12 KiB
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:
- Open the Install Add-on dialog by selecting Tools > Add-ons > Browse & Install in Anki.
- Input 2055492159 into the text box labeled Code and press the OK button to proceed.
- 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:
-
Start the Terminal application.
-
Execute the following command in the terminal window:
defaults write net.ichi2.anki NSAppSleepDisabled -bool true
-
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
through4
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 foraddNote
for an explanation of objects in thenotes
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", "fieldOrder": 0, "fields": { "Front": { "value": "front content", "order": 0 }, "Back": { "value": "back content", "order": 1 } }, "cardId": 1498938915662, "buttons": [1, 2, 3] }
-
guiShowQuestion
Shows question text for the current card; returns
true
if in review mode orfalse
otherwise.Sample request:
{ "action": "guiShowQuestion" }
Sample response:
true
-
guiShowAnswer
Shows answer text for the current card; returns
true
if in review mode orfalse
otherwise.Sample request:
{ "action": "guiShowAnswer" }
Sample response:
true
-
guiAnswerCard
Answers the current card; returns
true
if succeeded orfalse
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
-
guiDeckOverview
Opens the Deck Overview screen for the deck with the given name; returns
true
if succeeded orfalse
otherwise.Sample request:
{ "action": "guiDeckOverview", "params": { "name": "Default" } }
Sample response:
true
-
guiDeckBrowser
Opens the Deck Browser screen.
Sample request:
{ "action": "guiDeckBrowser" }
Sample response:
null
-
guiDeckReview
Starts review for the deck with the given name; returns
true
if succeeded orfalse
otherwise.Sample request:
{ "action": "guiDeckReview", "params": { "name": "Default" } }
Sample response:
null
-
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