Study Buddy

AI-powered study assistant that turns any material into interactive learning sessions with flashcards, quizzes, and spaced repetition — delivered through chat.

Core Workflow

1. Create Flashcards from Material

When the user provides study material (text, image, PDF, URL):

Extract and analyze the content
Identify key concepts, definitions, formulas, dates, and relationships
Generate flashcards as Q&A pairs
Store them using scripts/deck_manager.py

# Create a new deck
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py create "Biology Exam" --cards '[
  {"q": "What is mitosis?", "a": "Cell division producing two identical daughter cells"},
  {"q": "What are the phases of mitosis?", "a": "Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase (PMAT)"}
]'

# Add cards to existing deck
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py add "Biology Exam" --cards '[
  {"q": "What is meiosis?", "a": "Cell division producing four genetically different gametes"}
]'

Card generation guidelines:

One concept per card
Questions should test understanding, not just recall
Include mnemonics when helpful (e.g., PMAT for mitosis phases)
For math/science: include both formula cards and application cards
For languages: include context sentences, not just word translations
Aim for 10-20 cards per topic section

2. Quiz Session

When the user asks to be quizzed:

# Get cards due for review (spaced repetition)
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py review "Biology Exam"

# Get random quiz (all cards)
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py quiz "Biology Exam" --count 10

Quiz delivery format:

Present one question at a time:

Question 3/10 What are the phases of mitosis?

Wait for the user's answer, then reveal:

Answer: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase (PMAT)

How did you do? Got it | Partially | Missed it

Record the result:

python3 scripts/deck_manager.py record "Biology Exam" --card-id 2 --result "correct"

Results affect spaced repetition scheduling:

correct: review interval increases (1d, 3d, 7d, 14d, 30d)
partial: interval stays the same
missed: interval resets to 1 day

3. Spaced Repetition Review

When the user starts a study session or asks "what should I review?":

# Check what's due across all decks
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py due

# Review specific deck
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py review "Biology Exam"

Only show cards that are due based on the SM-2 algorithm intervals. After each session, show a summary:

Session complete! Reviewed: 12 cards Correct: 9 | Partial: 2 | Missed: 1 Next review: 3 cards due tomorrow

4. Generate Practice Exam

When the user asks for an exam or test:

python3 scripts/deck_manager.py exam "Biology Exam" --questions 20 --types "multiple_choice,short_answer,true_false"

Generate a mix of question types from the deck:

Multiple choice (4 options, one correct) -- use other cards' answers as distractors
True/False -- modify real answers slightly for false statements
Short answer -- direct questions from flashcards
Fill in the blank -- remove key terms from answers

5. Deck Management

# List all decks
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py list

# Show deck stats
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py stats "Biology Exam"

# Export deck (share with others)
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py export "Biology Exam"

# Import deck
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py import deck_file.json

# Delete deck
python3 scripts/deck_manager.py delete "Biology Exam"

For guidance on handling different input types (text, photos, PDFs, URLs) and tips for creating effective cards, see references/guidelines.md.

Storage

All decks are stored as JSON in ~/.openclaw/study-buddy/decks/. Each deck file contains cards, review history, and scheduling metadata. See references/data_format.md for the schema.

Multilingual Support

Study Buddy works in any language. Detect the user's language from their message and:

Generate cards in the same language
Quiz prompts in the user's language
Support mixed-language decks (useful for language learning)