Disclaimer: I am a new anki users, so I don’t have much experience or data to draw from.
I have some decks that are complete and small, e.g. morse code. I decided to switch to FSRS since I was convinced it was the better option, but I am concerned about how it will interact with these small decks. My goal with these decks is to have 100% retention. It’s easy to learn morse code with 100% retention, and I just want anki to show it to me often enough that I never forget it. My question is, if I set the retention to, say 90%, will FSRS adapt to me getting the answer right every time and slowly lengthen the intervals to a point where I actually do start to forget 10% of morse code?
There is a terminology distinction that will matter to you here –
“Retention” is how many cards you remember on the day the card is due.
“Retrievability” is your chance of remembering a card today (or on any given day).
When you say “My goal with these decks is to have 100% retention” – you’re actually probably looking for 100% Retrievability.
Why does it matter? Because your Average Retrievability on any given day is generally going to be higher than your retention (both your Desired Retention and your actual retention results). [If I didn’t explain that very well, here’s a more thorough explanation with graphs and examples: Reddit - The heart of the internet .]
For a small deck like that, where you want your Retrievability at any given moment to be close to 100% – you could certainly set your DR higher than that to see the cards more often. The highest you can go is 99%, and FSRS will warn you about the consequences you should expect if you do that –
