emacs-gnosis - Knowledge System for GNU Emacs

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Knowledge System for GNU Emacs

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Gnosis

Gnosis is a personal knowledge management and spaced repetition system for Emacs. It integrates two complementary subsystems in a single package: a Zettelkasten-style note system called nodes , and a flashcard-based self-testing system built around themata . Both subsystems share a single SQLite database, and their contents are linked together so that flashcard questions can refer directly to the notes they are drawn from.

Why Gnosis

Most spaced repetition tools treat flashcards as isolated units. You create a card, review it, and the system schedules the next review. The cards have no relationship to each other or to anything outside the review loop.

Most note-taking tools do the opposite: they help you build a web of interconnected ideas, but they offer no mechanism for systematically testing and reinforcing what you have written.

Gnosis bridges these two approaches. Your notes and your review material live in the same system, linked together. When you write a node about a topic, you can create themata whose questions reference that node. When you review, you can review all the questions linked to a given note, or follow the link graph to review related topics. The goal is a single system where understanding and recall reinforce each other.

Nodes

Nodes are Zettelkasten-style notes stored as plain org-mode files. Each node is identified by a unique UUID stored as an #+id: property. Nodes are indexed in the database so that they can be searched, browsed by tag, and linked together using standard org-mode [[id:UUID]] syntax.

Themata

A thema (plural themata) is a review card. Each thema consists of a keimenon (the question or prompt), an answer, and an optional parathema (supplementary context shown after the answer). Themata are reviewed using a spaced repetition algorithm that adapts the interval between reviews based on performance.

Themata support five question types: basic, double, MCQ, cloze, and mc-cloze.

The Link Between Nodes and Themata

When you write a node about a topic, you can create themata whose keimenon or parathema contains an [[id:NODE-UUID]] link to that node. Gnosis records these relationships so that you can later review all themata associated with a particular node via gnosis-review-topic.