👋 Welcome

This skill helps you create high-quality Anki flashcards using Claude. Whether you're learning vocabulary, studying for exams, or trying to remember people you meet—just describe what you want to learn and get a ready-to-import card package.

What You Can Do

📝

Quick Cards

Turn vocabulary, facts, or concepts into flashcards in one message.

👤

People Cards

Upload a photo and details to remember names and faces.

🖼️

Image Recognition

Create cards for landmarks, art, species—anything visual.

📄

Document Extraction

Upload notes or documents and extract key concepts as cards.

How It Works

  1. Tell Claude what you want to learn — vocabulary, facts, people, images, whatever
  2. Get a preview — see your cards before committing
  3. Download your .apkg file — ready to import into Anki
New to spaced repetition?
It's a learning technique proven by decades of research. Cards are shown at optimal intervals—just before you'd forget them. 10 minutes a day can help you remember thousands of facts permanently.

Read Gwern's comprehensive guide →

Quick Start

If you already have Anki installed and Claude configured, just start asking:

"Make flashcards for these vocab words: ephemeral, ubiquitous, paradigm"
"Create a card to help me remember that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066"

If you need to set things up first, use the navigation to find the setup guides.

Note: This guide is a Claude artifact—an interactive document embedded in your conversation. It's not a website; it's generated from the skill files. You can return to it anytime by typing /anki-help.

Set Up Anki

Get a spaced repetition app ready to import your cards.

Choose Your Platform

The cards this skill generates are .apkg files—the standard Anki format. You have several options for reviewing them:

  • 1

    Anki Desktop (Free)

    The original, most full-featured option. Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

    Download from apps.ankiweb.net →
  • 2

    AnkiDroid (Free)

    Excellent free app for Android. Full-featured and actively maintained.

    Get on Google Play →
  • 3

    AnkiMobile (iOS — $24.99)

    The official iOS app. It's expensive, but purchases support Anki's development.

    Get on App Store →
  • 4

    AnkiWeb (Free)

    Study in your browser. More limited than the apps, but works anywhere. Requires Anki Desktop to import decks first.

    Go to ankiweb.net →
iOS users: If $25 is steep, you can use Anki Desktop to import cards, then sync to AnkiWeb and study in Safari on your phone. Add AnkiWeb to your home screen for an app-like experience.

Alternatives to Anki

Several other apps can import .apkg files if you prefer a different interface:

  • RemNote — Notes + flashcards combined. Imports .apkg files.
  • Mochi — Clean, markdown-based. Supports Anki import.
  • Traverse — Mind maps + flashcards. Full .apkg compatibility.

Set Up Sync (Recommended)

Create a free AnkiWeb account to sync your cards and progress across all your devices:

  1. Go to ankiweb.net/account/signup
  2. Create your account
  3. In your Anki app, sign in with your AnkiWeb credentials
  4. Sync after each study session

Import Your First Deck

Once you have cards from Claude:

  1. Download the .apkg file Claude provides
  2. Open Anki and go to File → Import (or just double-click the file)
  3. Your cards are ready to study!
Want pre-made decks?
Thousands of shared decks are available for languages, medicine, history, and more.
Browse shared decks on AnkiWeb →

Claude Settings

Make sure Claude can generate and export your flashcards.

This skill needs a few Claude settings enabled to work properly. If you're seeing this guide, you've already got Skills working—but check these others:

  • ✓

    Skills

    Already enabled—that's how you're seeing this! Lets Claude use specialized capabilities like this flashcard skill.

  • !

    Code Execution & File Creation

    Required for generating .apkg files. Without this, Claude can't create downloadable card packages.

    Settings → Capabilities → Code Execution & File Creation

  • !

    Network Egress (Package Managers)

    Required to install the Python library that builds Anki packages. At minimum, enable "Package managers only".

