Generating STEM Flashcards

A Claude skill for generating atomic, cognitively-principled flashcards from technical source material.

What It Does

Upload lecture notes, textbooks, or technical documentation. Get flashcards organised into three cognitive layers, delivered as an interactive artifact, an Anki-ready TSV file, or pushed directly to Anki via MCP:

Layer	Tests	Example
L1: Recall	Facts, definitions, formulas	"Define the Jacobian matrix"
L2: Understanding	Why/how, intuitions	"Why is the Jacobian useful for coordinate transforms?"
L3: Boundaries	Limitations, edge cases	"When does the Jacobian become singular?"

The skill enforces atomicity (one concept per card), refuses to generate cards for inappropriate content (proofs, worked examples), and handles mathematical notation (KaTeX for Claude Artifacts, MathJax for Anki).

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Why This Skill?

Most AI flashcard generators produce low-quality cards: compound questions, no cognitive framework, no quality control.

This skill encodes learning science directly into generation:

• Bloom's Taxonomy → Three-Layer Structure
• Cognitive Load Theory → Atomicity Rules
• Minimum Information Principle → Refusal Policy

See THEORY.md for the full scientific foundation with citations.

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Table of Contents

• What It Does
• Why This Skill?
• Installation
• Usage
• Best Practices
  • Claude Projects
  • Complementary Skills
• Output
  • Interactive Artifact
  • Anki TSV Import
  • Anki Direct Push (via MCP)
• File Structure
• License

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Installation

Quick Install (recommended)

1. Download flashcards-vX.X.X.zip from the latest release
2. Upload to Claude.ai: Settings > Capabilities > Skills > Upload Skill

That's it.

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Usage

Basic

Upload a PDF, paste lecture notes, or describe a topic:

"Generate flashcards spanning topics from all the project files."

"Create flashcards covering gradient descent, including failure modes"

"Make revision cards for chapters 3-5 of the uploaded PDF"

With Layer Filtering

"Generate only L3 (boundary) cards for this material"

"Focus on L1 recall cards for definitions and formulas"

Iterative Refinement

"Card 12's formula is missing the inverse; fix it"

"Split card 7 into two separate cards"

"Add more L2 cards for the eigenvalue section"

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Best Practices

Projects

Create a Claude Project for your course/subject. Add:

1. The skill (upload the .zip from releases via "Add Content" > "Upload Skill")
2. Your lecture notes & transcripts, readings, exercise sheets, solution sheets
3. Project instructions like: "Always use the flashcard skill when I ask for revision materials". You could also place this instruction in Claude's global default instructions at Settings > General > What personal preferences should Claude consider in responses?

Complementary Skills

For best results with complex documents, also install from directly inside the Claude Desktop app or at anthropics/skills:

Skill	Why
pdf	Better extraction from scanned/complex PDFs
docx	Preserves formatting from Word documents
frontend-design	Improves React artifact rendering and styling for academic content in Artifact Mode

The flashcard skill works without these, but they improve source parsing.

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Output

Interactive Claude Artifact (default)

An interactive and shareable Claude Artifact component with:

• Layer filtering (L1/L2/L3 tabs)
• Topic filtering
• Star/favourite cards
• Shuffle mode
• Responsive design

View Example Artifact

Anki TSV Import (Manual)

The exported .txt file can be imported directly into Anki. You have two options:

Option 1: Quick Import (Basic note type)

Import the file as-is using Anki's built-in Basic note type. You get Front/Back cards with layer and topic info in the Tags column. No setup required, just File → Import and go.

Option 2: Advanced Import (using a custom note type)

For styled cards with a layer badge on the front and topic metadata on the back, create a custom note type first:

1. Open Anki → Tools → Manage Note Types
2. Click Add → choose Add: Basic → name it "3-Layer Card"
3. Click Fields... and add two new fields: Layer and Topic (Front and Back already exist)
4. Click Cards... and paste the templates below into the corresponding editors
5. Click Save

Then import: File → Import → select the .txt file → choose "3-Layer Card" as the note type → verify the 5-column field mapping → Import.

Front Template (paste into front template editor)

<div class="layer-badge">{{Layer}}</div>
<div class="question">{{Front}}</div>

Back Template (paste into back template editor)

{{FrontSide}}
<hr id="answer">
<div class="answer">{{Back}}</div>
<div class="metadata">
  Topic: {{Topic}}
</div>

Styling (paste into styling editor)

.card {
  font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif;
  font-size: 20px;
  text-align: center;
  color: #1a1a1b;
  background-color: #ffffff;
  padding: 20px;
}

.layer-badge {
  display: inline-block;
  padding: 6px 14px;
  border-radius: 4px;
  font-size: 0.8em;
  font-weight: 600;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
  background: #f0f0f0;
  color: #555;
}

.question {
  font-size: 1.1em;
  margin: 30px 0;
  line-height: 1.5;
}

.answer {
  margin: 30px 0;
  line-height: 1.6;
  text-align: left;
}

.metadata {
  margin-top: 25px;
  padding-top: 15px;
  border-top: 1px solid #e0e0e0;
  font-size: 0.8em;
  color: #888;
}

hr#answer {
  border: none;
  border-top: 2px solid #e0e0e0;
  margin: 20px 0;
}

Anki Direct Push (via MCP)

With the Anki MCP Server addon by anatoly314, cards are created directly in Anki, including automatic note type and deck setup. No file export or manual import.

