Introduction to the Only_Step tags
What is the Only_Step_1 tag?
Video explanation: Intro to the Only_Step tag in the AnKing Step Deck — Screen Studio
The Only_Step_1 tag identifies the cards that are the predominantly relevant to USMLE Step 1 only and have minimal relevance to Step 2.
- Keeping these cards for the purpose of the Step 2 exam (after taking Step 1) will be of little benefit.
- We recommend you suspend these cards after taking Step 1 since this will reduce your card load by a ton
What is the Only_Step_2 tag?
The Only_Step_2 tag identifies cards that are predominantly relevant to USMLE Step 2. Doing these cards for the purposes of Step 1 will not benefit you greatly
- Studying these cards for Step 1 will provide limited benefit, since they focus more on what is tested on Step 2
What is the Only_Step_1&2_Overlap tag?
The Only_Step_1&2_Overlap tag identifies cards that are strongly relevant for both Step AND Step 2.
These cards repreesent foundational knowledge that can be continually tested clinically. After passing Step 1, you should generally keep these unsuspended.
TLDR: I just passed Step 1, what should I do?
If you have been using the AnKing Step Deck for Step 1 and have recently passed the exam (first off, congrats!), and you’d like to figure out
Question 1: What cards should I now SUSPEND as I transition to Step 2 studying?
Answer: All cards tagged #AK_Other::Only_Step_1 can be suspended. Because these cards represent material that is unlikely to be heavily tested on Step 2
Question 2: What cards should I KEEP UNSUSPENDED as I transition to Step 2 studying?
Answer: You can keep any cards that you have already done AND are tagged #AK_Other::Only_Step_2 OR #AK_Other::Only_Step_1&2_Overlap
Why were these tags created?
The “Only_Step” set of tags were created due to a growing problem within the Step deck.
Because different resources (e.g., FA, BNB, Bootcamp, Sketchy) tag content differently, this caused Step 1 cards to be tagged with a Step 2 tag, and vice versa.
In simple terms, a Sketchy Step 2 video may tag many Step 1 cards, and a Step 1 bootcamp video may tag many Step 2 cards. This ‘artificially’ increases the “false” number of true cards in each tag (#AK_Step1_v12 and #AK_Step2_v12).
But why is this a problem?
Previously, students, in general, followed this protocol:
- Study for Step 1 using resources like the AnKing Step Deck, UWorld, First Aid, etc.
- Pass Step 1
- Suspend all Step-1 only cards
- Keep only cards that were also tagged for Step 2 (the overlap)
However, due to increase in tag overlap between Step 1 and 2, this filtering method is no longer accurate as it was before.
Therefore, the “Only_Step” tag system was created, which will:
- Restore the accurate Step-specific categorization that was present previously
- Preserve the true number of Step 1 only, Step 2 only, and Step 1&2 overlap cards
- Prevent any future tags from distorting this real number
How were these tags created?
The maintainers went through many rounds of discussions and experiments to figure out the best approach to this.
The fundamental question we wanted to answer was “how can we find true Step 1 cards, true Step 2 cards, and the cards that are overlapped between the 2?”.
Because of how Anki’s tagging system works, utilizing just the #AK tags was causing this issue, so we proposed the following
Phase 1 (New tag hierarchy/categorization)
- Creation of a new tag hierarchy separate from #AK_Step1_v12 and #AK_Step2_v12
- Within the new hierarchy of “Only_Step”, 3 “buckets” were created, and the aim was to ensure every card in the deck belonged to only one of these buckets
- Buckets:
- Only_Step_1
- Only_Step_2
- Only_Step_1&2 Overlap
- Buckets:
Phase 2 (Ratio-based classification)
- In order to classify the cards, many different solutions were proposed. It was clear that:
- Cards that have a higher ratio of Step 1 tags compared to Step 2 tags tended to be true Step 1 cards
- Cards that have a higher ratio of Step 2 tags compared to Step 1 tags tended to be true Step 2 cards
- Cards that did not belong to both of the above categories, tended to be true “overlap” cards
To find the most accurate number for the respective tags above, we developed and ran a simple script that analyzed the ratio of #AK_Step1_v12 tags relative to the #AK_Step2_v12 tags for each card.
After many tries, we found that cards that had >80% ratio of Step 1 tags relative to Step 2 tags were extremely likely to be true Step 1 cards.
We also found that cards that had >60% Step 2 tags relative to Step 1 tags, were extremely likely to be true Step 2 cards.
Then, taking the totals of the tags above and subtracting it from the total # of cards tagged with #AK_Step1_v12, we were able to derive the overlap cards; cards that do not predominantly belong to one Step, but rather are ‘overlapped’ between both (Step 1 and Step 2)
Note: the maintainers tried 60% for Step 1 and 2 initially, then tried 60% for Step 2 and 90% for Step 1, however we found that 60% Step 2 and 80% for Step 1 gave the best categorization.
After running the script, analyzing the tags, we came to the following numbers (as of February 15th, 2026):
#AK_Other::Only_Step_1 = 16,596 cards
#AK_Other::Only_Step_2 = 8,037 cards
#AK_Other::Only_Step_1&2_Overlap = 10,441 cards
Total: 35,074 cards tagged
How should I use these tags?
