Hey everyone! A little while ago, I shared an Obsidian plugin I built called Echo Recall.

why it exists (in short): Anki is amazing for isolated facts, but terrible if you need to memorize long paragraphs, lists, or interconnected concepts for an exam. Breaking big notes down into tiny flashcards takes a hell of a lot of time and ruins the context of your notes.

I wanted a way to just "revise my notes as notes" using spaced repetition and deadline-based scheduling. (inspired by Ali abdaal's retrospective revision time table method)

I’ve gotten some incredibly helpful feedback from this subreddit. I recorded a quick video (attached) showing exactly how the workflow looks across PC and mobile, and how it handles complex Markdown formatting perfectly without breaking your tables, callouts, or links.

Here is what I just pushed in the new update based on your feedback:

• Sometimes you just need a hint. You can now tap or click any blank space to reveal the hidden word. It turns red so you know you cheated! (Enabled by default in the settings "Quick-look and Cheating mode")
• Rebuilt the mobile interface with floating navigation buttons so they never get swallowed by your phone's toolbars.
• some minor bug fixes.

And of course, everything stays safely in your vault using YAML properties. No external databases, no exports, No extra syntax or structural reformatting required. just Plug and play.

Install Links:

• Obsidian Community: https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/echo-recall
• GitHub (FOSS): https://github.com/sajee05/echo-recall

This will probably be my last major post for the plugin, but I'm still actively maintaining it. I hope it saves some of you as much time as it has saved me.

P.S.

Another problem this plugin solves is the time it takes to make flashcards. Unlike Anki where you have to manually create cloze cards and hide text to form cues, Echo Recall generates and updates the masking dynamically. The process is completely automated.

Also, a few people testing it out mentioned that memorizing a massive note is overwhelming. And i completely agree. the best workaround is to manually shorten your note, or break it down into smaller notes. For example, if a single note has 10 topics, create [[topic 1]] style links and move the content of each topic into its own note. This lets you study one topic at a time, which is the ideal use case of Obsidian anyway since it helps build better connections. Personally, I just ignore the parts of the note that aren't relevant while I'm reviewing!

And Just to be clear on the philosophy here: this plugin is meant to serve the purpose of memorizing long-form content, and not replacing traditional flashcards. Anki is still better for standard flashcards, but for long-form content, there is literally no other solution out there right now. Echo Recall was built to fill that exact gap.

You can find all the other details in my previous Reddit post and on the community page, if you're interested.

Happy studying! Always open to feedback.

I am preparing for an exam that requires me to remember a huge amount of content, most of it in paragraph and list format. A lot of it consists of interconnected concepts, detailed writeups, and topics that need to be recalled as a complete idea rather than as isolated facts.

Flashcards are great for remembering individual facts, but most of my learning happens through long-form notes and condensed notes that I create from multiple reference books. I tried almost every workflow imaginable in Anki, but none of them really clicked for me. There was simply too much content to break down into cards and keep reviewing consistently.

I wanted a way to revise notes as notes. So i built Echo Recall which solves this problem:)

The workflow: You read → remember → recall → repeat (spaced) = It's actually that simple 😄

As for the "recall" component, the better you know a note (easy, moderate, hard) → the more aggressively it gets masked in future reviews.

On top of that, the plugin combines spaced repetition with deadline-based revision. If you have an exam or target date coming up, notes automatically become more frequent as the deadline approaches.

• Read → Remember → Recall workflow
• Spaced Repetition and Deadline Prioritization Workflow

Everything lives inside your vault using YAML properties. No exports, no external databases, no losing tables, formatting, links, or context.

>(More details about the workflow, scheduling system, and implementation can be found on the GitHub page and the plugin's community listing.)

Install:

• Community: https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/echo-recall
• Github: https://github.com/sajee05/echo-recall (FOSS)

Possible use-cases:

• If you need to memorize paragraphs.
• If you're preparing for an exam that requires you to remember a lot of notes, concepts, etc.
• If you're an arts/humanities student dealing with write-ups and interconnected concepts.
• If, for whatever reason, Anki doesn't fit your workflow.
• If you're trying to memorize short notes you've made from one book or multiple references.
• If you're memorizing a speech, essay, answer, write-up, or anything in paragraph format.
• If you're preparing for tests with a deadline and want a revision schedule that adapts accordingly.
• Or literally anything else where converting everything into flashcards or switching apps feels unnecessary. This ought to be your one-stop solution.

