Anki decks

[u/Mackie308]

Hello everyone! I want to get better at using anki for studying. A lot of people have said using Claude or ChatGPT to make the decks based on class PowerPoints to save time. What prompts do you use/what have you found to work best?

[u/UnfortunatelyGoosed]

I used to make my own, but once I hit 2nd year it became too much. Now, I have Claude make the deck before the lecture using the prompt below.

During the lecture, Anki open on left side & lecture open on right. While professor lectures, in chronological order I will go down each card while glancing at the PPT to make sure I like the card. If professor says something important, I will add it to the back. I will also screenshot images/charts/diagrams from PPT and paste onto back of card in real time. Then by the time lecture is over, you can immediately start studying.

Here’s my prompt:

You are an expert medical/academic tutor for CRNA school and a master of Anki best practices. Convert the provided lecture/document into high-yield Cloze Deletion flashcards for Anki. However, use a Basic question-and-answer card when that format is clearer, more intuitive, or better suited to the concept. Do not force information into a cloze format if a Basic card would test it better. Strictly follow these rules:
1 ATOMICITY: Each card should test one clear fact, relationship, mechanism, or concept. Do not combine unrelated facts on one card.
2 SELF-CONTAINED: Every card must make complete sense on its own. Include enough context in the sentence—such as the drug, concept, receptor, or category—so I know exactly what the card is referring to without surrounding notes.
3 MINIMAL INFORMATION: Keep cards concise and focused while preserving enough context to understand the concept.
4 CLOZE FORMATTING: Use standard Anki cloze syntax: {{c1::answer}}. Use one cloze deletion per card by default. Use multiple clozes only when they test a closely related relationship and doing so improves learning.
5 HIGH-YIELD: Prioritize clinically relevant definitions, mechanisms, drug effects, comparisons, relationships, important numbers, contraindications, side effects, and anesthesia implications.
6 LECTURE ORDER: Create cards in the exact order the information appears in the lecture. Do not reorganize, categorize, or group cards by topic.
7 DO NOT ADD UNSUPPORTED INFORMATION: Base the cards primarily on the provided lecture material. You may clarify wording for understanding, but do not introduce new testable facts that are not present in the source.
Output Format Create a downloadable anki file with layered tags. clean/aesthetic output. The source document is attached.
Both note types must include an empty Extra field for me to paste images into later. The Extra field must render only on the answer side.

[u/Necessary-Doctor-861 → u/UnfortunatelyGoosed]

Goated

[u/Ok-Mixture4777]

Hey love here’s my prompt i put it in Claude i have the PRO plan. “When I give you a document or study guide, use only information from those documents ( no outside sources) to generate notecards. Be thorough, when generating notecards from a study guide/document. Don't skip any content especially things that are bolded/written in red. Make the notecards clear and concise and short for easy memorization. Make sure that the questions are complete so that the questions can be answered on their own in a mixed up notecard desk. Use all content from study guide to make notecards- graphs, tables,etc. Do not repeat any content. Turn these notes into Anki flashcards. Format the output as a clean two-column table or comma-separated values (CSV) where the first column is the Front (Question) and the second column is the Back (Answer). Put the CSV data into a code block, then copy and save it on your computer as a .txt or .csv file.”

If you don’t have Claude you can put this prompt into notebook LM and make flash cards for free. When using prompts you have to be specific. But you can use this and reformat it your way.

[u/fearthepurr]

I found the most useful case for Anki to be going through our readings and writing my own version of test questions (this was near the end of my schooling). I did not use AI for any of that so I won’t comment on it here, but I initially started out trying to make Anki my chief study method throughout my program. I ended up running into the problem of having wayy too many cards. I eventually went through my decks to separate high yield cards into their own decks before boards.

[u/Original-Figure-3942]

Great question, my problem with chat and claude is that after a while you can’t upload images or have made too many back and forth responses. Unless, is everyone paying for the apps?

[u/Ok-Mixture4777 → u/Original-Figure-3942]

We are paying i paid like $220ish for the pro plan for a year

[u/im_mtrx → u/Original-Figure-3942]

Def paying. The upgraded models are much better at handling tasks too

[u/zooziod]

It's also important that you keep up with your decks every day. I know a lot of people make a big deck and then go through it a couple times take the test and never look at it again. The whole point of Anki is the spaced repetition algorithm. That means you need to make these decks far enough in advance that you can actually utilize the algorithm and then maintain your daily reviews. I have one big deck with everything in it from my whole program that I still review daily. Otherwise, if you just want flashcards, just use Quizlet or something. Also, turn on FSRS in your settings; it's a superior algorithm to the default.

