Free and open source · Obsidian plugin
Turn your Obsidian notes into flashcards
No special syntax. No separate deck to build. Spaced repetition with FSRS-6, on top of the notes you already keep.
Listed in Community Plugins as Decks · works on desktop and mobile
This note is already a deck
There is no separate authoring step and no wrapper syntax. You tag the note, and every heading at your chosen level becomes the front of a card with the text beneath it as the back.
Reword a card and its scheduling follows the edit. Delete one by accident and recreate it, and DecksMD restores the review history it had before.
See every card format →---
tags: [decks]
---
## What does FSRS stand for?
Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler.
## Which algorithm did it replace?
SM-2, the scheduler Anki used for years.which reviews as
Front
Back
Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler.
Or start from a PDF
Attach a textbook or a deck of slides, read its outline, and tick only the chapters you actually need. Scanned pages and photographed notes go through OCR first.
Why DecksMD
Your notes are the deck
Tag a file with #decks. Nothing is authored twice, and editing a note updates its cards the moment you save.
No syntax to learn
Four formats, all built from markdown you already write. No question marks, no colons, no wrapper blocks.
FSRS-6 scheduling
Three profiles, per-tag retention targets, and one-click tuning against your own review history — all on-device.
Real multi-device sync
The database merges across iCloud, Obsidian Sync, Dropbox or Syncthing. Review on your phone and desktop without losing history.
Everything stays local
Card content lives in your notes; scheduling lives in a small SQLite file in your vault. No telemetry, no account required.
Optional AI
Generate cards from notes, PDFs and scanned pages. Off until you switch it on, free with your own API key.
Four ways to write a card
Every one of them is ordinary markdown. Mix them freely inside a single note, or across an Obsidian canvas.
Header + paragraph
A heading is the front, the text under it is the back. Headings above your chosen level become breadcrumb context instead of cards.
Tables
Every row of a two-column table is a card. A third column adds notes. Ideal for vocabulary, formulas and definitions.
Cloze deletions
The ==highlights== you already write become fill-in-the-blank cards, with a choice of hiding or showing the other blanks.
Image occlusion
Draw boxes over a diagram and each one becomes a card. Anatomy, maps, circuits — anything you learn by location.
Scheduled with FSRS-6, not SM-2
DecksMD schedules cards with FSRS-6 — the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, the modern successor to Anki's older SM-2. Instead of nudging a single ease factor, it models how stable each memory is and how difficult each card is for you, then picks an interval that lands on the retention target you asked for.
Once you have around a hundred reviews, one click trains the algorithm's weights against your own history — the same idea as Anki's optimizer, but entirely client-side, with no server and no telemetry. The shipped defaults were validated bit-exact against the published FSRS-6 specification and benchmarked against 443M anonymised Anki reviews, agreeing with empirical recall to within 0.8 percentage points.
Bring what you already have
Coming from Anki
Import an .apkg export in one click. Decks, cards,
media and your review history all come across, and cards resume on FSRS-6 right where
Anki left them rather than starting from zero. Basic notes become headings or tables,
Anki cloze becomes ==cloze==, and image occlusion
becomes native occlusion.
The import is additive: it writes into a folder you choose and never modifies the source file. You can export back to Anki at any time.
DecksMD compared with Anki →Coming from Spaced Repetition
The Spaced Repetition plugin pioneered flashcards inside Obsidian and remains a good
choice if you prefer writing inline :: cards.
DecksMD takes a different approach: purely structural markdown, and a local database
that merges cleanly across devices.
The built-in migrator converts every legacy card, rewrites your notes into readable prose, and carries the scheduling into FSRS-6 so reviews resume instead of restarting. Your original notes are left untouched.
How the migrator works →Who it's for
The same four formats, used quite differently depending on what you are learning.
Medical students
Image occlusion for anatomy, OCR for scanned handouts, and per-subject limits that keep the daily count survivable.
Engineering students
LaTeX that renders in review, cloze inside equations, and canvas decks for how a system fits together.
Law students
Case notes become cards as written, multi-element tests as cloze, and practice papers that never disturb your scheduling.
Language learners
Vocabulary tables drilled in both directions, read aloud on-device, with templates for furigana and gendered articles.
Anyone with an exam
Plan backwards from the date with the future-due forecast, then sit graded mocks that cost your intervals nothing.
Free, with an optional plan
Reviewing, FSRS scheduling, statistics, sync, exams and import are free and open source, and always will be. AI card generation works free with your own API key. DecksMD Pro is for people who would rather not manage one — it also adds OCR for scanned PDFs.
See plans and pricingCommon questions
Do I need to learn a special syntax to make flashcards?
No. DecksMD reads the markdown you already write. Tag a note with #decks and each heading at your chosen level becomes the front of a card, with the text below it as the back. Tables, ==cloze== highlights and image occlusion work the same way.
Can I import my Anki decks?
Yes. DecksMD imports an Anki .apkg export including decks, cards, media and your review history, mapped onto FSRS-6 so cards resume where Anki left them rather than starting over. The import is additive and never touches the original file. You can also export back to Anki.
What is FSRS and how is it different from Anki’s SM-2?
FSRS-6 is the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, the modern successor to the older SM-2 algorithm. It models the stability and difficulty of each card separately and schedules against a retention target you choose. DecksMD can also train the algorithm on your own review history, entirely on your device.
Does DecksMD work on mobile?
Yes. The plugin is not desktop-only and ships a touch-tuned review interface for iOS and Android. Your database merges across devices through whichever sync provider your vault already uses.
Is it free?
The plugin is free and open source, including reviewing, FSRS scheduling, statistics, sync and import. AI features work free with your own API key. DecksMD Pro is an optional hosted plan for people who would rather not manage an API key.
More in the FAQ and troubleshooting guide.
Start with a note you already wrote
Install the plugin, tag one file, and review it a minute later.