Hope it's useful. Open to feedback. Happy studying :)

WHY:

You might find yourself needing this workflow if you hit one of these problems:

1. You are migrating your database from Notion to Obsidian bases, but the official importer plugin just isn't formatting things the way you need it to for some reason.
2. you have momentary access to a custom Notion-backed website (sometimes behind a login or paywall), and you want to grab a permanent offline backup before your access expires.
3. You stumbled across an incredibly useful public Notion database, but the creator disabled the "Duplicate" button, preventing you from saving it to your own workspace. :P

or, any other scenario applies. as long as you have a link and can view the Notion database in your web browser, this method will work.

TLDR Workflow:

1. Open the target Notion database (or Notion-backed website) in your web browser.
2. Run a custom JavaScript script in the developer console to extract the data.
3. Download the generated ZIP file and extract the Markdown notes into your Obsidian folder.
4. Run a local Python script to scan the notes, download all web images, and convert the links to local Obsidian formats.

context:

I recently needed to migrate a massive Notion database into my offline Obsidian vault. I wanted every row to become a Markdown file, the columns to become YAML tags, and all the inner page text and pictures to be saved locally.

this can be tricky because:

1. You might not have access to an export button. This is especially true if you are trying to back up a custom Notion-backed website (which are sometimes behind a login or paywall with temporary access :P)
2. Setting up the official Notion API is overly complex, and you can't even use it if you aren't the workspace admin.
3. Notion uses a Virtual DOM. You can't just copy and paste the table because Notion only loads the data you are currently looking at on the screen. The hidden rows don't exist in the code until you scroll down to them.
4. Notion's interface actively blocks basic automation scripts, requiring real human mouse movements to load inner pages.

The best workaround is to run custom JavaScript code directly inside your web browser's developer console. Because the code runs from inside your active browser session, it securely inherits your current access and smoothly interacts with the page.

Before you proceed,

please don't downvote in haste just because I used AI to help write the scripts lol. If you know what you're doing, it's really handy and saves a ton of time. Something that could've taken me a couple of days only took a few hours thanks to AI.

also, even though I am sharing my prompts, you'll still need to have some understanding of what's going on so that you can do your own trial and error when needed.

So now, we continue-

Here is the exact prompt workflow I used to get AI to help write the perfect extraction scripts for me. I am leaving this here for anyone else trying to do the same thing, and as a reference for my future self.

Step 1: Extracting the Database from the Browser

Depending on how the Notion database is built, I feed an AI a screenshot of the table, the raw HTML of the page, and one of these three prompts.

Variation 1: The Fast Extractor for Visible Data Use this when all the data you want is already visible on the screen in the table columns, and you do not need to open the pages to read more. It reads the page, scrolls down, waits for the network to fetch the next rows, and repeats.

Prompt to give AI:

>I want to extract this Notion table into Obsidian files. Here is a screenshot and the page HTML. Write a browser console script that scrolls down the page to load the virtual DOM. It should use the [Column Name] as the filename and header. The rest of the columns should be formatted as YAML frontmatter. Package them into a ZIP file using JSZip.

Variation 2: Extracting content from the notion pages - from inside that annoying OPEN button: Use this when you need the text and images inside the actual Notion pages, the website blocks automated mouse clicks so you cannot open the side panels. It grabs the row URL, opens it in an invisible background tab, lets your browser automatically handle the page load, copies the text, closes the tab, and moves on.

Prompt to give AI:

>I want to extract this Notion database into Obsidian. I need the inner page content. Because the site blocks automated mouse clicks, write a browser console script that grabs the URL of each row and opens it in a hidden iframe off screen. Have it wait for the page to render, extract the text and image links, and then close the iframe. Format the row columns as YAML and the iframe content as the body of the Markdown file. Download as a ZIP.

Step 2: Making Images Offline

After running the browser script, you will have a folder full of Markdown files. However, the images inside them are still pointing to Notion AWS links, which will eventually expire. You need to run a local Python script on your computer to download them permanently.

Prompt to give AI:

>I have a folder of Markdown files containing embedded Notion image links. Write a Python script to download all these images into my local [Media Folder Path]. First, use regex to find strictly Markdown embedded links. Second, generate a unique filename by creating an 8 character hash of the URL and appending the base filename to prevent naming collisions. Third, download the file and show a real time CLI progress bar. Fourth, perform a fidelity check to ensure the file is not 0 bytes. Fifth, if successful, replace the markdown in the file with the Obsidian local link format and place the original un-embedded link right below it. Do not alter any YAML or other text.

