Flashcards Prompt for Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)

This flashcards prompt for Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) writes cards in the chat with rules good cards follow: one idea per card, a question or fill-in-the-blank on the front, a short answer on the back, and a source on every card. Tick the sources, paste the prompt, replace [TOPIC] and you get a two-column table you can study from or move into another app.

The flashcards prompt

Make 30 flashcards on [TOPIC] from the selected sources only.

Rules for each card:
- One fact or idea per card. No "list five..." cards.
- Front: a question, or a sentence with the key term replaced by ___.
- Back: the answer in 15 words or fewer, then the source name in brackets.
- Cover definitions, causes and effects, comparisons and examples, not just vocabulary.
- Skip anything the sources mention only in passing.

Output only a table with two columns: Front | Back.

When to use it

Use it when you want control over the cards. Studio can make flashcards too, and those decks download as CSV. The chat prompt is for what you want to set yourself: how many cards, the style of the front, how short the answers are and which topics to skip. It suits subjects with lots of terms, mechanisms or dates, such as biology, law, languages and history.

What it returns

A table of 30 rows, front on the left and back on the right, with the source named on each back. Read through it once before you study and delete any card that tests something trivial; deleting is faster than fixing. To get more, send “30 more cards on the parts you have not covered yet” in the same chat.

You will want these rules every time you make a deck, so keep the prompt where you make the decks.

Variations

Anki-ready lines. For importing into a flashcard app from a text file.

Make 30 flashcards on [TOPIC] from the selected sources only, following the same rules: one idea per card, answers of 15 words or fewer. Output plain text with one card per line in the form front;back. No table, no numbering, no other text.

Copy the lines into a .txt file and import it into Anki or another app that reads semicolon-separated text.

Fill-in-the-blank only. Good for definitions and key sentences.

Make 25 cloze flashcards from the selected sources: take important sentences, replace the single most important term with ___, and put the missing term on the back with the source name. Output a table: Front | Back.

Harder cards. For the second week of revision.

Make 20 flashcards on [TOPIC] that test understanding, not recall: "why", "what would happen if" and "how is X different from Y" questions. Backs under 25 words, each with the source name.

Pair a deck with the quiz prompt for a full check, or start from the study guide prompt if you have not mapped the unit yet.