anki-mcp

A thin Model Context Protocol (MCP) adapter that lets AI assistants (Claude Code, Hermes Agent, etc.) create and manage Anki cards directly — via AnkiConnect.

No custom AI app. The AI stays the intelligence layer; this server is just a bridge to Anki.

Claude Code / Hermes / ChatGPT
          │  MCP (stdio)
          ▼
    anki-mcp server
          │  AnkiConnect HTTP (localhost:8765)
          ▼
    Anki Desktop + AnkiConnect add-on
          │  sync
          ▼
       AnkiWeb ──► Anki mobile (iOS/Android)

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Features

Tool	Description
list_decks	List all decks with card counts
create_deck	Create a deck if it doesn't exist
create_card	Basic front/back card
create_cloze	Cloze deletion card ({{c1::...}})
create_cards	Batch-create many cards at once
search_cards	Full-text search (Anki query syntax)
update_card	Update a card's front/back by note ID
delete_card	Delete a card by note ID

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Setup

1. Install Anki Desktop

Download and install from https://apps.ankiweb.net/. Start it once and sync with your AnkiWeb account so mobile sync works.

2. Install the AnkiConnect add-on

AnkiConnect exposes Anki over a local HTTP API on localhost:8765.

Option A — Anki add-on browser (easiest):

1. In Anki: Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons…
2. Enter the code 2055492159 and install.

Option B — manual (Git):

cd "$APPDATA/Anki2/addons21"           # Windows
# or: ~/.local/share/Anki2/addons21   (Linux)
# or: ~/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21  (macOS)

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/FooSoft/anki-connect.git 2055492159
cd 2055492159
cp plugin/*.py plugin/*.json plugin/*.md .
rm -rf plugin tests .git 2>/dev/null

3. Restart Anki. Verify it's up:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8765 -X POST -d '{"action":"version","version":6}'
# → {"result": 6, "error": null}

3. Run the MCP server

pip install mcp
python server.py

The server speaks MCP over stdio. Anki Desktop must be running (with AnkiConnect loaded) for tools to work.

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Configure in a client

Hermes Agent

Add to ~/.hermes/config.yaml (or %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\hermes\config.yaml on Windows):

mcp_servers:
  anki:
    command: python
    args:
      - /absolute/path/to/server.py
    timeout: 60
    connect_timeout: 30

Then reload MCP in-session (/reload-mcp) or restart. Tools appear as mcp_anki_*.

Claude Code

claude mcp add anki -- python /absolute/path/to/server.py

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Usage

Once wired up, just tell the AI what you want:

"Add a card to my System Design deck: front = 'Why does consistent hashing use virtual nodes?', back = 'To distribute keys more uniformly.'"

"Make Anki cards from the important concepts we just discussed."

Card-generation rules (put these in your AI instructions)

• One concept per card.
• Prefer questions that require recall.
• Avoid huge answers.
• Don't create cards for trivial facts.
• Use cloze cards where appropriate.
• Add source/topic tags.

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Sync to mobile

MCP-created cards live in Anki Desktop until you sync. Trigger a sync:

• Manually: Anki → Sync (or press Y), or
• Via AnkiConnect: curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8765 -X POST -d '{"action":"sync","version":6}'

Then sync the Anki mobile app to pull the new cards.

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• mcp package (pip install mcp)
• Anki Desktop (running)
• AnkiConnect add-on

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License

MIT