Show HN: Create flashcards with Space CLI

Source: Hacker News

Overview

Bring your own AI

Create flashcards from your terminal.
Create, search, and export decks straight from the shell. Pipe them into Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM. Reviewing still happens in the Space app.

Install the Space app on macOS, Windows, or Linux first. The CLI reads the local database—no login, no API keys.

$ space deck list
┌──────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────┬──────┐
│ ID   │ Name                        │ Cards │ Due  │
├──────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────┼──────┤
│ ck3u │ Japanese Kanji — N5         │   104 │   12 │
│ f02a │ FSRS Paper Notes            │    37 │    3 │
│ 9a1e │ Rust Ownership & Lifetimes  │    58 │    0 │
└──────┴─────────────────────────────┴───────┴──────┘

Install

New here? Install the Space app first and open it once, then choose one of the methods below.

Homebrew (macOS & Linux)

brew install space-org/tap/space-cli

Recommended — updates automatically with brew upgrade.

Curl installer (macOS & Linux)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/space-org/space-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Drops the binary into ~/.local/bin. Works on any shell.

Manual download (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Open the latest release →
Grab the archive for your platform and put the binary on your PATH.

Quickstart

space deck list                     # Show every deck with card and due counts
space deck stats ck3u               # Retention, maturity mix, due today
space card search "past tense"      # Full‑text search across all cards
space card show 7f2a                # Render a single card in the terminal
space deck export ck3u --format csv # Export a deck to CSV

Run space --help for the full reference.
Commands are grouped under deck, card, and group, each supporting:

• create
• show
• list
• edit
• delete
• search
• stats
• export

Pair it with AI

Pipe structured data into any LLM and get back analyses, explanations, or new cards. A GUI cannot touch this.

Find confusing word pairs

space deck export ck3u --format json | claude \
  "Which of these Spanish words have similar meanings I could easily confuse? \
   Generate mnemonics for the most confusing pairs."

Explain a tough card

space card show 7f2a | claude \
  "Explain this concept with a hands‑on example and an analogy to something I already know as a developer."

Derive new cards from existing data

space deck export f02a --format json | claude \
  "Analyze these system‑design flashcards and create 10 follow‑up questions. \
   Format: JSON array with 'front' and 'back' per card."

Any AI works. Claude, ChatGPT, Ollama, LM Studio… the CLI hands over the data; you pick the tool. With a local model, nothing leaves your machine.

Sync across every device

Cards created in the CLI appear on your phone, tablet, and desktop instantly. Cards you learn on the go are queryable from the CLI right away. Changes queue locally first; the next time the Space app is online, they sync to every device—no manual sync, import, export, or cloud login required.

Open source

Issues, contributions, and a full command reference live on GitHub.

View on GitHub →