How to use the next-generation spaced repetition algorithm FSRS on Anki?

Anki FSRS
366

Hello, I’ve just switched from the previous Anki algorithm to FSRS and I’m wondering if I got the transition right and if this is the right configuration for my use case.

A quick summary of my main questions:

  • Should I set any other values when going to FSRS?
  • Did I set useful values for the “Learning/Relearning steps” with FSRS?
  • Does the “SM2 retention” value (the default value looks like it’s equal to the “Desired retention” value) change if you had done more than 1000 reviews?
  • Is a 30 and 100 reviews/day limit a right choice with FSRS, considering those decks could reach 5000 and 20000 cards?
  • Is 3-30 and 10-100 new cards/day - maximum reviews/day a right choice with FSRS, or should I crank it up for the first days so I start with a higher amount each day?

My full explanation:

-After reading fsrs4anki/docs/tutorial.md at main · open-spaced-repetition/fsrs4anki · GitHub , I think I got that now you only need to set the “Learning/relearning steps” below 1 day and the “Desired retention” to 75-95% (with 90% having the better time/results ratio), because the algorithm will take care of the rest.

-I set 15 minutes as learning steps and 20 minutes as relearning steps:

New cards
Lapses

-I used the default desired retention of 0,90, but I’m not sure if the default SM2 retention of 0,90 was my actual SM2 retention. I got more than 1000 reviews this year, but those weren’t in the recent months and the “Optimize FSRS parameters” option is working for me with no errors:

FSRS
FSRS566×528 36.7 KB

I would have no problem with a fresh start for all decks if it was the better solution for me, because I couldn’t follow Anki schedule for the last months.

-My use case is for a civil service examination (i.e. I need to spend years memorizing the same content and then getting tested for it once or twice a year until I pass it), with two main decks covering the material which I will finish in the next 1-2 years:

  • Deck A: Currently around 1000 cards, when finished it will have around 3000-5000 cards
  • Deck B: Currently around 2500 cards, when finished it will have around 10000-20000 cards

-When I get finished summarizing a chapter, it’s usually made of 50-200 cards which I then import to Anki in a single CSV file. So I add new cards in big batches, rather than daily.

-I would like to study by doing a practice test exam each day, to get used to the real speed I will need in the real exam (i.e. To keep and eye on the time elapsed for each question and for the global exam):

  • Deck A: The real exam is for 30 test questions from this deck
  • Deck B: The real exam is for 100 test questions from this deck

-So, my first thought was to set “Maximum reviews/day” as 30 and 100:
Daily limits 30
Daily limits 100
but I’m not sure if this is the right or the better choice for this algorithm, because of the conflict between on one hand getting overwhelmed with too many daily cards, and on the other hand to setting too few reviews a day so the review process will suffer.

-Also, since I set the “New cards/day” value to 3 and 10 because the tooltip recommends against setting a big number when compared to the Maximum reviews/day, for the next days I will only review very few cards compared to the final target of 30 and 100, but I’m not sure if this right for FSRS, because it might only apply to the previous algorithm.

Thank you

367

Just follow the tutorial:

If the tutorial doesn’t answer your questions, it means it depends on your personal cases.

2 Likes
368

I would love to be able to get a table and/or pie chart of Burden per deck, to easily save it and compare when I change settings.

369

Which versions of Ankidroid are compatible with the new Anki 23.12.1?

370

You can try the last alpha, from GitHub, is pretty stable.

371

@L.M.Sherlock Are there any plans in the future to update the custom scheduler code with the new v4.5 FSRS algorithm? Or will it only be available on Anki 23.12 and newer?

372

The custom scheduler has been updated to FSRS-4.5:

373

Hi all,
I have a question about FSRS and multiple subdecks.

I have 3 decks with cards, with 2 different settings.
These 3 decks are subdecks of 1 main deck with no cards in it.
I know this might not be optimal or best practice, but it works for me and I would like to keep it this way. It allows me to get cards from the subsets mixed in random order, while controlling how many total new cards I get each day and let’s me choose to only study 1 subdeck on days where I have little time.
So as a summary:
one main deck: no cards, setting of 25 new cards
3 subdecks with:
1 subdeck with cards and setting of 15 new cards
2 dubdecks with cards and setting of 5 new cards

Now my question:
I have te enable FSRS in the main deck or else I get a pop-up to enable FSRS first.
Will this impact the scheduling of the cards in the subdeck? Sonds there are no cards in this deck, I hope not, but maybe these settings get pushed down to the subdecks?
If yes, is there a possibility to counter this, so that the cards are scheduled based on the paramaters of the subdeck?

Thx!

374

You cannot enable FSRS (instead of v3 scheduling) for just one deck. It is a global setting.

There are “presets” that multiple decks can belong to. Each preset can have different FSRS optimization parameters.

The preset that a deck belongs to is given at the top of the deck Options screen, and clicking on that will show a drop-down listing of all your presets. By default, unless you made changes, all decks belong to the same preset.

https://docs.ankiweb.net/deck-options.html#fsrs

1 Like
375

As anki shows now in Card Info “Difficulty” not Ease

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should the column be called “Difficulty”? From what I read there is no “Ease” factor anymore in new anki versions. Is that correct?

Difficulty (D): The inherent complexity of a particular information. It represents how difficult it is to increase memory stability after a review.

376

A card may have both SM2 and FSRS review entries, which is why FSRS entries get the D: prefix.

2 Likes
377

As a lot of recent threads are about FSRS, I’ve created a dedicated category for FSRS-related questions, and will move some recent posts over there.

6 Likes
378

This tutorial has been outdated. But I can’t modify the post. Could you replace the post with the following link?

379

To confirm, you’d like me to completely replace the text of your first post with a link to fsrs4anki/docs/tutorial.md at main · open-spaced-repetition/fsrs4anki · GitHub?

380

Yeah.

381

Ok, done!

382

I think AnkiDroid 2.17 is out of beta already and supporting FSRS now, in case you want to update the info on the tutorial. Thanks for the document, btw!

383

I updated it just now.

1 Like
384

One more thing, if 1d intervals are not supported, wouldn’t it make sense to automatically delete those from the steps (maybe with a warning) when activating FSRS and leave just the ones under 1d? Not sure if dae has considered it.

Are there any recommended steps for FSRS? I have 1m 10m (my sessions are sometimes even shorter than 10 m).

1 Like
385

Oh, no, no, please don’t do that! The negative outcome from combining 1d+ steps with FSRS is so minimal – I think it’s much better to leave folks’ steps alone. Let them reach the point of deleting those steps on their own, after they start seeing/trusting that FSRS works.

Or at most, just let it be another gentle warning box like we have for insertion-order and use-FSRS-on-all-platforms?

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2 Likes