io.github.arielbk/anki-mcp

🧠 Anki MCP

Transform your Anki flashcard experience with AI! This MCP (Model Context Protocol) server bridges your Anki flashcard collection with AI assistants like Claude, enabling natural conversations about your study materials.

🚀 What Can You Do?

Imagine having an AI tutor that knows your entire flashcard collection and can:

📚 Interactive Learning

• "Quiz me on Japanese vocabulary I haven't seen in 3 days"
• "Test me on challenging cards from my medical deck"
• "Show me cards I've been struggling with recently"

✨ Smart Content Creation

• "Create flashcards about photosynthesis with diagrams"
• "Turn this PDF chapter into spaced repetition cards"
• "Generate cloze deletion cards from my lecture notes"

🔍 Powerful Analytics

• "Which topics am I struggling with most?"
• "Show me my study patterns for the last month"
• "What's my retention rate for different card types?"

🎯 Bulk Operations

• "Tag all my chemistry cards with 'exam-prep'"
• "Move cards with low retention to an intensive review deck"
• "Find and fix duplicate cards across my decks"

🎯 Features

• 🎯 Smart Tool Design: Intuitive, high-level tools designed specifically for AI agents
• 💬 Natural Conversations: Talk to Claude about your flashcards like you would a study buddy
• ⚡ Lightning Fast: Efficient operations that don't bog down your AI assistant
• 📦 Bulk Operations: Update thousands of cards at once with simple commands
• 📊 Study Insights: Deep analytics on your learning progress and patterns
• 🎨 Rich Media: Full support for images, audio, and other media in your cards
• 🔍 Powerful Search: Leverage Anki's advanced search syntax through natural language
• 🔒 Rock Solid: Fully typed TypeScript with comprehensive error handling

🛠 Technical Stack

• Node.js: Runtime environment (18+ required)
• TypeScript: Type safety and developer experience
• MCP SDK: Model Context Protocol implementation
• yanki-connect: 🙏 Fully-typed, isomorphic AnkiConnect API client
• tsup: Fast TypeScript bundler
• PNPM: Efficient package manager

Special thanks to the yanki-connect library for providing the robust AnkiConnect interface that powers this integration!

📋 Prerequisites

1. Install Anki

Download and install Anki if you haven't already.

2. Install AnkiConnect Plugin

1. Open Anki
2. Go to Tools → Add-ons
3. Click Get Add-ons...
4. Enter code: 2055492159
5. Restart Anki

📋 Version Requirements: This server requires AnkiConnect version 25.2.25.0 or newer (released 2025-02-25) for full compatibility. Most features work with older versions, but we recommend updating for the best experience.

3. Configure AnkiConnect (Optional)

AnkiConnect works out of the box, but you can customize settings:

1. Go to Tools → Add-ons
2. Select AnkiConnect and click Config
3. Default settings should work fine for most users

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: Use with Claude Desktop (Recommended)

1. Install the package

   npm install -g @arielbk/anki-mcp
   

2. Configure Claude Desktop

   Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

   macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   Add this configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "anki": {
         "command": "anki-mcp",
         "args": []
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Restart Claude Desktop

4. Start using it!

   • Make sure Anki is running with AnkiConnect enabled
   • Ask Claude: "Show me my Anki decks" or "Quiz me with 5 cards"

💡 Pro Tip: You can test your setup by asking Claude simple questions like "How many Anki decks do I have?" or "What's in my largest deck?"

Option 2: Development Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/arielbk/anki-mcp.git
   cd anki-mcp
   

2. Install dependencies

   pnpm install
   

3. Build the project

   pnpm build
   

4. Test the server

   # Use the MCP inspector to test functionality
   pnpm inspect
   

Option 3: Use with Other MCP Clients

This server works with any MCP-compatible client. You can also use it with:

• MCP Inspector: Interactive debugging tool
• Cline: VS Code extension for AI coding
• Custom MCP clients: Build your own using the MCP SDK

For stdio transport, run:

node dist/index.js

For localhost HTTP (Streamable HTTP) transport, run:

node dist/index.js --http --host=127.0.0.1 --port=3000
# The MCP endpoint will be at http://127.0.0.1:3000/mcp

Clients that support Streamable HTTP can connect directly. Legacy SSE clients may still work via client-side fallback.

🎮 Usage Examples

Once configured with Claude Desktop, you can have natural conversations like:

📖 Study Sessions

You: "I have a Japanese exam tomorrow. Can you quiz me on Hiragana cards I haven't reviewed in a week?"

Claude: I'll find your Hiragana cards that need review and start a quiz session...

📝 Content Creation

You: "Create flashcards for the major battles of World War II with dates and significance"

Claude: I'll create comprehensive flashcards covering the key WWII battles...

📊 Study Analytics

You: "How am I doing with my medical terminology deck? Show me my weak areas."

Claude: Let me analyze your performance on the medical terminology deck...

🏷️ Organization

You: "Tag all cards about cardiovascular system with 'cardiology' and move them to my MCAT prep deck"

Claude: I'll help you organize those cards...

🔧 Available Tools

The server provides 7 intuitive tools that cover everything you need:

📝 Manage Flashcards

Create, update, delete, and search your flashcards. Perfect for content creation, bulk updates, and organization.

🎯 Study Sessions

Run interactive quiz sessions, manage card scheduling, and track which cards need review.

📚 Manage Decks

Create and organize decks, move cards around, and configure deck settings.

📊 Get Analytics

Dive into your study statistics, review history, and learning patterns.

🎨 Manage Models

Customize note types, add fields, modify templates, and style your cards.

🔧 Anki Operations

Handle sync, media files, imports/exports, and other utility operations.

🖼️ Get Media File

Retrieve media files (images, audio, etc.) from your Anki collection. AI assistants can analyze images directly (though they won't display in the UI).

💡 Pro Tip: Many operations support pagination to prevent overwhelming your context window. Use limit and offset parameters when working with large result sets.

🛠 Development

# Run in development mode with auto-reloading
pnpm dev

# Lint the code
pnpm lint

# Format the code
pnpm format

# Test with MCP inspector
pnpm inspect

🔧 Configuration

AnkiConnect Settings

The server connects to AnkiConnect on localhost:8765 by default. If you've customized your AnkiConnect configuration, you may need to adjust the connection settings.

Important: Make sure Anki is running and AnkiConnect is installed before using the MCP server. The server will fail to connect if AnkiConnect is not accessible.

💡 Note: The underlying yanki-connect library supports auto-launching Anki on macOS, but this feature is not currently exposed in the MCP server configuration. You'll need to start Anki manually.

Claude Desktop Advanced Configuration

For advanced users, you can pass additional parameters:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anki": {
      "command": "anki-mcp",
      "args": ["--verbose"],
      "env": {
        "ANKI_CONNECT_HOST": "localhost",
        "ANKI_CONNECT_PORT": "8765"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues:

• "Failed to connect to AnkiConnect": Ensure Anki is running and AnkiConnect plugin is installed
• "No decks found": Make sure you have at least one deck in Anki
• Claude doesn't respond: Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes
• Permission errors: Check that the global npm install worked correctly with npm list -g @arielbk/anki-mcp

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

📜 License

MIT - see LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• yanki-connect - Excellent TypeScript client for AnkiConnect
• AnkiConnect - The plugin that makes Anki automation possible
• Model Context Protocol - Enabling seamless AI integrations

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Transform your flashcard experience with AI-powered conversations! 🚀