    Settings → Capabilities → Network Egress

If card generation fails:
The most common cause is missing network egress. Claude needs to install the genanki Python package the first time it creates cards. Enable network egress for package managers and try again.

Verify It's Working

Try a simple request:

"Make a flashcard: What year was the Magna Carta signed? → 1215"

If you get a downloadable .apkg file, you're all set!

Notes vs Cards

Understanding Anki's data model helps you get more from this skill.

The Key Distinction

In Anki, notes and cards are different things:

📝

Notes

Where your information lives. A note has fields (like "Question", "Answer", "Example") that you fill in.

🃏

Cards

What you actually study. Cards are generated from notes using templates. One note can produce multiple cards.

Why This Matters

A single note can generate multiple cards. For example:

  • Bidirectional note with term "ephemeral" → generates 2 cards (term→definition AND definition→term)
  • Cloze note with 4 blanks → generates 4 cards (one per blank)
  • Person note with 6 fields filled → generates 6 cards (one per field)
Practical example:
If you ask Claude to make cards for "ephemeral, ubiquitous, paradigm", you'll get 3 notes but 6 cards (two for each vocabulary word—forward and reverse).

Note Types in This Skill

This skill creates six types of notes, each with different fields and card generation rules:

Note Type Cards Generated Best For
Front-Back 1 card Facts, procedures, Q&A
Bidirectional 2 cards Vocabulary, terminology
Cloze 1 per blank Lists, sequences, formulas
Image 1 card Visual identification
Image Occlusion 1 per region Diagrams, anatomy, maps
Person 1 per filled field Names, faces, context

Click any note type in the sidebar for detailed field information and examples.

Learn more:
Anki Manual: Notes & Fields →

Note Types Overview

This skill creates six types of notes, each designed for different kinds of knowledge.

Claude automatically picks the best note type based on what you're learning. You can also request specific types if you have a preference.

Front-Back

Question on front, answer on back. For facts, procedures, cause-effect. Generates 1 card.

Bidirectional

Two cards from one note: term→definition AND definition→term. Perfect for vocabulary.

Cloze

Fill-in-the-blank. One card per blank. Great for lists, sequences, formulas.

Image Recognition

See an image, recall what it is. For landmarks, art, species. Generates 1 card.

Image Occlusion

Parts of an image are hidden. One card per region. For anatomy, diagrams, maps.

Person

Remember faces, names, and details. One card per field you fill in.

Click any note type in the sidebar for detailed field information, defaults, and examples.

Front-Back Notes

The classic flashcard: question on front, answer on back. Generates 1 card.

Q&A Front-Back
Best for: facts, procedures, cause-and-effect, anything with a clear question and answer.
Front: What year did World War II end?
Back: 1945

Fields

Field Required Default Description
question Yes — The question shown on the front
answer Yes — The answer revealed on the back
example No (empty) An example illustrating the concept
extra_info No (empty) Additional context shown on back
author No "Claude" Source attribution (e.g., book author)
source No "General Knowledge" Where the info came from
source_link No (empty) URL to the source

When Claude Uses This Type

  • Questions that end with "?"
  • Cause → effect relationships
  • Step-by-step procedures
  • Factual recall that only goes one direction

Examples

"Make a card: What's the capital of Australia? → Canberra"
"Create cards for these history facts: [list of facts]"

Customizing Fields

You can specify field values in your prompt:

"Make a card about Rumelt's definition of strategy from 'Good Strategy Bad Strategy'"

Claude will set author to "Richard Rumelt" and source to "Good Strategy Bad Strategy".

Tip: If you're learning vocabulary where you need to recall in both directions, request Bidirectional notes instead.

Bidirectional Notes

Two cards from one note: term→definition and definition→term.