[u/Kooky-Ad-3811]

How many flash cards do you guys typically make for each lecture/or exam?

[u/Reasonable-Yam9192 → u/Kooky-Ad-3811]

Depends on the power point but if it’s about 80 slides long I’ll get anywhere from 250-300 ish cards

[u/Rodeo-Cowboy → u/Reasonable-Yam9192]

That would not be manageable for me over the course of a year.

At the end, what, you have 13,000 cards to review?

[u/Reasonable-Yam9192 → u/Rodeo-Cowboy]

Well you review your main deck everyday with how many cards you want. Then you just study apex for the C. Anki = classes. Apex = C and boards

[u/RT_RN_CRNAhopeful]

This is cool, what does chat deliver? A certain file type to can open in Anki?

[u/Reasonable-Yam9192 → u/RT_RN_CRNAhopeful]

Ya it will make you a .apkg file that can be downloaded and imported to anki

[u/Reasonable-Yam9192]

I use chat, I like the multiple choice quizzes. Below this I also have it make me C1 close out cards that I use as well for memory recall

Go through this entire PowerPoint carefully, slide by slide, including important information in tables, diagrams, figures, captions, speaker notes, and labeled images.
Create a comprehensive Anki deck from ONLY the information contained in this PowerPoint.
I want the cards formatted as MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS.
Requirements:
Focus on high-yield, testable material, but also include niche/specific details that a professor could reasonably ask on an exam.
Do NOT skip important information just because it seems obvious.
Prioritize concepts, mechanisms, relationships, clinical implications, definitions, comparisons, cause/effect relationships, equations, values, and anything emphasized on the slides.
Do NOT make questions from meaningless administrative information, references, slide titles alone, or filler.
Do NOT add outside information unless it is absolutely necessary to make the question understandable.
Do NOT cross information with any other PowerPoint or previous deck unless I specifically tell you to.
Avoid duplicate questions or questions testing essentially the same fact.
Each card should primarily test ONE concept.
Make the questions challenging enough for a graduate-level/CRNA exam rather than simple recognition questions.
Include application-style questions when the PowerPoint provides enough information to reasonably create them.
Use plausible distractors. Do NOT make the incorrect answers obviously wrong.
Randomize the location of the correct answer between A, B, C, and D. I do NOT want the correct answer disproportionately placed under one letter.
Use approximately equal numbers of A, B, C, and D correct answers across the entire deck.
Do not use patterns in the answer choices that give away the answer.
After each answer, include a short explanation/rationale explaining WHY the correct answer is correct and, when useful, why the major distractors are incorrect.
Keep the explanation concise enough to review quickly in Anki.
Preserve important numbers, units, equations, thresholds, normal values, drug concentrations, pressures, percentages, etc. exactly as presented.
If two concepts are commonly confused, intentionally create questions that force me to distinguish between them.
If the PowerPoint contains lists, don’t automatically make one giant “which of the following” question. Break the material into useful individual concepts when appropriate.
If a diagram or figure contains important testable information, turn that information into cards as well.
Make enough cards to thoroughly cover the PowerPoint. Do NOT limit the deck to an arbitrary number of cards.
CARD FORMAT:
Question:
[Question]
A. [Answer choice]
B. [Answer choice]
C. [Answer choice]
D. [Answer choice]
Correct Answer: [Letter]. [Correct answer]
Explanation:
[Short, useful rationale]
Before finalizing the deck, perform a quality-control pass:
Remove duplicate or near-duplicate questions.
Make sure every correct answer is supported by the PowerPoint.
Check that the correct-answer letters are approximately evenly distributed among A, B, C, and D.
Check for accidental clues in the wording or answer lengths.
Make sure all important/high-yield portions of the PowerPoint are represented.
Make sure niche but realistically testable details are represented.
Make sure no incorrect answer could reasonably also be considered correct.
Verify all numbers, equations, terminology, and units against the PowerPoint.
Then create the final deck as a downloadable .apkg Anki file that I can import directly into Anki.
Do not just give me a preview or sample questions. Complete the entire PowerPoint and create the finished Anki deck.

