Performance Modes: Quick Reference Card¶

🎯 Choose Your Mode in 30 Seconds¶

Do you have an extremely overloaded workflow?¶

YES (50+ articles, 10k+ cards, complex hierarchies) → Full Mode 🖥️
NO (Standard learning / Beginner) → Light Mode ⚡

Performance Mode is now the second switch to consider

Since v1.0.33 the plugin's heaviest work — tagging flashcard-bearing Rems across your knowledge base and keeping those tags in step — is behind a separate opt-in, Enable Flashcard Prioritisation, which is off by default.

With that switch off, Full Mode no longer starts the startup pretagging pass and no longer cascades priorities down your document tree, so the gap between the two modes is far smaller than this page describes. Everything below applies once you have turned flashcard prioritisation on — see Priorities for Flashcards.

📊 At a Glance¶

Full Mode 🖥️¶

Platform:    💻 Desktop App ONLY
Performance: 🐢 Slower but feature-rich
Features:    🎛️ All advanced features
Startup:     ⏱️ up to 3 min (depending on KB size)
Best For:    🔬 Overloaded Students, Power Users

Key Features: - KB-scoped and Document-scoped relative priority percentiles - Priority Shield (KB and Document scope) - Priority Shield stats are stored for historical comparison used the Priority Shield Graph - Complex hierarchy support

Light Mode ⚡¶

Platform:    🌐 Web, 📱 Mobile, 💻 Desktop
Performance: 🚀 Fast and responsive
Features:    ⚡ Essential features
Startup:     ⚡ <10 seconds
Best For:    🎓 Beginner and eventual users, Mobile and Web-browser users, users with few flashcards

Key Features: - Absolute Priorities (flashcards and IncRems) - No need for cache mounting of the startup / queue Enter - Universal platform support

🚦 Platform Recommendations¶

Platform	Default	Recommended	Can Override?
🌐 Web Browser	Light	Light ✅	Yes (not recommended)
📱 Mobile	Light	Light ✅	Yes (not recommended)
💻 Desktop App	Light	Full/Light ⚡	Yes (configurable)

💡 Common Scenarios¶

"I study on my phone during commute"¶

→ Light Mode ✅ (automatic)
Optimized for mobile, won't make the app heavy

"I process 5 articles a week on web browser"¶

→ Light Mode ✅ (automatic)
Fast, stable, perfect for standard IR

"I'm researching my PhD with 100+ papers"¶

→ Full Mode on Desktop App
Need document percentiles and advanced features

"I have 500 cards, use desktop app"¶

→ Light Mode works great! ⚡
Unless you want document-level analytics

"I have 20K+ cards, a large backlog, a huge inflow of information, and a use desktop app"¶

→ Full Mode ! ⚡
You need the full power of relative priorities and priority shield.

"I switch between web and desktop daily"¶

→ Hybrid: Full on Desktop, Light on Web
Automatic switching, best of both worlds

🔧 How to Change Modes¶

Automatic (Recommended)¶

The plugin auto-detects your platform (if you chose Full Mode):

✅ Web → Light Mode
✅ Mobile → Light Mode  
✅ Desktop → Full Mode

Manual Override¶

Incremental RemNote: Settings (quick code is) → Performance → Performance Mode - Choose "Light Mode" or "Full Mode"

Platform-Specific Settings: - "Always use Light Mode on Mobile" (default: ON) - "Always use Light Mode on Web Browser" (default: ON)

⚠️ Warning Signs¶

Using Full Mode on Wrong Platform¶

Web Browser + Full Mode:

❌ Slow loading
❌ Browser freezing
❌ High memory usage
→ Solution: Enable "Light Mode on Web" setting

Mobile + Full Mode:

❌ App crashes
❌ Battery drain
❌ Sluggish interface
→ Solution: Enable "Light Mode on Mobile" setting

🎓 Feature Availability¶

Feature	Full Mode	Light Mode
Flashcard Review	✅	✅
Incremental Reading	✅	✅
Priority System	✅	✅
Absolute Priority Number (IncRems and Cards)	✅	✅
KB Relative Priorities Percentiles	✅	❌
Document Relative Priorities Percentiles	✅	❌
KB Priority Shield (IncRems and Cards)	✅	❌
Doc Priority Shield (IncRems and Cards)	✅	❌
Priority Review Docs	✅	✅
Card Priority Tagging (on Dismiss)	✅ Instant	✅ Instant
Fast Startup	❌	✅
Mobile Stability	❌	✅

If you regularly uses RemNote in the Desktop App, don't fear the FULL MODE: shouldUseLightMode() Decision Flow¶

