2 · Getting started

Install

alix is a single Rust binary. The shipped paths, no Rust toolchain required for the first:

curl -sSf https://alix.study/install.sh | sh   # prebuilt release binary
cargo install alix                             # from crates.io (needs rustup.rs)

The installer fetches the release asset for your platform; every asset also has a .sha256 beside it on the GitHub releases page to verify a manual download. Building from a checkout works too (git clone, then make install).

Any of those puts alix on your PATH. Check it:

alix --help

The flashcard core (reviewing, scheduling, every answer mode, browse, and the web app) runs with nothing else installed: no accounts, no network. The AI features (deck generation, the exam, traces, workspace generation, and the in-session tutor) shell out to a supported model CLI, Claude Code by default; the Gemini, Codex, and Copilot CLIs are also supported. Install at least one and authenticate with it. See chapter 16 for how to switch backends. You can use the entire core without ever touching the AI layer.

Your first deck

On a first run (no decks directory yet), alix creates it and seeds The alix tutorial, a small deck that teaches alix while you review it, from grading honestly to the deck format below. Its last card tells you to delete it; alix seeds it only into a brand-new decks directory, so once deleted it never returns. If you already have decks, nothing is seeded.

A deck is a plain .md file. A card is a ## line (the question) with its answer on the plain lines beneath it:

## What does SRS stand for?
Spaced repetition system.
> It schedules each card just before you'd forget it.

## Which scheduler does alix use?
FSRS, which predicts when you're about to forget each card.

Save it as srs.md in your decks directory (~/decks by default). A line starting with > is a note, shown after you answer. Initialize a file you wrote by hand once:

alix deck init ~/decks/srs.md

Initialization assigns the stable deck and card IDs that preserve review history. It also tells alix that this Markdown file is a deck; other .md documents in the same folder remain ordinary files.

Review it

alix

alix opens the web app (printing its URL); pick srs.md there and Learn it. The question shows in the browser; you recall the answer, press a key to reveal it, then grade yourself: failed (you missed it), partly (got the gist but stumbled), or passed. Your grade moves the card along its schedule, so cards you know come back rarely and cards you miss come back soon. That self-graded reveal is flip mode, the default; later chapters cover the modes that make you type the answer, pick from choices, or reveal it line by line.

When nothing is due, there’s nothing to review; come back when cards mature.

The deck picker

That page alix opens is the picker, over your decks directory (~/decks by default; change it with decks_dir in the config). It groups your decks into Workspaces, Recent, and Folders and is driven by Vim-style keys (j/k to move, Enter to open, / to filter by name). Every review starts here; there’s no direct deck launch. This is what the desktop launcher opens. Focus a deck and press Browse to read through its cards with no grading or scheduling.

The everyday commands

alix stats srs.md     # a progress overview
alix list srs.md      # every card with its per-depth schedule and due time
alix doctor srs.md    # lint the deck (syntax errors, duplicate cards)
alix reset srs.md     # clear stored progress (also --card / --all)

A session is one deck; review them one at a time. From here the book goes deep: the next chapter is the deck format in full, then reveal & session depths and scheduling.