Atlas — quick guide

The mental model

Know where a card belongs

Inside a deck, content folders group its cards. A note stores fields such as Front and Back; its note type decides which review cards Anki generates.

DeckAccess and subscription

Content folderWeek, region or topic

Note → card(s)Basic, Cloze or Image Occlusion

Useful distinction: one Basic note normally makes one card. A Cloze note can make several cards when it contains c1, c2, and later deletion numbers.

An anatomy deck with nested content folders and two cards — A deck combines its content tree, card list, import controls and subscription state.

Authoring

Create or edit a card

Choose the destination

Open a deck and select the content folder where the card belongs.

Open the editor

Select New card, or open an existing row to edit it.

Choose a note type

Use Basic for direct question–answer recall, Cloze for missing text in context, or Image Occlusion for labelled diagrams.

Preview, tag and publish

Check both sides in the preview. Add focused tags, then publish—or save/submit a draft when the deck uses approval.

Atlas Basic card editor with Front and Back fields and a live card preview — The editor supports formatted text and media. The panel on the right previews the generated Anki card.

Desktop Anki

Subscribe once, then keep studying normally

Install the add-on

In Atlas, select Download AnkiDeckSync. Install that .ankiaddon file through Anki’s add-on dialog and restart Anki.

Pair this Anki profile

In Anki, choose Tools → AnkiDeckSync → Sign In, then approve the displayed device code in Atlas.

Subscribe and choose a hierarchy

Open the deck in Atlas, select Subscribe, and optionally use Anki hierarchy to flatten or mirror the content folders.

Synchronize

Choose Tools → AnkiDeckSync → Sync Now. Sync also runs when the profile opens and after ordinary Anki sync.

Atlas Anki hierarchy dialog showing a mirrored content tree preview — Hierarchy changes move existing cards in place on the next sync; they do not recreate the cards.

What remains in Anki: scheduling, due dates and review history are not uploaded to Atlas. Content updates preserve managed card identity and review progress. Ordinary Anki sync is still responsible for synchronizing your Anki collection between devices.

Bulk cards

Import with a safe preview

Open Import

From a deck, select Import, then choose the target deck and content folder.

Choose a format

Use JSON for structured or AI-created cards, CSV/TSV for spreadsheets, or APKG for an Anki package with supported templates and media.

Stage the content

Upload a file, or paste a small JSON/CSV/TSV result. Staging does not change the deck.

Review, then commit

Inspect fields and validation errors; choose Create, Update or Skip for each row. Commit only when the preview is correct.

Atlas Imports and exports page with JSON and Paste text selected — For a few text cards, paste directly. For larger imports or APKG, upload a file.

AI-assisted workflow

Ask an AI to prepare JSON, then verify it

Atlas does not send content to an AI service. It provides a prompt that you copy into your chosen AI assistant, then validates and previews the returned data before import.

Copy the built-in prompt

On the Import screen, choose JSON → Format guide → Copy prompt.

Add source material

Replace the placeholder at the bottom with your topic or permitted source text. Ask for fewer, high-quality cards rather than exhaustive fragments.

Paste only the JSON result

The response must start with {, contain "version": 1 and have no Markdown fences or explanation around it.

Check every card

Confirm factual accuracy, useful recall, correct Cloze numbering, concise answers and appropriate tags before committing.

Atlas JSON format guide showing an example and a prompt for an AI model — The built-in prompt explains the exact Basic and Cloze JSON structure expected by the importer.

Minimal valid example

{
  "version": 1,
  "notes": [{
    "noteType": "Basic",
    "fields": {
      "Front": "What initiates shoulder abduction?",
      "Back": "The supraspinatus muscle."
    },
    "tags": ["anatomy", "shoulder"]
  }]
}

Final check before Commit

One useful idea per question
Answer works without the source text
No invented facts or references
Correct target deck and folder
No duplicate cards

Privacy: do not submit patient-identifiable, confidential or copyrighted source material to a third-party AI service unless your organization permits it.

Useful destinations

Keep important links close

Links is a lightweight start page for the resources you use repeatedly. Keep personal shortcuts private, or create shared groups for clinical tools, course resources and team references.

Separate private shortcuts from shared collections
Give selected people or groups viewer or editor access
Reorder links and move them between groups as needs change

Atlas Links page showing a shared clinical-tools group and private study shortcuts — Shared and private link groups appear together while retaining their own access rules.

Collaborative workspace

Write, annotate and learn together

Knowledge is a separate workspace for shared notes and lecture documents. Organize content into spaces, edit rich pages together in real time, and turn selected text into a study card.

Live documents

Rich pages with headings, tables, checklists, images and callouts
Live presence and collaborator cursors
Comments, page history, tags and fast search

PDF and lecture annotation

Pen, highlighter, text, shapes, arrows and images
Expandable page margins and structured page notes
Personal or shared annotation layers and annotated-PDF export

Dark Knowledge workspace showing a collaborative anatomy page with participant avatars and a live cursor — Rich pages show who is present and where collaborators are working.

Dark Knowledge PDF workspace with drawing, highlighting, margin notes and a collaborator cursor — Annotate a PDF beside a flexible notes margin, privately or with the space.