Concept Bidirectional
Best for: vocabulary, terminology, any concept where you need two-way recall. Generates 2 cards.
Card 1 Front: Ephemeral
Card 1 Back: Lasting for a very short time

Card 2 Front: Lasting for a very short time
Card 2 Back: Ephemeral

Fields

Field Required Default Description
concept Yes — The term or concept name
definition Yes — The meaning or definition
example No (empty) Example usage of the term
extra_info No (empty) Additional context or notes
author No "Claude" Source attribution
source No "General Knowledge" Where the info came from
source_link No (empty) URL to the source

When Claude Uses This Type

  • Single term with a definition
  • Vocabulary words
  • Technical terminology
  • Translations

Examples

"Make flashcards for these vocab words: ephemeral, ubiquitous, paradigm"
"Create cards for these Spanish words: perro (dog), gato (cat), casa (house)"
Quality note: Claude avoids using the term in its own definition (e.g., defining "ephemeral" as "something ephemeral"). This prevents cards that can be answered without real understanding.

Cloze Notes

Fill-in-the-blank cards that test specific pieces of information. Generates 1 card per blank.

Fill-in Cloze Deletion
Best for: lists, sequences, formulas, sentences with key terms.
Note: The three branches of the US government are {{c1::Legislative}}, {{c2::Executive}}, and {{c3::Judicial}}.

Card 1: The three branches are [...], Executive, and Judicial.
Card 2: The three branches are Legislative, [...], and Judicial.
Card 3: The three branches are Legislative, Executive, and [...].

Fields

Field Required Default Description
cloze_text Yes — Text with {{c1::blank}} markers
example No (empty) Example or context
extra_info No (empty) Additional notes shown on back
author No "Claude" Source attribution
source No "General Knowledge" Where the info came from
source_link No (empty) URL to the source

When Claude Uses This Type

  • Lists of 3+ items
  • Sequences or ordered steps
  • Formulas with multiple variables
  • Sentences where specific words need memorization

Examples

"Make a cloze card: The scientific method steps are observation, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion"
"Create a card for: E = mc²"
Cloze cards are tricky: They're easy to make badly. Claude is careful to only cloze the parts that actually need memorization, not every word. If a list has more than 5-6 items, it may suggest breaking it into smaller notes.

Image Recognition Notes

See an image, recall what it represents. Generates 1 card.

Visual Image Recognition
Best for: landmarks, artwork, species, objects, anything you need to identify visually.
Front: [Image of the Eiffel Tower]
What landmark is this?

Back: Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Fields

Field Required Default Description
image_path Yes — Path to the image file (from upload)
prompt Yes — Question shown with image (e.g., "What is this?")
answer Yes — The answer revealed on flip
extra_info No (empty) Additional context (e.g., "Built 1889")
author No "Claude" Source attribution
source No "General Knowledge" Where the info came from
source_link No (empty) URL to the source

When Claude Uses This Type

  • You upload an image and ask "what is this?"
  • You want a reminder card for a visual item
  • Identifying artwork, landmarks, plants, animals, etc.

Examples

[Upload image] "Make a recognition card for this painting"
[Upload image] "Create a card to help me remember this bird species"

Person Notes

Remember names, faces, and details about people. Generates 1 card per field you fill in.

Person Person Card
Best for: networking, remembering colleagues, matching faces to names and context.
Card 1: [Photo] Who is this? → Sarah Chen
Card 2: What is Sarah Chen's role? → Product Manager @ Acme
Card 3: Where does Sarah Chen live? → San Francisco
Card 4: What are Sarah Chen's hobbies? → hiking, photography

Fields

Only full_name is required. Each optional field you fill in generates one additional card.

