omnixient/files/anki-README.md

~/Anki — spaced-repetition source tree

This directory is a source/staging area for Anki cards, not Anki's collection. The actual collection (SQLite DB, media, scheduling state) lives at ~/.local/share/Anki2/<profile>/collection.anki2 and is managed by Anki itself. Files here are plain-text card sources you author/edit/diff, then import into Anki when you want to sync them up.

Layout

~/Anki/
├── README.md       this file (symlinked from /etc/nixos/files/anki-README.md)
├── dev/
│   └── cards.csv   developer jargon + concepts (GitHub PM lingo, TLV, …)
├── french/
│   └── cards.csv   French vocab + phrases, tagged for export by topic
├── protocols/
│   └── cards.csv   decentralized protocols (BTC, Lightning, Nostr — BIPs, NIPs, …)
├── exports/        .apkg files generated to share with others
└── sources/        raw clippings/articles you're mining cards from (scratch)

Add more top-level deck dirs as new topics show up (mkdir ~/Anki/<topic> && cp ~/Anki/dev/cards.csv ~/Anki/<topic>/cards.csv to clone the header).

CSV format

Each cards.csv starts with Anki import directives so File → Import in Anki needs zero clicks to configure:

#separator:Comma
#html:false
#deck:Dev
#notetype:Basic
#tags column:3

Then one row per card: Front,Back,Tags — tags are space-separated within the column. Quote fields that contain commas.

Example rows:

What does "cutting a release" mean?,Creating a new versioned release \
branch/tag from main — the point at which the codebase is frozen for that \
version.,jargon github-pm
TLV (in protocol design),"Type-Length-Value: a framing scheme where each \
record carries its type tag, byte length, then payload. Self-describing, \
extensible, used in BER/DER, Lightning Network messages, etc.",concepts \
networking

Adding cards via Claude

Ask Claude in natural language:

Claude, add a card explaining "dogfooding" to dev/cards.csv

Claude appends a properly-escaped row with sensible tags. You review the diff, commit if you version this dir, then re-import into Anki when ready.

Importing into Anki

1. Open Anki.
2. File → Import → pick ~/Anki/<topic>/cards.csv.
3. The header directives drive the import — confirm the deck name and notetype shown in the dialog, then click Import.
4. Anki uses the first field (Front) as the duplicate key, so re-importing the same CSV after appending new rows updates existing notes and adds new ones — no duplicates.

Exporting a tag-filtered subset (e.g. French → farming, for an employee)

Anki's main File → Export dialog targets whole decks, not tags. To slice by tag:

1. Tools → Create Filtered Deck (Ctrl+Alt+N).
2. Search: deck:French tag:farming (combine tags with OR /-tag: as needed).
3. Anki creates a temporary deck containing just those cards. Filtered decks are references, not copies — originals are untouched.
4. File → Export → pick the filtered deck → Anki Deck Package (.apkg) → uncheck "Include scheduling information" so the recipient starts fresh.
5. Save to ~/Anki/exports/french-farming.apkg. Hand to the recipient; they double-click or File → Import into their own Anki.
6. Delete the filtered deck after (Decks page → cog → Delete). Originals stay put.

Decks vs tags — which to use

• Decks are the hierarchy you see on Anki's home screen. Cards live in exactly one deck. Use a deck for a domain you study as a unit (Dev, French).
• Tags are orthogonal labels. A card can have many. Use tags for slices within a deck you'll want to filter on: farming, livestock, gardening, jargon, concepts, networking, github-pm.

Splitting french/farming/, french/livestock/ into separate folders would duplicate this structure outside Anki and lose the cross-cutting filter power — keep one CSV per language/topic and let tags do the slicing.

Suggested tag vocabulary

• dev: jargon, concepts, github-pm, networking, nix, git, security — add as you go.
• french: general, phrases, farming, livestock, gardening, kitchen, weather — pick one per row at minimum, add specifics as needed.
• protocols: tag every card with at least one ecosystem tag plus optionally a spec tag and a topic tag:
  • ecosystem: bitcoin, lightning, nostr (a card on a Lightning BOLT that touches both Bitcoin and LN can carry both)
  • spec: bip-NN (e.g. bip-32, bip-39, bip-340), nip-NN (e.g. nip-01, nip-04, nip-46), bolt-NN for Lightning BOLTs
  • topic: cryptography, consensus, mempool, script, signing, relay, keys, events, bunker
  • Bitcoin + Nostr overlap a lot (Schnorr/bip-340, key derivation, hash functions). Cross-ecosystem cards get both ecosystem tags so they surface from either filter.

Be conservative: every new tag is a slice you commit to maintaining. Reuse existing ones unless a new dimension genuinely needs splitting.

Versioning this dir (optional)

~/Anki/ is not under version control by default. If you want history:

cd ~/Anki && git init && echo 'exports/*.apkg' >> .gitignore

The CSV headers + plain-text rows diff cleanly. .apkg exports are artifacts and don't belong in git.