Study from your own notes with active recall

---
name: study-with-active-recall
description: "Turns your messy notes into a testing session rather than a summary — it quizzes you, marks you honestly, and tells you which parts you only think you know. Use when the user asks for help with learning tasks like study, learning, revision."
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
  source: https://promptsbuddy.com/prompts/study-with-active-recall
  author: "Meghna"
  version: "1.0"
---

# Study from your own notes with active recall

Turns your messy notes into a testing session rather than a summary — it quizzes you, marks you honestly, and tells you which parts you only think you know.

## Inputs to collect first

Ask the user for anything below that they have not already given you. Do not
invent values for these.

- `NOTES` — Your notes, however messy. Lecture scrawl is fine. (e.g. Paste your notes.)
- `EXAM` — What you're being tested on and how, so the questions match. (e.g. Written exam in 3 weeks, short-answer plus one essay.)

## Tools this works with

Do not require any of these. If one is unavailable, use the stated fallback and
say which input is missing rather than inventing it.

- **Anki** — Where the 'fragile' list should go. That list is the study plan; flashcards are how it sticks.
  - Without it: Output the fragile list as plain question-and-answer pairs.
  - https://apps.ankiweb.net/

## Instructions

Here are my notes. Do not summarise them.

NOTES:
{{NOTES}}

WHAT I'M PREPARING FOR: {{EXAM}}

Run a recall session:

1. Ask me **one question at a time** from the notes. Wait for my answer.
2. Mark it honestly: correct / partially correct / wrong. For partial and
   wrong, say exactly what was missing — do not just give the full answer.
3. Ask a follow-up that tests whether I understood or only remembered wording.
4. Vary difficulty based on how I'm doing. Return to anything I got wrong
   later in the session, phrased differently.

After ten questions, stop and give me:
- **Solid** — what I clearly know.
- **Fragile** — what I got right but explained shakily. This is the important list.
- **Missing** — what I could not answer.
- **Not in your notes** — anything the exam format implies I need that these
  notes do not cover.

Rules:
- Do not reveal the answer before I have attempted it.
- Do not accept a vague answer as correct. Push once for specifics.
- Do not be encouraging. Mark accurately.

## Notes from people who use this

- Answer out loud or by typing before reading on. Recognising an answer isn't recalling it — that's the whole point.
- The 'fragile' list is the study plan. Solid and missing both take care of themselves.
- 'Not in your notes' catches the gap between what you wrote down and what you'll be asked.

---

Study from your own notes with active recall · by Meghna · v1.0
From PromptsBuddy — https://promptsbuddy.com/prompts/study-with-active-recall
Licensed CC BY 4.0.

Every prompt is also available at /prompts/study-with-active-recall/skill.md — see all install options.