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Spaced Repetition

Osmosis uses the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler (FSRS) for all card scheduling. FSRS is the modern successor to SM-2 (used by classic Anki) and produces more accurate scheduling intervals based on memory research.

Ratings

After revealing a card's answer, rate your recall:

Rating Key Meaning Effect
Again 1 Forgot or wrong Card re-enters learning; interval resets
Hard 2 Recalled with difficulty Shorter next interval
Good 3 Recalled correctly Standard next interval
Easy 4 Instant, effortless recall Longer next interval

Card States

State Description
New Never studied — shown as "new" count in Dashboard
Learning Recently introduced, reviewed at short intervals
Review In long-term rotation, intervals growing
Relearning Previously known but forgotten, back to short intervals

Daily Limits

Configure in Settings > Osmosis:

Setting Default Description
Daily new card limit 20 Maximum new cards introduced per day (0 = unlimited)
Daily review card limit 200 Maximum reviews per day (0 = unlimited)

Tip

Start with the defaults. If you're adding many cards at once, consider lowering the new card limit to avoid overwhelming yourself. Review limits rarely need changing.

Data Storage

All scheduling data is stored inside the osmosis code fences in your markdown files:

```osmosis
id: abc123
due: 2026-03-15T00:00:00.000Z
stability: 4.5
difficulty: 5.2
reps: 3
lapses: 0
state: review
last-review: 2026-03-10T00:00:00.000Z

What is the capital of France?
***
Paris
```

This means:

  • No external database — Everything lives in your markdown files
  • Sync just works — Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Dropbox, or any file sync service carries your scheduling data automatically
  • Portable — Your review history travels with your notes
  • Transparent — You can inspect (but shouldn't edit) scheduling data directly

Derived Card Schedules

Bidirectional and cloze cards store scheduling data for each derived card with prefixed keys:

Prefix Card
r- Reverse (bidirectional)
c1- Cloze deletion 1
c2- Cloze deletion 2
c3- Cloze deletion 3, and so on

For example, a bidirectional card might have both due: ... (forward schedule) and r-due: ... (reverse schedule) in the same fence.