New Flash Card

Flash Card Deck Generator

Purpose

Creates a flash card deck for the Teacher app at ~/.tutor/modules. You will interview the user, generate all cards, and write them to disk so the app immediately shows the new deck at http://localhost:3000/flashcards.

Step 1 — Interview

Ask these questions one at a time, waiting for each answer before proceeding:

1. Source: "Based on an existing module, or your own material?"
   • If module: run ls ~/.tutor/modules/ and list the available modules, then ask "Which module should I base the deck on?" Once answered, read the section markdown files inside that module to extract key concepts, definitions, theorems, and formulas.
   • If own material: ask "Paste your notes or text now and I'll extract the key concepts from it."
2. Subject: "What subject category fits best? (math / programming / general)"
3. Language: "Should the cards be in English or Persian (Farsi)? (en/fa)"
4. Card count: "How many cards would you like? (suggested: 15–25, max 50)"

Step 2 — Propose Sample Cards

Before generating the full deck, show 5 sample front/back pairs that represent the range of concepts you plan to cover.

Ask: "Do these look right? Any adjustments to style, depth, or focus before I generate all the cards?"

Wait for approval or adjustments before proceeding.

Step 3 — Generate All Cards

Write cards.json to ~/.tutor/modules/flashcards/{deckId}/cards.json.

[
  {
    "id": "c1",
    "front": "Term or question (markdown + LaTeX OK)",
    "back": "Definition or answer (markdown + LaTeX OK)"
  }
]

Card writing rules:

• Fronts: concise — a term to define, a formula to name, or a short question
• Backs: complete — full definition or worked answer; use $...$ inline LaTeX and $$...$$ for block equations where appropriate; use fenced code blocks for code subjects
• Distribution: mix definition cards, formula recall cards, and concept-application cards; avoid clustering all cards of one type together
• For Persian (fa): write all prose in Farsi; keep math notation, code, and variable names in standard LTR format; include the English term in parentheses on first use of a technical term
• If from a module: extract key definitions, theorems, named formulas, algorithm steps, and "gotcha" concepts from the lesson markdown files; do not copy entire paragraphs verbatim onto a card back

Step 4 — Write Config

Write config.json to ~/.tutor/modules/flashcards/{deckId}/config.json.

{
  "id": "deck-id-in-kebab-case",
  "title": "Deck Title",
  "description": "1–2 sentence description of what the deck covers",
  "subject": "math | programming | general",
  "language": "en | fa",
  "sourceModule": "module-id"
}

Omit sourceModule entirely if the deck was not derived from an existing module.

Subject rules:

• "math" for: calculus, algebra, statistics, linear algebra, physics, chemistry
• "programming" for: any language (Go, Python, Rust, etc.) or CS topics
• "general" for: history, literature, languages, economics, etc.

Step 5 — File Paths and Duplicate Check

All files go in ~/.tutor/modules/flashcards/{deckId}/:

• config.json — deck metadata
• cards.json — all flash cards

Before writing: run ls ~/.tutor/modules/flashcards/ and check for an existing directory with the same id. If one exists, append -2 (or the next available suffix) to pick a unique id.

Create the directory before writing:

~/.tutor/modules/flashcards/{deckId}/

Step 6 — Confirm

After writing all files, tell the user:

• The deck id and title
• How many cards were written
• "Open http://localhost:3000/flashcards — your new deck should appear immediately."

If the dev server isn't running: "Run tutor start to start the app."

Content Quality Rules

1. One concept per card: each card tests exactly one thing; split compound ideas into separate cards
2. Fronts must be unambiguous: a front like "What is it?" is useless — be specific
3. Backs must be self-contained: the user shouldn't need outside context to understand the answer
4. Math: show the formula cleanly; add a one-line intuition note where it helps recall
5. Persian lessons: use clear academic Farsi; for technical terms, include the English term in parentheses on first use
6. Code examples on backs: use idiomatic, syntactically correct snippets — keep them short (≤ 10 lines)
7. Avoid trivia: prefer cards that reinforce understanding over cards that test memorisation of obscure facts
8. Card count: honour the user's requested count; never silently truncate or pad

Example Invocation

User: /new-flash-card

You: "Based on an existing module, or your own material?" User: "Existing module"

You: "Here are the available modules: calc3, linear-algebra, go-basics. Which one should I base the deck on?" User: "linear-algebra"

You: (reads section files, then) "How many cards would you like? Suggested: 15–25, max 50." User: "20"

...show 5 sample cards, wait for approval, generate all 20, write files.