Goals and materials

GuruOwl organizes studying around why you're studying, not just what files you have.

The hierarchy

• Goal — the thing you're working toward: "USMLE Step 1 in March", "JLPT N3", "Systems design interviews". A goal can have a target date.
• Material — a source you study from, filed under a goal: an uploaded PDF and its generated deck, a text you pasted, an imported Anki deck.
• Cards — what materials break down into; they carry their own review schedule.

One goal, several materials, hundreds of cards is the typical shape.

Why goals matter

• The Today plan focuses on one goal at a time — its due cards, its new cards. Multiple goals don't compete for the same session.
• A target date turns into a countdown on Today's focus card — a quiet reminder of the pace you need.
• Progress and due counts are visible per goal in the goal switcher, so you can see at a glance which area is falling behind.

Working with materials

Everything lives in Materials:

• Add — upload a PDF (and generate a deck) or drop in an Anki .apkg — the same upload box imports it directly.
• File under a goal — a material belongs to one goal; pick it when creating, or move it later. Materials without a goal still work, but they only surface in the plan when no goal is focused, so filing them is worth the click.
• Open — see the cards, edit or delete them, export the deck.

On the iOS app

Goals and materials sync with the Guru iOS app — the same goal structure drives the app's Today tab, and a goal you create on your phone shows up here.

Keep it simple

Two or three active goals is a sweet spot. If a goal is done or abandoned, archive your interest honestly — delete it or stop feeding it materials. A focused queue you actually clear daily beats an ambitious one you avoid.