"Push these flashcards directly to my Anki"

"Send the cards to my STEM deck in Anki"

Prerequisites & Setup

To use this mode, you need the Anki MCP Server addon and a properly configured MCP client (e.g. Claude Desktop).

1. Install the Anki MCP Server addon

Resource	Link
AnkiWeb addon page	ankiweb.net/shared/info/124672614
GitHub repo	github.com/ankimcp/anki-mcp-server-addon
Project homepage	ankimcp.ai

1. Anki 25.x or later must be installed and running
2. In Anki: Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons... → enter code 124672614 → restart Anki
3. The MCP server auto-starts on http://127.0.0.1:3141/ when Anki opens

Verify the server is running:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:3141/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"initialize","id":1,"params":{"capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test"},"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05"}}'

You should get a JSON response containing "serverInfo", which confirms the server is running.

2. Configure Claude Desktop

The addon uses Streamable HTTP transport. Claude Desktop requires mcp-remote to bridge stdio ↔ HTTP.

Edit your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the "anki" entry under "mcpServers":

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anki": {
      "command": "/bin/bash",
      "args": [
        "-c",
        "npx -y mcp-remote http://127.0.0.1:3141/ --allow-http"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You should see anki: running in the MCP server indicator (🔌 icon).

Node.js ≥ 20 is required. mcp-remote depends on undici which needs Node 20.18.1+. If you hit connection errors, see Troubleshooting.

3. What the skill auto-configures

The skill will automatically create the "3-Layer Card" note type and target deck if they don't exist. No manual Anki configuration needed beyond installing the addon and connecting Claude Desktop.

Troubleshooting

If the MCP connection between Claude Desktop and Anki isn't working, work through these steps in order.

1. Verify the Anki MCP Server is running

Make sure Anki is open first, then test the server from a terminal:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:3141/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"initialize","id":1,"params":{"capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test"},"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05"}}'

If you get a JSON response with "serverInfo", the server is healthy. If you get connection refused, the addon isn't loaded; check Tools → Add-ons in Anki and restart.

2. Check your Node.js version

mcp-remote depends on undici@7.x, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.18.1. Check your version:

node --version

If it's below v20, install a newer version. With nvm:

# If nvm isn't found, load it first:
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm" && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"

nvm install 22
nvm use 22
node --version  # should show v22.x

3. macOS: Claude Desktop doesn't inherit your shell environment

macOS GUI apps don't see shell-only tools like nvm. Even if node --version shows v22 in your terminal, Claude Desktop may still use an older Node.

Fix: Use an absolute path or a /bin/bash wrapper in your config to explicitly set PATH:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anki": {
      "command": "/bin/bash",
      "args": [
        "-c",
        "export PATH=$HOME/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.0/bin:$PATH && npx -y mcp-remote http://127.0.0.1:3141/ --allow-http"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace v22.22.0 with your actual installed Node version. Find it with:

ls ~/.nvm/versions/node/

Alternative: Claude Desktop has a "Use Built-in Node.js for MCP" toggle under Settings → Extensions. Enabling this can bypass the PATH issue entirely.

4. Clear the stale npx cache

If you upgraded Node but mcp-remote still crashes, the npx cache may contain a build from the old Node version:

rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx/*

Then restart Claude Desktop. The package will be re-downloaded and built against the correct Node version.

5. Common error messages

Error	Cause	Fix
Server disconnected	Node.js too old, or stale cache	Steps 2–4
ReferenceError: File is not defined	Node < 20 (missing File global)	Upgrade Node (step 2)
"command" Required	Claude Desktop doesn't support "url" transport	Use the mcp-remote bridge config (step 3)
connection refused on curl	Anki not running or addon not installed	Step 1

6. Still stuck?

• Check the addon GitHub issues for known problems
• View Claude Desktop MCP logs: Help → Diagnostics → MCP Log
• Claude Desktop log files are at ~/Library/Logs/Claude/ (macOS)

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File Structure

flashcards/
├── README.md                   # This file
├── THEORY.md                   # Scientific foundations (Bloom, CLT, etc.)
├── SKILL.md                    # Main skill instructions
├── references/
│   ├── COGNITIVE_LAYERS.md     # L1/L2/L3 definitions
│   ├── ATOMICITY.md            # Quality rules, refusal policy
│   └── LATEX_SYNTAX.md         # KaTeX reference
├── anki/
│   ├── WORKFLOW.md             # TSV export build steps
│   ├── MCP_WORKFLOW.md         # MCP direct push steps
│   ├── RENDERING.md            # MathJax delimiter rules
│   ├── IMPORT_GUIDE.md         # User-facing import instructions (TSV only)
│   └── NOTE_TYPE_TEMPLATE.md   # Note type, templates, and CSS
├── artifact/
│   ├── WORKFLOW.md             # Artifact build steps
│   ├── RENDERING.md            # KaTeX rendering rules
│   └── template.jsx            # React artifact template
└── assets/
    └── flashcard_template.jsx

Note: Only the skill files inside flashcards/ (SKILL.md, references/, anki/, artifact/) are packaged in releases. README.md and THEORY.md are GitHub documentation only. Releases are built automatically via GitHub Actions when a version tag is pushed.

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License

MIT