Turn any text into living vocabulary — an Obsidian plugin that uses AI to generate rich flashcards from selected text, plus a browser extension to capture words from any webpage.
Select any word or phrase in Obsidian and let Gemini generate a structured flashcard: dictionary form, word class, translation, and example sentences. Each flashcard is saved as its own note and linked inline to your source text.
You can also create a flashcard manually (without AI) to fill in the fields yourself.
Select text on any webpage, right-click, and choose "Create glossa flashcard from selection". The text is handed off to Obsidian via a custom URL scheme and the flashcard is generated automatically — no copy-pasting.
Open the flashcards sidebar to see all flashcards linked to your currently active note at a glance.
Practice your flashcards with a simple card-flip interface. Filter by any property (e.g. word class, group) or practice all flashcards linked to a specific note. The order is randomised each session.
Every part of the pipeline is configurable: the AI prompt, output fields, note body template, frontmatter properties, card front/back templates, and practice filters. The defaults are set up for vocabulary learning (Finnish, but any language works).
This plugin makes network requests to the following external service:
- Google Gemini API (
generativelanguage.googleapis.com) — used to generate flashcard content from your selected text. Requests are sent only when you explicitly trigger flashcard generation. Your Google AI Studio API key is stored locally and never shared.
No other data is collected or transmitted.
BRAT lets you install plugins that are not yet in the community directory.
- Install BRAT from the Obsidian Community Plugins.
- Open Settings → BRAT → Add Beta Plugin.
- Enter the repository URL:
https://github.com/chiunhau/obsidian-glossa-flashcards - Click Add Plugin, then enable Glossa Flashcards in Settings → Community Plugins.
- Go to the latest release and download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.css. - In your vault, create the folder
.obsidian/plugins/glossa-flashcards/. - Move the three downloaded files into that folder.
- In Obsidian, go to Settings → Community Plugins, enable community plugins if prompted, and toggle on Glossa Flashcards.
Glossa uses the Google Gemini API, which has a free tier.
- Go to aistudio.google.com/apikey and generate an API key.
- In Obsidian, open Settings → Glossa Flashcards.
- Paste your key into the API key field.
The default model is gemini-2.5-flash-lite. You can change it to any Gemini model ID (e.g. gemini-2.5-flash) in the same settings page.
You can install the official extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Once installed, select any text on a webpage, right-click, and choose "Create glossa flashcard from selection". Obsidian must be open for the handoff to work.
- Clone or download this repository.
- In Chrome (or any Chromium browser), go to
chrome://extensions/. - Enable Developer mode (top-right toggle).
- Click Load unpacked and select the
apps/extension/folder.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Create flashcard from selected text (AI) | Select text → right-click → Create flashcard for "…", or use the command palette |
| Create flashcard manually | Select text → right-click → Create flashcard for "…" manually |
| Create flashcard from typed input | Click the ribbon icon or run Create flashcard from input |
| Open sidebar | Click the sidebar ribbon icon or run Open flashcards sidebar |
| Practice all flashcards | Click the practice ribbon icon or run Practice flashcards |
| Practice flashcards from current note | Right-click in editor → Practice all flashcards in current note |
After AI generation, the selected text in your note is automatically replaced with a wiki-link to the new flashcard (e.g. [[juosta|run]]).
All settings are under Settings → Glossa Flashcards.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| API key | Your Google AI Studio key |
| Model | Gemini model ID |
| Flashcards folder | Where notes are saved (default: Flashcards/) |
| Language | Language you're learning — injected into the AI prompt |
| Prompt | Full AI prompt; supports {{language}} and {{source_text}} |
| Output fields | fieldKey: description pairs defining what the AI returns |
| Title | Which output field becomes the note filename |
| Body | Note body template using {{fieldKey}} placeholders |
| Properties | Frontmatter config using {{fieldKey}} or {{source_text}} |
| Card front / back | Practice card templates using {{title}} or any property key |
| Filter fields | Comma-separated property keys available as filters in practice setup |
MIT