AnkiConnect

The AnkiConnect plugin enables external applications such as Yomichan to communicate with Anki over a network interface. This software makes it possible to execute queries against the user's card deck, automatically create new vocabulary and Kanji flash cards, and more. AnkiConnect is compatible with the latest stable (2.0.x) and alpha (2.1.x) releases of Anki and works on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

Installation

The installation process is similar to that of other Anki plugins and can be accomplished in three steps:

1. Open the Install Add-on dialog by selecting Tools > Add-ons > Browse & Install in Anki.
2. Input 2055492159 into the text box labeled Code and press the OK button to proceed.
3. Restart Anki when prompted to do so in order to complete the installation of AnkiConnect.

Anki must be kept running in the background in order for other applications to be able to use AnkiConnect. You can verify that AnkiConnect is running at any time by accessing localhost:8765 in your browser. If the server is running, you should see the message AnkiConnect v.3 displayed in your browser window.

Notes for Windows Users

Windows users may see a firewall nag dialog box appear on Anki startup. This occurs because AnkiConnect hosts a local server in order to enable other applications to connect to it. The host application, Anki, must be unblocked for this plugin to function correctly.

Notes for Mac OS X Users

Starting with Mac OS X Mavericks, a feature named App Nap has been introduced to the operating system. This feature causes certain applications which are open (but not visible) to be placed in a suspended state. As this behavior causes AnkiConnect to stop working while you have another window in the foreground, App Nap should be disabled for Anki:

1. Start the Terminal application.

2. Execute the following command in the terminal window:

   defaults write net.ichi2.anki NSAppSleepDisabled -bool true
   

3. Restart Anki.

Application Interface for Developers

AnkiConnect exposes Anki features to external applications via an easy to use RESTful API. After it is installed, this plugin will initialize a minimal HTTP sever running on port 8765 every time Anki executes. Other applications (including browser extensions) can then communicate with it via HTTP POST requests.

Sample Invocation

Every request consists of a JSON-encoded object containing an action, and a set of contextual parameters. A simple example of a JavaScript application communicating with the extension is illustrated below:

function ankiInvoke(action, params={}) {
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
        xhr.addEventListener('loadend', () => {
            if (xhr.responseText) {
                resolve(JSON.parse(xhr.responseText));
            } else {
                reject('unable to connect to plugin');
            }
        });

        xhr.open('POST', 'http://127.0.0.1:8765');
        xhr.send(JSON.stringify({action, params}));
    });
}

ankiInvoke('version').then(response => {
    window.alert(`detected API version: ${response}`);
}).catch(error => {
    window.alert(`could not get API version: ${error}`);
});

Or using curl:

curl localhost:8765 -X POST -d '{"action": "version"}'

Supported Actions

Below is a list of currently supported actions. Requests with invalid actions or parameters will a return null result.

• version

  Gets the version of the API exposed by this plugin. Currently versions 1 through 4 are defined.

  This should be the first call you make to make sure that your application and AnkiConnect are able to communicate properly with each other. New versions of AnkiConnect will backwards compatible; as long as you are using actions which are available in the reported AnkiConnect version or earlier, everything should work fine.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "version"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  4
  

• deckNames

  Gets the complete list of deck names for the current user.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "deckNames"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      "Default"
  ]
  

• modelNames

  Gets the complete list of model names for the current user.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "modelNames"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      "Basic",
      "Basic (and reversed card)"
  ]
  

• modelFieldNames

  Gets the complete list of field names for the provided model name.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "modelFieldNames",
      "params": {
          "modelName": "Basic"
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      "Front",
      "Back"
  ]
  

• addNote

  Creates a note using the given deck and model, with the provided field values and tags. Returns the identifier of the created note created on success, and null on failure.

  AnkiConnect can download audio files and embed them in newly created notes. The corresponding audio note member is optional and can be omitted. If you choose to include it, the url and filename fields must be also defined. The skipHash field can be optionally provided to skip the inclusion of downloaded files with an MD5 hash that matches the provided value. This is useful for avoiding the saving of error pages and stub files.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "addNote",
      "params": {
          "note": {
              "deckName": "Default",
              "modelName": "Basic",
              "fields": {
                  "Front": "front content",
                  "Back": "back content",
              },
              "tags": [
                  "yomichan",
              ],
              "audio": {
                  "url": "https://assets.languagepod101.com/dictionary/japanese/audiomp3.php?kanji=猫&kana=ねこ",
                  "filename": "yomichan_ねこ_猫.mp3",
                  "skipHash": "7e2c2f954ef6051373ba916f000168dc"
              }
          }
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  1496198395707
  

• addNotes

  Creates multiple notes using the given deck and model, with the provided field values and tags. Returns an array of identifiers of the created notes (notes that could not be created will have a null identifier). Please see the documentation for addNote for an explanation of objects in the notes array.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "addNotes",
      "params": {
          "notes": [
              {
                  "deckName": "Default",
                  "modelName": "Basic",
                  "fields": {
                      "Front": "front content",
                      "Back": "back content"
                  },
                  "tags": [
                      "yomichan"
                  ],
                  "audio": {
                      "url": "https://assets.languagepod101.com/dictionary/japanese/audiomp3.php?kanji=猫&kana=ねこ",
                      "filename": "yomichan_ねこ_猫.mp3",
                      "skipHash": "7e2c2f954ef6051373ba916f000168dc"
                  }
              }
          ]
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      1496198395707,
      null
  ]
  

• canAddNotes

  Accepts an array of objects which define parameters for candidate notes (see addNote) and returns an array of booleans indicating whether or not the parameters at the corresponding index could be used to create a new note.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "canAddNotes",
      "params": {
          "notes": [
              {
                  "deckName": "Default",
                  "modelName": "Basic",
                  "fields": {
                      "Front": "front content",
                      "Back": "back content"
                  },
                  "tags": [
                      "yomichan"
                  ]
              }
          ]
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      true
  ]
  

• guiBrowse

  Invokes the card browser and searches for a given query. Returns an array of identifiers of the cards that were found.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiBrowse",
      "params": {
          "query": "deck:current"
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  [
      1494723142483,
      1494703460437,
      1494703479525
  ]
  

• guiAddCards

  Invokes the AddCards dialog.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiAddCards"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  null
  

• guiCurrentCard

  Returns information about the current card or null if not in review mode.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiCurrentCard"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  {
      "answer": "back content",
      "question": "front content",
      "deckName": "Default",
      "modelName": "Basic",
      "cardId": 1498938915662,
      "buttons": [1, 2, 3]
  }
  

• guiShowQuestion

  Shows question text for the current card; returns true if in review mode or false otherwise.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiShowQuestion"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  true
  

• guiShowAnswer

  Shows answer text for the current card; returns true if in review mode or false otherwise.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiShowAnswer"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  true
  

• guiAnswerCard

  Answers the current card; returns true if succeeded or false otherwise. Note that the answer for the current card must be displayed before before any answer can be accepted by Anki.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "guiAnswerCard",
      "params": {
          "ease": 1
      }
  }
  

  Sample response:

  true
  

• upgrade

  Displays a confirmation dialog box in Anki asking the user if they wish to upgrade AnkiConnect to the latest version from the project's master branch on GitHub. Returns a boolean value indicating if the plugin was upgraded or not.

  Sample request:

  {
      "action": "upgrade"
  }
  

  Sample response:

  true
  

License

GPL