60-second quick start

This is the fastest path from a fresh install to reviewing your first cards.

1. Tag a note

Open any note and add #decks to its frontmatter or as an inline tag. You can also nest a sub-tag (like decks/spanish) to group decks and map them to a profile.

2. Write some cards

Write a ## heading, then a paragraph below it. Repeat for as many cards as you want:

---
tags: [decks/spanish]
---

## What does "Hola" mean?

Hello.

## How do you say "Thank you" in Spanish?

Gracias.

3. Open the panel and review

Click the brain icon in the ribbon to open the DecksMD panel, click your file, and start reviewing.

Space flips the card.
1–4 rate it (Again / Hard / Good / Easy).
N shows notes, if the card has any.

That’s the whole loop. The filename becomes the deck name, and cards sync automatically every time you save the note.

What just happened

Three things worth knowing, because they explain most of DecksMD’s behaviour later:

Nothing was copied. The cards are the note. Edit the paragraph under a heading and that card’s back changes the next time you save — there is no second copy to keep in step.
Only headings at the configured level became cards. H2 by default. Headings above that level are kept as breadcrumb context (Chapter 1 > Section 2) and attached to each card, so you always know where a card came from.
Your progress lives outside the note. Card content stays in markdown; scheduling lives in a small database in your vault. That is why rewording a card does not reset it, and why deleting and rewriting one restores its previous history.

If nothing appears

Check the tag is really on the file — in frontmatter as tags: [decks], or inline as #decks.
Check your search path in settings. If it is restricted to a folder, notes outside it are ignored.
Check the heading level matches your profile — an ### heading will not produce cards if the profile is set to H2.
Hit Refresh in the deck panel toolbar to force a rescan.