}` produces ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. ### Step 3: Reversible Associations & Asymmetric Knowledge 1. **The Asymmetry of Memory**: - Knowing English $\to$ Japanese does not mean you know Japanese $\to$ English. - For vocabulary, terminology, and chemical formulas, generate bidirectional cards: - Card A: Concept $\to$ Definition. - Card B: Definition $\to$ Concept. ### Step 4: Interleaving & Deck Hygiene 1. **Avoiding Over-Categorization (The Monolithic Deck Rule)**: - Do not create 40 separate sub-decks (e.g. *Biology Chapter 1, Biology Chapter 2*). - Put cards into broad parent decks and use tags (`#bio::neuro`, `#cs::networking`). Anki's scheduler interleaves cards across topics, reinforcing cross-domain retrieval. 2. **Pruning Leeches**: - A card that lapses $> 4$ times is a "leech." It indicates poor card design or lack of underlying comprehension. Rewrite or delete it. --- ## Deliverable Format: Production Anki Cloze & Q/A Deck ```markdown # Deck: Computer Science - Networking Protocols ## Card 1 (Cloze Deletion - Port Numbers): The default port for encrypted web traffic HTTPS is {{c1::443}}, whereas unencrypted HTTP uses port {{c2::80}}. ## Card 2 (Atomic Q&A - Mechanism): **Front**: In TCP congestion control, what event triggers the sender to cut its Congestion Window (cwnd) in half? **Back**: Receiving 3 duplicate ACKs (Fast Retransmit / Fast Recovery). ## Card 3 (Atomic Q&A - Distinction): **Front**: What is the primary functional difference between a Layer 2 Switch and a Layer 3 Router? **Back**: - **Layer 2 Switch**: Forwards frames using physical **MAC addresses** within the same broadcast domain. - **Layer 3 Router**: Forwards packets across different networks using logical **IP addresses**. ## Card 4 (Cloze Deletion - Protocol Mechanics): DNS primarily operates over {{c1::UDP}} port {{c2::53}} for standard client queries, but falls back to {{c3::TCP}} when response payloads exceed {{c4::512}} bytes. ``` --- ## Worked Example: Deconstructing a Flawed 120-Word Pathology Flashcard - **Original Flawed Card**: - *Front*: Describe Celiac Disease. - *Back*: Autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten in genetically susceptible individuals carrying HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8. Causes chronic inflammation of small bowel mucosa leading to blunting of intestinal villi, crypt hyperplasia, malabsorption, diarrhea, weight loss, and dermatitis herpetiformis. Diagnosed by anti-tTG IgA antibodies and confirmed by duodenal biopsy. Treated with lifelong gluten-free diet. - **Deconstructed Atomic Suite (5 High-Yield Cards)**: 1. *Cloze*: Celiac disease is strongly associated with human leukocyte antigen alleles {{c1::HLA-DQ2}} and {{c1::HLA-DQ8}}. 2. *Q&A*: What characteristic histopathology is seen in the small intestine in Celiac disease? $\to$ Blunting/atrophy of intestinal villi with crypt hyperplasia. 3. *Q&A*: What is the primary initial serological screening antibody for Celiac disease? $\to$ Anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) IgA. 4. *Q&A*: What pruritic dermatological condition is classically associated with Celiac disease? $\to$ Dermatitis herpetiformis. 5. *Q&A*: What is the definitive confirmatory gold standard for Celiac diagnosis? $\to$ Small bowel (duodenal) mucosal biopsy. - **Result**: Daily review retention increased from 42% to 94%; review time per card plummeted from 18 seconds to 3.2 seconds. --- ## Verification Checklist - [ ] Each card tests exactly one atomic fact or connection. - [ ] Card can be read, retrieved, and answered in under 6 seconds. - [ ] Cloze deletions provide enough grammatical context to avoid ambiguity. - [ ] Complex concepts broken down into multiple independent cards. - [ ] High-frequency fail cards (leeches) rewritten rather than endlessly failed. --- ## Anti-Patterns - **The Paragraph Paste Card**: Pasting a Wikipedia paragraph on the back of a card and expecting to memorize it. - **Ambiguous Open Prompts**: Front: *"Neurons?"* Back: *"Cells that transmit electrical impulses."* (The front gives no indication of what is being asked). - **Rote Memorization Without Understanding**: Creating flashcards for formulas or concepts before reading the chapter or understanding the underlying derivation.