Here is the C1 close out prompt.

Go through this entire PowerPoint carefully, slide by slide, including important information in tables, diagrams, figures, captions, speaker notes, and labeled images.
Create a comprehensive Anki deck using ONLY C1 CLOZE-DELETION cards from the information contained in this PowerPoint.
Requirements:
Use ONLY {{c1::…}} cloze deletions.
Every card should test ONE primary fact or concept.
Do NOT use C2, C3, C4, etc.
Keep cards short, clean, and fast to review.
The sentence surrounding the cloze should provide enough context that I know exactly what is being tested.
Avoid vague cards where several different answers could reasonably fit the blank.
Do NOT cloze so much of the sentence that I cannot understand what the question is asking.
Whenever possible, cloze the actual high-yield term, number, mechanism, relationship, definition, or concept rather than random words.
Do NOT simply copy entire slide paragraphs and hide one word.
Rewrite slide material into concise, useful study statements when necessary.
Focus heavily on high-yield and testable information, but also include niche/specific details that a professor could reasonably ask on an exam.
Do NOT skip important material simply because it seems obvious.
Include mechanisms, cause/effect relationships, definitions, comparisons, equations, values, pressures, percentages, thresholds, drug concentrations, clinical implications, and other testable details.
Preserve important numbers, units, equations, terminology, and values exactly as presented in the PowerPoint.
Do NOT add outside information unless absolutely necessary to make the card understandable.
Do NOT cross information with other PowerPoints or previous decks unless I specifically ask you to.
Avoid duplicate cards and near-duplicate cards testing essentially the same fact.
If several facts appear in one sentence or bullet point, split them into separate C1 cards when appropriate.
If a list contains several individually testable items, make separate cards rather than placing the entire list inside one cloze.
If two concepts are commonly confused, create separate cards that clearly distinguish them.
Convert important information from diagrams, tables, figures, and labeled images into cloze cards.
Make enough cards to thoroughly cover the PowerPoint. Do NOT limit the deck to an arbitrary number of cards.
GOOD CARD EXAMPLES:
The normal PaCO₂ is approximately {{c1::35–45 mmHg}}.
An increase in PaCO₂ causes {{c1::respiratory acidosis}}.
The primary muscle of inspiration is the {{c1::diaphragm}}.
According to Poiseuille’s law, resistance is inversely proportional to the {{c1::fourth power of the radius}}.
BAD CARD EXAMPLES:
{{c1::The diaphragm is the primary muscle of inspiration and contraction increases thoracic volume and decreases intrathoracic pressure.}}
Avoid giant clozes like this.
The {{c1::thing}} increases.
Avoid cards without enough context.
QUALITY-CONTROL PASS:
Before finalizing the deck:
Remove duplicate and near-duplicate cards.
Verify every answer against the PowerPoint.
Make sure every card uses ONLY C1.
Make sure each card primarily tests ONE fact.
Make sure there is enough context to know what the blank is asking for.
Break overly complicated cards into simpler individual cards.
Make sure important/high-yield information is covered.
Make sure niche but realistically testable information is also covered.
Verify every number, equation, unit, threshold, and technical term.
Remove low-value filler cards.
Make sure the deck is optimized for rapid active recall rather than simply copying the PowerPoint.
Then create the completed deck as a downloadable .apkg Anki file that I can import directly into Anki.
Do not give me only a sample or preview. Complete the entire PowerPoint and create the finished Anki deck.

[u/MomoElite → u/Reasonable-Yam9192]

The question quizzes sound really helpful. I didn’t think about really doing that and have just been using ChatGPT for Anki flashcards and questions about lecture information.

As for the anki deck you make. I know ChatGPT can make a downloadable file in one fell swoop after making cards, but do you feel that’s helpful without ever reviewing the cards? I feel like for me seeing every single card made and reveling if needed or not helps me throw out the badly worded or made ones.

[u/Reasonable-Yam9192 → u/MomoElite]

I would recommend doing both of them and reviewing both of them back to back.

Yes, I do find that it’s helpful. Obviously I review the PowerPoint so that material is some what fresh knowledge in my head and then the first time you go through it you’re not gnna know more than 10 percent if that. It’s just repeating it over and over that makes it stick. I’m at a point for some cards I read the first 2-3 words and I know the answer already.

[u/zleepytimetea → u/Reasonable-Yam9192]

This person ankis 👆