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  • Q: / A:: basic card. Either field can continue onto later lines.
  • C:: cloze. Each [answer] becomes its own card; [answer|hint] shows the hint. Write \[ and \] for literal brackets. Brackets inside `code` are always literal.
  • Images: ![](../media/photo.jpg), with the path relative to the deck file: from a deck in cards, ../media is the collection’s media folder. Use ![](<my photo (1).jpg>) for paths with spaces or parentheses. An image can also be a cloze answer: [![](flag.png)|flag].
  • Sounds use the same syntax: ![](audio/word.mp3). Links to audio files (mp3, m4a, wav, flac and other formats macOS can play) show as play buttons. A card’s sounds play when it appears, and the answer’s when it is shown; press R to replay. Turn autoplay off in Settings (⌘,).
  • Math: $…$ inline and $$…$$ for display, in TeX, turned into MathML by Temml and drawn by WebKit in the system’s math font. Brackets and | inside math are literal, so they never start a cloze. A $ only starts math before a non-space ($5 and $10 stays text); write \$ for a literal one.
  • Code: fenced blocks (```python … ``` or ~~~) are highlighted by Shiki in any of its 200+ languages, with GitHub’s light and dark themes. Each language’s grammar loads the first time a card uses it. Blank lines and Q: lines inside a block stay part of the card. Brackets in code are literal, so a cloze gap in a code block or `span` is written {{answer}} or {{answer|hint}}:
  • Chinese, Japanese and Korean text is set in Source Han Serif (Noto Serif CJK). Its fonts, about 6 MB per language, are downloaded from the Amgi releases on GitHub the first time a folder’s decks use Hangul, kana or Han characters; until then the Mac’s own serif stands in. Han characters take the forms of the Mac’s first Chinese, Japanese or Korean language in System Settings ▸ General ▸ Language & Region, or Simplified Chinese when there is none.
  • A card ends at a blank line or the next Q: / C: outside a code block. Every other line is ignored.
A card’s identity comes from its text (the question for basic cards, the whole text for clozes). You can move or reorder cards, fix answers and change tags without losing history. Editing a question starts the card over.

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Tags and deck settings

End a card with a line of tags. A file can start with TOML front matter between +++ lines: name is the deck’s display name and tags are added to every card in it.
Tags go on the card’s last lines, after its first one, and only a line made entirely of #tag words counts, so a # Heading stays text. Pick a tag in the sidebar to browse its cards across decks. Right-click a tag and choose Choose Icon… to give it an emoji: type to search by name or keyword, use the arrow keys to move, and press Return to choose. Icons are kept in .amgi.sqlite.

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Notes with fields

Besides Q: and A:, a card can come from a note: named fields, such as a word, its meaning, its audio and an example sentence, that make one or more cards. Which fields a note has, and which cards it makes, is its note type: a file in the note-types folder at the root of the collection.
A note starts with a line naming its note type after @, then its fields:
  • Fields can come in any order and continue onto later lines. The note ends at a blank line, a Q: or C:, or the next @ line. Tags go on its last lines, as on any card.
  • Each rule in cards makes one card: the fields before -> on the front, the ones after it on the back, in that order. The note above makes two cards.
  • With => instead of ->, as in "Meaning => Word", you type the answer: the first back field the note fills. A box under the question takes it, Return shows the answer, and what you typed is shown against it, with wrong letters struck out and missing ones marked. Changing a rule between -> and => keeps its cards’ history.
  • Put an audio field right after the field it belongs to, as in "Meaning -> Word, Word Audio": a sound after text plays from a button at the end of that text.
  • Empty or missing fields are left out of a card, so a note without Audio shows just the word. A card is made only when it has a front field and a back field to show.
  • Without cards, the first field is the front and the rest the back.
  • Notes of any types and Q:/C: cards can share a deck. Field names are case-sensitive, and a line such as Meaning: … outside a note, or an @ line inside a Q: or C: card, is just text.
  • A card is identified by its front, like a Q: card with the same question. Editing back fields, reordering a note’s lines or renaming a field keeps its history; editing a front field starts that card over. Suspending a card suspends its whole note.
  • Problems in a note type, such as a rule naming a field that isn’t in fields, are reported at its file; an @ line naming a note type that doesn’t exist says so.

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Suspending cards

A card tagged #suspended never comes up for study, and isn’t counted as due or new; tags = ["suspended"] in a deck’s front matter suspends the whole deck. Suspend Card in the toolbar while studying, or right-clicking cards while browsing, adds or removes the tag in the file for you. Tags aren’t part of a card’s identity, so it keeps its history. Pick the suspended tag in the sidebar to see them all.