Flag Notes

Ever flag a card because it felt important, then forget why you flagged it?

Flag Notes fixes that by letting you attach a short note/question to each flagged card during review — so you can capture the exact confusion while it’s fresh, and come back later with a clean list of things to ask your professor or revisit in your textbook.

Why you’d use this add-on

• Turn flags into an “Office Hours questions list”
• Save “why I missed this” explanations for later
• Track follow-ups across multiple decks
• Export your flagged questions to share/print

What it does

• When you flag a card in review, a small dialog asks why you flagged it.
• Your note can be shown as a banner while reviewing.
• A dedicated Flag Notes Viewer lists all your notes (with a preview pane that supports images).
• Includes Browser integration (a "Flag Note" column + a sidebar panel).
• Add a Professor Response in the viewer (write down what you learned after you ask).

Installation (first add-on)

1. Download the .ankiaddon file.
2. Open Anki.
3. Go to Tools → Add-ons.
4. Click Install from file…
5. Select the downloaded .ankiaddon.
6. Restart Anki.

How to use

Optional: customize what each flag means

You can rename the flag labels so they match your workflow.

Go to Tools → Edit Flag Labels and set your own meanings. Example:

• Flag 1 — Questions for professor / office hours
• Flag 2 — Fix this card
• Flag 3 — Concept review
• Flag 4 — High-yield / exam focus

These labels are used throughout the add-on (viewer + browser sidebar), and the reviewer More → Flag Card menu will try to display them too.

Add a note when flagging

• While reviewing, flag the current card using Anki’s built-in flag shortcut:
  • Windows/Linux: Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+7
  • macOS: Cmd+1 … Cmd+7
• Type your note and save.

Study flow tip:

• After you flag + write your note, consider using Bury so the card doesn’t keep interrupting your session.
  • Bury Card buries just the current card.
  • Bury Note buries all cards from the same note (useful for cloze siblings).

Dialog shortcuts:

• Cmd+Enter — Save Note
• Cmd+Space — Skip

Edit a note later (manual trigger)

• During review, if you see a flagged card, you can edit the note by:
  • Pressing: Cmd+Shift+M (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+M (Windows/Linux) (configurable)
  • Or open the reviewer More menu and click ✏️ Edit Flag Note.

Open the Flag Notes Viewer

• Tools → Flag Notes Viewer
• Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+F

Viewer tips:

• Double-click anywhere in a row (except the editable Note / Professor Response cells) to open the card in the Browser.
• Select a row to see a full preview (including images/media).
• Edit Note and Professor Response directly in the table.

Suggested workflow (start → finish)

1. During review: You hit a card that feels important/confusing.
2. Flag it: Use Anki’s normal flag shortcut.
3. Write the why: The dialog pops up — write a short question or “what I missed”.
4. Keep momentum: Use Bury Card or Bury Note so it doesn’t interrupt the rest of your session.
5. Later (office hours / textbook time): Open Tools → Flag Notes Viewer and filter by deck/flag.
6. Follow up: Use the preview pane to see the full card (including images), then add your Professor Response.
7. Share or print: Export to CSV/Markdown/plain text.

Data & backup

Flag Notes stores your notes in a separate SQLite DB in the add-on folder:

[Anki add-ons folder]/anki_flag_notes/user_files/flag_notes.db

They are not included in .apkg exports and are not synced via AnkiWeb. If you rely on your notes, back up flag_notes.db manually.