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         User Opens RemNote Plugin / Component Loads         │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
            ┌────────────────────────┐
            │ Call shouldUseLightMode│
            │      (plugin)          │
            └────────────┬───────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
            ┌────────────────────────┐
            │ Check: Performance     │
            │ setting === 'light'?   │
            └──────┬─────────────┬───┘
                   │ YES         │ NO
                   ▼             ▼
            [USE LIGHT MODE]     │
                                 │
                    ┌────────────▼──────────────┐
                    │ Check: Is Mobile Device?  │
                    │ (iOS or Android)          │
                    └──────┬─────────────┬──────┘
                           │ YES         │ NO
                           ▼             │
            ┌──────────────────────┐    │
            │ Check: alwaysUseLight│    │
            │ ModeOnMobile enabled?│    │
            └──────┬───────────┬───┘    │
                   │ YES       │ NO     │
                   ▼           │        │
            [USE LIGHT MODE]   │        │
                               │        │
                    ┌──────────▼────────▼──────────┐
                    │ Check: Is Web Platform?      │
                    │ (browser vs desktop app)     │
                    └──────┬─────────────┬─────────┘
                           │ YES         │ NO
                           ▼             │
            ┌──────────────────────┐    │
            │ Check: alwaysUseLight│    │
            │ ModeOnWeb enabled?   │    │
            └──────┬───────────┬───┘    │
                   │ YES       │ NO     │
                   ▼           │        │
            [USE LIGHT MODE]   │        │
                               │        │
                    ┌──────────▼────────▼──────────┐
                    │      USE FULL MODE           │
                    └──────────────────────────────┘

Startup Detection Flow¶

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│        Plugin Activates (onActivate)           │
└───────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
                    │
                    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│     handleMobileDetectionOnStartup(plugin)              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1. Detect OS (iOS/Android/Windows/Mac/Linux)          │
│  2. Detect Platform (web/app)                          │
│  3. Store in SESSION storage (device-specific):        │
│     - isMobileDeviceKey = true/false                   │
│     - isWebPlatformKey = true/false                    │
│  4. Store in SYNCED storage (for history):             │
│     - lastDetectedOSKey = current OS                   │
│     - lastDetectedPlatformKey = current platform       │
└───────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                    │
        ┌───────────┴───────────┐
        │                       │
        ▼                       ▼
┌──────────────┐    ┌───────────────────┐
│ Mobile?      │    │ Web Platform?     │
│ (iOS/Android)│    │ (browser)         │
└──────┬───────┘    └────────┬──────────┘
       │ YES                  │ YES
       ▼                      ▼
┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐
│ Show toast:      │  │ Show toast:          │
│ "📱 iOS detected"│  │ "🌐 Web Browser on   │
│ with mode info   │  │  Windows" + mode     │
└──────────────────┘  └──────────────────────┘

Storage Architecture¶

SESSION STORAGE (per-device, doesn't sync)
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  isMobileDeviceKey: boolean            │  ← Used by shouldUseLightMode()
│  isWebPlatformKey: boolean             │  ← Used by shouldUseLightMode()
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

SYNCED STORAGE (cross-device)
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  lastDetectedOSKey: string             │  ← For tracking changes
│  lastDetectedPlatformKey: Platform     │  ← For tracking changes
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

SETTINGS (user preferences)
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  performanceMode: 'light' | 'full'     │  ← Master setting
│  alwaysUseLightModeOnMobileId: bool    │  ← Mobile override
│  alwaysUseLightModeOnWebId: bool       │  ← Web override (NEW)
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

Platform Combinations¶

╔═══════════════════╦════════════╦═══════════╦═════════════════╗
║   Operating       ║  Platform  ║  Device   ║  Default Mode   ║
║   System          ║            ║  Type     ║  (recommended)  ║
╠═══════════════════╬════════════╬═══════════╬═════════════════╣
║ iOS               ║  app       ║  Mobile   ║  Light          ║
║ Android           ║  app       ║  Mobile   ║  Light          ║
║ Windows           ║  web       ║  Desktop  ║  Light (NEW)    ║
║ Mac               ║  web       ║  Desktop  ║  Light (NEW)    ║
║ Linux             ║  web       ║  Desktop  ║  Light (NEW)    ║
║ Windows           ║  app       ║  Desktop  ║  Full           ║
║ Mac               ║  app       ║  Desktop  ║  Full           ║
║ Linux             ║  app       ║  Desktop  ║  Full           ║
╚═══════════════════╩════════════╩═══════════╩═════════════════╝

Component Usage Pattern¶

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Any Component (Widget/Popup/Command)               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                     │
│  const useLightMode = await shouldUseLightMode(    │
│    plugin                                           │
│  );                                                 │
│                                                     │
│  if (useLightMode) {                                │
│    // Use optimized, fast path                     │
│    // Skip expensive operations                    │
│    // Use lighter caching                          │
│  } else {                                           │
│    // Use full-featured path                       │
│    // Run comprehensive operations                 │
│    // Use full caching                             │
│  }                                                  │
│                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Counter-Example: Dismiss is the same in both modes¶

Not every operation splits by mode. Dismissing an Incremental Rem stamps its priority onto the Rem's own cardPriority tag, and that write is identical in Light Mode and Full Mode:

User clicks "Dismiss (untag)" button
           │
           ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ handleCardPriorityInheritance│
├──────────────────────────────┤
│ Existing source == manual?   │
│     ┌────┴────┐              │
│  YES│         │NO            │
│  ┌──▼──┐   ┌──▼───────────┐  │
│  │Leave│   │ Set priority │  │
│  │ it  │   │ source =     │  │
│  │alone│   │ 'incremental'│  │
│  └─────┘   └──────────────┘  │
│            ⚡ Same both modes │
└──────────────────────────────┘

Until v1.0.40, Full Mode first searched the Rem and three levels of descendants for flashcards and wrote nothing if it found none. That was the wrong trade: the search cost a subtree walk on every Dismiss, and the Rems it refused to tag — sections whose cards do not exist yet — are exactly the ones that need the anchor. See Priority Sources.