(Technical Notes for AI Context)
If you are using an AI to write these scripts for you, paste these core rules into your prompt first so it understands Notion's architecture:

• Notion Virtual DOM: You cannot extract a Notion table just by looking at the HTML once. The script must execute a loop that processes visible rows, physically scrolls the container down, and pauses to wait for the network to fetch the next row batch.
• React Event Blocking: Notion's interface will not respond to normal javascript click commands. If you must interact with the screen, you have to dispatch full PointerEvents or use the hidden iframe injection method to handle UI interaction cleanly.
• CORS and Auth: You cannot use Python to extract a Notion backed website directly. The JavaScript must be injected into the browser console so it natively inherits the user's session and handles cross origin restrictions safely.
• Filename Collisions: Notion uses generic names for images like image.jpeg. If you download files from multiple pages, they will overwrite each other. Always hash the source URL to create a unique local filename before saving.
• File Writing Security: Browser console scripts cannot silently write files to a local hard drive. The script must bundle the text strings in memory using JSZip and trigger a single ZIP download.

hope it helps : )

So I am preparing for the toughest exam in my country, and I use Anki HEAVILY. So much so that 95% of everything I have studied is in there.

Coming back to the point: Apart from our usual cloze, basic, and IO cards that we make for standard static subjects, in my exam, previously asked questions of the last 15 years are just as important. probably the most important. (since theres some thematic/topic repetitions)

Also, the syllabus is not well defined, so we use PYQs heavily to determine the scope of the vague syllabus.

Third, an element of the exam includes current events of national and international importance, which gets updated every single day. Around 15 questions are uploaded daily on my institute's website

for each of these problems, I have found different solutions using a set of addons.

1. Prev Year's Question (Q Bank)

I have bulk imported all the questions into a specific note type with a specific format, which allows me to solve them directly in Anki.

BUT solving MCQs in Anki kinda defeats the purpose of Anki because it's just way too much information to process 4 options at a time, every single time. It's redundant. (edit: and also prevents you from doing proper active recall)

As a solution, I have imported explanations alongside the questions, where I can cloze out content from the explanation of my question cards. That way, the information is atomized while still retaining the context of the quiz 😄

2. Then if not like a deck of basic cards, how do you go through this quiz?

I made another simple addon that allows me to attempt any of my decks with my note type in a test format while preserving all the history of correct/incorrect attempts, etc. I have imported the question bank into topic wise subdecks, (parsed with AI of course writing all those 8,000 cards with with my hands and keyboard would have led me to my retirement age)

3. What about the dynamic quizzes (current events questions)?

This is something unethical 💀 (maybe lol). I wrote a script to scrape the 15 questions every day at 1 PM (or, if I am offline, by simply clicking that newspaper emoji) automatically using my cookies.txt file from my institute's website

That way, I don't have to open that website at all. I just have to open Anki.
Open Anki → solve the 15 questions like a test → cloze out parts of the explanation. You're done. (you gotta filter out stuff and suspend many many cards in this process tho else it will become a review nightmare)

AND lastly,

4. how do you determine whats important and what's not? - from the daily 15 questions, also when studying from books otherwise (because my exam's syllabus is everything under the sun)

I made a separate browser which allows me to filter through topics, year of past 15 years of questions which are already there readily imported.
(this is something recent, earlier i was using some plugin named better search probably it allowed me to write "deck:" to filter through topics and "tag:" to filter through years, i implement the exact same thing with exact same speed just in a more aesthetically pleasing UI/UX - which also allows me to review that question - good/again - right there.)

I came up with this after months of trial and error, and a lot of reviewing and experimenting with Anki. so Felt like showcasing on a random Sunday evening 😄

Also, I should have said this earlier, but apologies for the goofy ahh edit and BGM LMFAO.

Packaging all those addons would be a hell lot of work (not really, but I am very short on time- in that way, especially because i am already falling short of deadlines). but took a half day off unwillingly due to my unproductive sleep schedule, so I made a goofy edit and now i am am writing this post.

