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Flashcards

Noteriv includes a spaced repetition flashcard system built directly into your notes. Define question-and-answer pairs or cloze deletions in any Markdown file, and Noteriv will schedule them for review using the SM-2 algorithm. No separate app or export step required -- your flashcards live in the same files as the rest of your knowledge.

Defining Flashcards

Flashcards are extracted from your note content using two syntaxes.

Q:/A: Pairs

Write a question on a line starting with Q: and the answer on the immediately following line starting with A::

Q: What is the capital of France?
A: Paris

Q: What does HTTP stand for?
A: HyperText Transfer Protocol

Rules for Q:/A: pairs:

  • The Q: and A: prefixes are case-insensitive (q:, Q:, a:, A: all work).
  • The question and answer must be on consecutive lines -- no blank line between them.
  • Everything after the prefix (trimmed) becomes the question or answer text.
  • You can have multiple Q:/A: pairs in a single file, interspersed with regular content.

Cloze Deletions

Wrap a word or phrase in double curly braces to create a cloze deletion:

The mitochondria is the {{powerhouse}} of the cell.

When this card is shown during review:

  • Question: "The mitochondria is the [...] of the cell."
  • Answer: "powerhouse"

Noteriv replaces all {{...}} on the line with [...] to form the question, and uses the text inside the braces as the answer. Each {{...}} instance on a line creates a separate card.

Cloze deletions work well for factual recall embedded in prose. You can mix them freely with regular text:

Rust was first released in {{2015}} and is maintained by {{Mozilla}}.

This produces two flashcards from a single line.

Reviewing Flashcards

Starting a Review

Open the flashcard review from the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P, search for "Flashcard Review"). The review screen opens as a full-screen overlay.

Scanning the Vault

When the review screen opens, Noteriv scans every .md and .markdown file in the vault for flashcard definitions. This happens in the background, and a loading message is shown while scanning. The scan typically completes in seconds, even for large vaults.

Review Interface

The review interface shows one card at a time:

  1. Stats header. Displays three numbers:

    • Total cards in the vault.
    • Cards due for review today.
    • Cards reviewed in this session.

  2. Question card. A dark panel showing the question text, centered.

  3. Show Answer button. Click it or press Space/Enter to reveal the answer.

  4. Answer card. Appears below the question after revealing, showing the answer in green text.

  5. Grade buttons. Five buttons for rating your recall:

    Button Grade Keyboard Effect
    Again 1 1 Reset interval to 1 day, reset repetitions
    Hard 2 2 Reset interval to 1 day, reset repetitions
    OK 3 3 Correct but difficult; shorter interval
    Good 4 4 Correct with normal recall
    Easy 5 5 Very easy; increase ease factor and interval

  6. Source link. At the bottom, a small link shows which file the card came from. Click it to open that file and close the review.

  7. Progress bar. A thin bar at the bottom shows how many of the due cards you have reviewed.

Completion

When all due cards have been reviewed, the screen shows a "All caught up!" message with the number of cards reviewed and a note to come back tomorrow. If no flashcards exist in the vault at all, a message explains how to add them.

Keyboard Navigation

Key Action
Space or Enter Show the answer
1 through 5 Grade the card (only when answer is shown)
Esc Close the review

The SM-2 Algorithm

Noteriv uses the SM-2 (SuperMemo 2) spaced repetition algorithm to schedule reviews. SM-2 is a well-established algorithm that adjusts the review interval based on how well you recall each card.

How It Works

Each card tracks three values:

  • Ease factor (starts at 2.5). A multiplier that determines how quickly intervals grow. Easier cards have higher ease factors.
  • Interval (in days). The number of days until the next review.
  • Repetitions. How many consecutive correct reviews the card has had.

When you grade a card:

  • Grade >= 3 (correct):

    • First correct answer: interval = 1 day.
    • Second correct answer: interval = 6 days.
    • Subsequent: interval = previous interval * ease factor.
    • Ease factor adjusted: ease + 0.1 - (5 - grade) * (0.08 + (5 - grade) * 0.02).

  • Grade < 3 (incorrect):

    • Repetitions reset to 0.
    • Interval reset to 1 day.

  • Ease factor has a minimum floor of 1.3 to prevent intervals from shrinking too aggressively.

The next review date is calculated by adding the interval to today's date.

Due Cards

A card is due for review if:

  • It has never been reviewed (new card), or
  • Today's date is on or after the card's next review date.

Progress Storage

Review progress is saved in .noteriv/flashcard-reviews.json inside your vault:

{
  "fc-a1b2c3": {
    "cardId": "fc-a1b2c3",
    "ease": 2.6,
    "interval": 6,
    "repetitions": 2,
    "nextReview": "2025-11-09",
    "lastReview": "2025-11-03"
  }
}

Each card has a unique ID generated from a hash of its question text and source file path. Progress is saved immediately after each grade, so closing the review mid-session does not lose data.

The .noteriv/ directory is created automatically if it does not exist.

Card Identification

Cards are identified by a hash of their question text combined with their source file path. This means:

  • Moving a card to a different file creates a new card ID (review progress resets).
  • Editing the question text creates a new card ID.
  • Editing only the answer text does not change the ID.

Keep question text stable once you start reviewing to preserve your progress.

Use Cases

Language Learning

Q: How do you say "hello" in Japanese?
A: Konnichiwa

Q: What is the German word for "library"?
A: Bibliothek

Technical Study

The time complexity of binary search is {{O(log n)}}.

Q: What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
A: TCP is connection-oriented with guaranteed delivery; UDP is connectionless with no delivery guarantee.

Exam Preparation

Q: What year was the Treaty of Westphalia signed?
A: 1648

The {{Krebs cycle}} produces {{2 ATP}} per glucose molecule.

Tips

  • Embed flashcards in context. Put Q:/A: pairs next to the relevant notes rather than in a separate file. This way the flashcard and the explanation live together.
  • Use cloze for facts, Q:/A: for concepts. Cloze works best for single facts embedded in sentences. Q:/A: works better for questions that require explanatory answers.
  • Review daily. Spaced repetition works best with consistent daily reviews. Even 5 minutes a day is effective.
  • Grade honestly. The algorithm depends on accurate self-assessment. If you had to think hard, grade "OK" (3), not "Easy" (5).
  • Keep cards atomic. Each card should test one piece of knowledge. "What are the three branches of government?" is too broad -- make three separate cards.
  • Add .noteriv/ to .gitignore if you do not want review progress synced across devices. Or leave it tracked if you do want cross-device consistency.