flashcards

name

flashcards

description

Create flashcard notes for Anki integration with proper deck paths, category tags, and content structure (no empty lines). INVOKE when user wants to create study cards or flashcards for spaced repetition. Triggers: "create flashcard", "flashcards", "study cards", "Anki", "spaced repetition", "карточка", "создай флэшкарту", "карточки для повторения", "анки карточка", "флэшкарды". Shows example first, creates on confirmation.

Obsidian Flashcards

Create flashcard notes with correct metadata structure and content formatting for Anki integration.

Flashcard Template

All flashcards follow this structure:

YAML Frontmatter

---
tags:
  - note/specific/exact  # or note/specific/code
  - category/<category_name>  # e.g., category/computer_science
aliases: []  # or specific aliases for code/exact types
deck: obsidian::<deck_path>  # e.g., obsidian::computer_science::algorithms
created: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00  # ISO 8601 with timezone
updated: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00  # ISO 8601 with timezone
---

Important metadata rules:

• Tags: Must include note taxonomy (note/specific/code or note/specific/exact) and category tag (category/<name>)
• Deck: Format is obsidian::<category> or obsidian::<category>::<subcategory> (use :: for hierarchy)
• Aliases: Can be empty [] or include specific terms for quick reference
• Dates: ISO 8601 format with timezone (generated automatically based on current time)

Content Structure

**Title** or **Term**
—
Content / Definition / Explanation
[Optional: Code blocks, quotes, lists, etc.]

CRITICAL content rules:

• NO EMPTY LINES — Plugin limitation requires no blank lines in flashcard body
• Use — (em dash) as separator after the title/term
• Title should be bolded with **Title**
• Keep content atomic (one concept per flashcard)
• ID field is added automatically by a separate plugin — do not include it manually

Common Flashcard Types

1. Code Flashcard

Tag: note/specific/code Title format: (function_name) **function_name()** (with parentheses) Use: Programming functions, methods, syntax

Example:

---
tags:
  - note/specific/code
  - category/js
aliases:
  - map
deck: obsidian::js
created: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00
updated: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00
---

**map()**
—
Creates a new array by applying a function to each element of the original array.
```js
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4];
const doubled = numbers.map(x => x * 2);
// [2, 4, 6, 8]

### 2. Exact Definition

**Tag**: `note/specific/exact`
**Use**: Precise terminology, formal definitions

Example:
```markdown
---
tags:
  - note/specific/exact
  - category/computer_science/algorithms
aliases: []
deck: obsidian::computer_science::algorithms
created: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00
updated: 2026-02-08T15:30:00+07:00
---

**Quicksort**
—
A divide-and-conquer sorting algorithm that selects a pivot element and partitions the array around it.
Average time complexity: O(n log n)
Worst case: O(n²)

Category and Deck Validation

CRITICAL: Only use EXISTING categories and decks. Categories and decks are defined in the system.

Validation Workflow

Before creating ANY flashcard:

1. Read home/prefixes.md to discover available decks:

   • Categories section: flashcard categories with deck paths
   • Code section: programming language decks
   • Look for patterns like computer_science – cs or js – js

2. Validate category exists using Glob:

   • Use base/categories/*.md to list available categories
   • Match the category from prefixes.md to existing category files

3. Extract deck path from prefixes.md:

   • For simple prefix: computer_science – cs → deck is obsidian::computer_science
   • For subcategory: computer_science,algorithms – cs_a → deck is obsidian::computer_science::algorithms
   • For code: js – js → deck is obsidian::js

4. If category/deck doesn't exist:

   • Do NOT create flashcard
   • Ask user to clarify category or suggest existing alternatives
   • List available categories/decks from prefixes.md

Category Tag Format

• category/<category_name> — where <category_name> matches the category folder in base/categories/
• For subcategories: category/<main>/<sub> — e.g., category/computer_science/algorithms

Workflow

Creating a Single Flashcard

1. Validate category and deck FIRST:

   • Read home/prefixes.md to get available decks
   • Use Glob to verify category exists in base/categories/
   • If category doesn't exist, stop and ask user

2. Gather information from user:

   • What is the flashcard about? (topic/concept)
   • What type of flashcard? (basic, code, exact)
   • What category/deck? (suggest from available in prefixes.md)
   • What is the content/definition?

3. Generate example flashcard with:

   • Proper filename (lowercase, noun phrases, no dates/numbers)
   • Correct frontmatter based on type with VALIDATED category and deck
   • Content with — separator and NO EMPTY LINES
   • Current timestamp in ISO 8601 with timezone

4. Show example to user and ask: "Is this correct? Should I create this flashcard?"

5. Create note in base/notes/ if user confirms

Creating Multiple Flashcards

1. Validate category and deck FIRST (same as single flashcard)
2. Confirm topic and type with user
3. Ask for flashcard data in structured format
4. Generate examples for all flashcards with validated metadata
5. Show examples and ask for confirmation
6. Create all flashcards if user confirms

Filename Rules

• Lowercase (except proper nouns)
• Noun phrases (no questions, no pronouns)
• No dates or numbers in filename
• Filesystem-safe characters only
• Unique across vault

Good examples:

• binary search.md
• js map().md
• quicksort.md

Bad examples:

• What is binary search.md (question)
• 2024-01-15 binary search.md (date)
• binary-search-algorithm-1.md (number)

Deck Migration Utility

The change-deck.py script (included in this skill) helps reorganize flashcards by changing deck and category tags in bulk.

Usage

From the Obsidian vault root:

python3 .claude/skills/obsidian-flashcards/change-deck.py [old_deck] [new_deck] [relative_path]

Examples:

# Change all computer_science cards to computer_science/basics
python3 .claude/skills/obsidian-flashcards/change-deck.py "computer_science" "computer_science/basics"

# Change within specific directory
python3 .claude/skills/obsidian-flashcards/change-deck.py "python" "python/advanced" base/notes

# Search from current directory
python3 .claude/skills/obsidian-flashcards/change-deck.py "math" "math/calculus" .

What it does

1. Finds all notes with deck: obsidian::<old_deck> and category/<old_deck> tag
2. Changes tag: category/<old_deck> → category/<new_deck>
3. Changes deck: obsidian::<old_deck> → obsidian::<new_deck> (replaces / with ::)
4. Confirms before making changes
5. Reports changed files

When to use

• Reorganizing flashcard hierarchy (e.g., js → js/basics, js/advanced)
• Splitting large decks into subcategories
• Moving cards between categories
• Renaming deck paths

Available Decks Reference

Check home/prefixes.md for the current list of available decks. Common examples:

Categories (flashcards):

• computer_science → obsidian::computer_science
• computer_science,algorithms → obsidian::computer_science::algorithms
• english → obsidian::english
• artificial_intelligence,deep_learning,basics → obsidian::artificial_intelligence::deep_learning::basics

Code (programming languages):

• js → obsidian::js
• python → obsidian::python
• sql → obsidian::sql

Note: This is just an example. ALWAYS read home/prefixes.md before creating flashcards to get the current accurate list.

Tips

• Always validate first — read home/prefixes.md and check base/categories/ before creating flashcards
• Keep flashcards atomic — one concept per card
• Use hierarchical decks for better organization (category::subcategory)
• Code flashcards should include working examples
• Exact definitions are for formal terminology