But if y'all really want it, pls lmk. I don't mind spending another weekend for y'all and this community.

ny-FAQ (not yet - Frequently Asked Questions) :

1. I don't have explanations with the question bank I have. What do I do?

Use AI. Give it your question bank in bulk and ask it to generate one-line explanations for each correct answer. Then cloze out the correct answer. You are welcome 🧠

2. which exam i am preparing for?
UPSC CSE

Saw a paid topper-copy platform on Telegram seemingly unhappy about u/h4rsh__'s topper copies post. I'm a bit concerned they might try to get it taken down. (3rd screenshot)

As a precaution, I've converted the entire website into a Google Sheet that you can download and keep locally. That way, even if the original source (website) disappears, access to the material won't be lost.

in addition to the existing data, I've also manually added ranks and years for most entries wherever the information was easily available online, making filtering and analysis much easier.

Link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hgwHAVOrvPjtWrfe2vKCjM1igavGab-l4tH3JGK1Dmw/edit?usp=sharing

At some point, the community needs to stop gatekeeping basic study resources behind paywalls while mocking people who try to make them more accessible as "vibecoders." And honestly, what's even wrong with vibe coding? CSE is the Civil Services Examination, not Computer Science Engineering.

One request: please download the sheet and keep a copy offline.

File → Download → .xlsx (preferred), or any other format you like.

I'd also recommend creating your own copy first via File → Make a Copy. After that, you can download it and use it completely offline on your laptop, tablet, or phone with ease.

I also noticed that some of the same people calling others "vibecoders" are running a Prelims PYQ platform behind a fairly steep paywall. Since PYQs are such a fundamental resource, I've tried to compile them in one place also tried to cross-verify them with official UPSC answer keys all the way from 1979-2024. There are still some formatting issues with tables, images, and some missing entries, minor error etc., which I'll gradually fix as time permits ASAP.

This is still a first draft and far from complete, but by November I plan to finalize it and hopefully expand it to include CDS, CAPF, and State PCS PYQs as well.
Link (incomplete as of now):
BUT open-sourced, YOU Can make a copy and personalize.
https://stone-cabinet-d7f.notion.site/3a6b6ffbb42483bc8232814f4cf3b2b4?v=e2fb6ffbb424820aade788b12aba1d20

Here are a few other useful resources which you can make a copy of:

Prelims Sheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Df7V9wwm56wj8C8LOabeLcj-9d39ypJ3chXb8w5LdrU/edit?usp=sharing
(Credits to AM's CA faculty for this sheet)

Mains Sheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1c7GerYt230EZEIgjwKwUneeX6wRUE0_cg5KCEQC4sSI/edit?usp=sharing
(Credits to UPSCPrepCom for this one)

As they say, it's better to teach someone how to catch a fish than to simply hand them one.

Download these sheets and you'll have structured datasets that can be used with whatever tools you prefer. If something is missing, grab the PDFs from Telegram, feed them to Claude (or any capable LLM), and convert them into spreadsheets. From there, you can build your own tools, trackers, search engines, dashboards, or revision systems using CSV/XLSX files as the backend.

The barrier to building useful study tools has never been lower.

Good luck, and happy studying.

I did Geography from Rajesh Govindraj sir last year. He is indeed a very good teacher, but somehow I felt like I lacked clarity in some important parts of Climatology, especially World Climatic Regions, as well as almost all of Indian Geography :p

I have read the NCERTs, but I still feel I lack clarity in certain areas. so I came across these lectures by Rushikesh Dudhat sir, which someone has uploaded for free on YouTube, and I am planning to use them selectively

I have made notes from these lectures and am going to use them to go through the lectures selectively whenever needed.

i thought that since I have already made the notes with AI and saved my own time, I might as well save yours as well :)

Here is the link to the COMPLETE NOTES: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YnOy7BuRfLyQLJrMNMFaNJvG4DHxT8QK/view?usp=sharing

How to use them? (IMO)

• DO NOT PRINT them. That is a waste of time.
• If you have an iPad, great. Keep them open and annotate alongside. If you do not have one, that is still not an issue. Keep them open in split screen and actively annotate on paper (blurting) . Just try to absorb and remember everything he is teaching.
• To become prelims ready, read the same topic from the NCERT immediately after he teaches it. For example, if he completes LANDFORMS as a topic, stop right there, go back to your NCERT, and read that section. NCERT should remain your final source for Prelims. Use these lectures, or any other lectures for that matter, only to get familiar with and understand the concepts

Hope it helps :)