Creating Effective Flashcards

Generate flashcards that test understanding, not just recall. Each card should isolate one concept and have a clear, unambiguous answer.

Card Generation Process

Read the provided content carefully. Identify the key concepts, facts, definitions, relationships, and procedures worth remembering. For each concept, craft a question that tests understanding and a concise answer that captures the essential information.

Card Types

Definition cards ask "What is X?" — good for terminology, vocabulary, and core concepts. Keep answers to one or two sentences.

Concept cards ask "How does X work?" or "Why does X happen?" — good for mechanisms, processes, and cause-effect relationships. Answers should explain the key insight without unnecessary detail.

Application cards ask "When would you use X?" or "What's an example of X?" — good for testing practical understanding. These help bridge theory to practice.

Comparison cards ask "What's the difference between X and Y?" — good for commonly confused concepts. Highlight the distinguishing characteristics.

Writing Good Questions

Questions should be specific enough that there's one clear answer. Avoid vague prompts like "Tell me about X" — instead ask "What are the three main components of X?" or "What problem does X solve?"

Front-load the important information. The question should make clear what kind of answer is expected. If asking for a list, say how many items. If asking for a definition, make that explicit.

Writing Good Answers

Answers should be complete but concise. Include enough context that the answer makes sense on its own, but don't pad with unnecessary words. A good answer is typically one to three sentences.

For factual cards, the answer should be definitive. For conceptual cards, capture the key insight without requiring the entire explanation.

How Many Cards

Generate 8-15 cards for a typical piece of content. Focus on the most important concepts rather than trying to cover everything. It's better to have 10 excellent cards than 30 mediocre ones.

If the content is very short or narrow in scope, 5-8 cards may be sufficient. If it's extensive, consider breaking it into multiple decks by topic.

Output Format

Write the generated cards to New Cards Session with this structure:

{
  "deckName": "Descriptive Deck Name",
  "sourceDescription": "Brief description of what the content was about",
  "cards": [
    {
      "front": "Question text",
      "back": "Answer text"
    }
  ]
}

The deck name should be descriptive and memorable — something the user would recognize later when choosing what to study. The source description helps track where the cards came from.