The power of these tags are that you can use them however you like, and we will outline multiple ways you can use them
- Filter Step 1-only cards within a specific resource
- Filter Step 2-only cards within a specific resource
- Easily identify which cards to suspend after passing Step 1
- Easily identify which cards are overlapped with Step 2 after passing Step 1, and keeping them unsuspended
- Easily transition from Step 1 studying to Step 2 studying
How accurate are these tags?
The tags are highly accurate but they are not perfect.
The maintainers ran multiple iterations to come to these exact card counts and tags. While there may be minor misclassifications, this new system is significantly (SIGNIFICANTLY) more reliable than relying on the current #AK_Step1_v12 and #AK_Step2_v12 tags to transition from Step 1 to Step 2 or figure out the true Step relevancy cards
Do these tags replace #AK_Step1_v12 and #AK_Step2_v12?
No.
The original Step tags still exist and remain resource-based. They should be used the same as they have been used previously.
The Only_Step tags are a refinement layer designed to reflect the true ‘exam-weighted relevance’ of a card, giving you greater control over what cards you choose to study. They are a tool you can use.
Will future tagging break this system?
No.
This tagging is separate from the #AK_Step tree, and therefore, any additional tagging in those tags will not affect the tags in #AK_Other.
Can I rely on Only_Step_2 for Step 2 studying?
Not necessarily as it depends.
Some Step 1 foundational material remains essential for Step 2 performance. That content is found in the Overlap tag and should not be ignored entirely. If you have a very strong foundation for Step 1 and are comfortable with focusing on cards found in the Only_Step_2 tag without keeping up with overlap, that can be an option, but it is very person-specific and we cannot make generalizations
Does “Only” mean the content will never appear on the other exam?
No. “Only” reflects the predominant exam weighting of the card, not that this concept is completely exclusive to one step.
A step-1 only cards may still appear in Step 2 contexts, but historically it is very heavily weighted towards Step 1. This is also relevant since NBME can decide to test Step 2 concepts in Step 1 (as has been reported by other students in previous years on online forums)
I believe a card is tagged incorrectly, how can I fix this?
If you believe a card is misclassified into one of the wrong tags:
- Submit a suggestion with the correct tag (tutorial)
- Provide a clear rationale explaining why it should belong to a different category
Why is the Step 2 threshold 60% but Step 1 is 80%?
Our testing/experimentation showed that the Step 1 tagging density was historically heavier, so a stricter threshold was required to prevent overclassification. In simple terms, the 80% threshold was able to better classify Only_Step_1 cards compared to other percentages, hence why it was used. For Step 2, 60% was able to classify most of the true Step 2 cards, which is why it was used
Will these numbers change over time?
Yes, but not in a significant way.
If improvements are made to tagging accuracy, counts may shift very slightly. However, the classification framework will remain relatively stable.
What happens if I just ignore these new tags entirely?
Nothing will happen. The deck will function as it always has, these tags simply provide more accurate control and filtering for students who want to be precise. The method of learn → unsuspend cards → study → repeat remains
Can I not just rely on tags like Bootcamp or Sketchy?
Yes, you can. A Sketchy tag serves a very different purpose than a Only_Step_1 tag.
- A Sketchy Step 2 video may tag Step 1 heavy cards (as part of its explanation process), therefore resource tags answer:
- “For this specific resource/video, what cards were covered?”
- The “Only_Step” tag answers:
- "Which exam is this specific set of cards truly most relevant for”?
Will these tags ever be removed?
No
Preformatted search strings
- Here are some helpful preformatted search strings that can make it easier for you
“I want to only see Step 2 cards for X resource”
- For example, let’s use this tag:
tag:#AK_Step1_v12::#B&B::06_Cardio::06_Heart_Failure - Therefore search the following:
tag:#AK_Step1_v12::#B&B::06_Cardio::06_Heart_Failure AND tag:#AK_Step1_v12::#B&B AND tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_2- This will give you all cards that are tagged for BNB cardiology heart failure video AND that are also tagged for Only_Step_2
- Template: tag:X AND tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_2
“I want to only see Step 1 cards for X resource”
- For example, let’s use this tag:
tag:#AK_Step2_v12::#SketchyIM::03_Pulmonology::01_Pulmonary_Function_Tests - Therefore search the following:
tag:#AK_Step2_v12::#SketchyIM::03_Pulmonology::01_Pulmonary_Function_Tests AND tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_1- This will give you all cards that are tagged for SketchyIM pulmonology video on PFTs AND that are also tagged for Only_Step_1
- Template: tag:X AND tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_1
“I passed Step 1, what should I unsuspend?”
- Suspend:
tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_1 - Keep unsuspended:
tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_2 OR tag:#AK_Other::Only_Step_1&2_Overlap -is:suspended
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to the following maintainers for making this possible: @schralp , @Jwill , @Sameem , @mitchelnelson , @Caleb_Meadows , @Cameron , @Ahmed7