Field Card Generated Description
full_name Required Used in all prompts The person's name
photo_path "Who is this?" → name Path to uploaded photo
title "What is [name]'s role?" Job title or role
company "What company does [name] work for?" Company or organization
reports_to "Who is [name]'s manager?" Their manager
direct_reports "Who does [name] manage?" People they manage
current_city "Where does [name] live?" Where they live
hobbies "What are [name]'s hobbies?" Interests and hobbies
birthday "When is [name]'s birthday?" Their birthday
partner_name "Who is [name]'s partner?" Spouse/partner name
children_names "What are [name]'s children's names?" Names of children
pet_names "What are [name]'s pets' names?" Names of pets
phone_number "What is [name]'s phone number?" Phone number

Examples

[Upload photo] "This is Marcus, he's a designer at the agency I'm working with"
[Upload photo] "Sarah Chen, PM at Acme, met at the conference, interested in AI ethics"
Start minimal: You can create a note with just a photo and name. Claude will offer to add more details if you have them. A person with 6 fields filled generates 6 cards.

Example Prompts

Copy these or use them as inspiration.

Vocabulary

"Make flashcards for: ephemeral, ubiquitous, paradigm, anomaly"
"Create vocab cards for these Spanish words: el perro, la casa, comer, beber"

Facts & Knowledge

"Make a card: The Battle of Hastings was in 1066"
"Create flashcards for the planets in order from the sun"
"Turn these history notes into flashcards: [paste notes]"

People

[Upload photo] "This is Jamie, met at the product conference, works at Stripe"
[Upload photo] "Remember this person: Dr. Patel, oncologist, referred by Dr. Smith"

Images

[Upload image] "Make a card to help me remember this painting"
[Upload image] "What bird is this? Create a flashcard"

Acronyms

"Make cards for: NATO, ASAP, RSVP"

Customization

"Use the bold theme for these cards"
"Put these in a deck called 'Medical Terms'"
"Output as Obsidian format instead of .apkg"

Workflows

Different types of requests get handled differently.

Understanding these can help you get better results:

Quick Cards

For simple requests—vocab terms, single facts, quick person cards—Claude aims for one-turn delivery: you ask, you get the .apkg file plus a preview, done.

"Make cards for: X, Y, Z" → Immediate .apkg + preview

Document Extraction

When you upload a document or paste substantial text, Claude first identifies what's worth making into cards, then generates them. You may get a chance to review the proposed card breakdown.

[Upload PDF] "Turn this into flashcards" → Analysis → proposed cards → generation

Review Cycle

After seeing a preview, you can give feedback: "card 3 is too complex", "split card 5", "add more context to card 2". Claude will revise and regenerate.

"Card 4 should be a cloze instead" → Revised cards + new .apkg
The skill tries to be efficient: For simple requests, you shouldn't have to go back and forth. But the option is always there if you want to refine things.

Tips for Better Cards

Get more from your flashcards.

Study Daily

Spaced repetition works through consistency. Even 5-10 minutes a day is powerful. Skipping days causes reviews to pile up and weakens the memory effect.

Keep Cards Atomic

The best flashcards test one thing. If you find yourself answering "well, it depends..." the card is probably too complex. Ask Claude to split it.

Don't Memorize What You Don't Understand

Flashcards are for retention, not initial learning. If you don't understand something yet, learn it first—then make cards to remember it.

Add Context When Needed

If a card answer could apply to multiple questions, the card needs more context. "1066" could be many historical dates—make sure the question is specific enough.

Use the Preview

Claude shows you cards before generating the final package. Take a moment to scan them—it's much easier to catch issues now than to fix them in Anki later.

Give Feedback

If something's not right, just say so: "card 3 is too vague", "make card 5 bidirectional instead". Claude will fix it.

Common mistake: Creating cards from material you haven't engaged with (like auto-generating from a PDF you haven't read). The cards might be technically correct but won't connect to anything in your understanding.

Contact

Questions, feedback, or issues?

Developer

Ben Bateman

ben.bateman.email@gmail.com

This skill is in active development. If something doesn't work, or you have ideas for improvements, I'd genuinely love to hear about it. Early feedback shapes what gets built next.

For Developers

If you want to tinker with or extend this skill, there's a developer portal with documentation, architecture details, and a roadmap. Ask Claude:

"Enter developer mode for the Anki skill"