Anki MCP

Anki MCP

Use Anki Desktop from your AI chat app. Search, create, and edit notes; manage decks and cards; preview card HTML/CSS; and work with media and .apkg deck packages.

Your MCP client is the app you chat with, not Anki Desktop. It needs to support launching local MCP servers (also called stdio servers). It starts Anki MCP so your assistant can use the Anki tools.

Quick start

1. Install Node.js 24 or newer with npm.
2. In Anki Desktop, install AnkiConnect via Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons with code 2055492159. Restart Anki and keep it open.
3. Add the server configuration below in your MCP client's settings. No clone or global install is needed.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anki": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["--yes", "--prefer-online", "--package=@ryhus/anki-mcp@latest", "anki-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ANKI_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:8765",
        "ANKI_API_MODE": "v1"
      }
    }
  }
}

If your client has a form, put only npx in Command, enter the four Arguments separately, and add the two Environment variables shown above. ANKI_URL is the AnkiConnect address, not a remote MCP URL.

Reload the client and ask: “List my Anki decks without changing anything.”

@latest checks for the current release when the server starts; it does not update a running server. To control updates yourself, replace @latest with an exact published version, for example @0.1.0.

Try it

• “Find German notes tagged a1 that mention Haus.”
• “Draft three vocabulary notes for my German deck. Show me the drafts before creating them.”
• “Show me the front and back HTML of this card without changing it.”
• “Preview an export of my German deck without review history.”

Settings

• ANKI_API_MODE=v1 enables the full tool set with a compatible AnkiConnect build. For an older add-on, use legacy for the supported subset.
• To enable local .apkg import or export, set ANKI_PACKAGE_IMPORT_DIR or ANKI_PACKAGE_EXPORT_DIR to an existing, trusted absolute folder. Each is enabled separately and requires local AnkiConnect v1.
• To import media from disk, allowlist its source folder with ANKI_MEDIA_IMPORT_DIRS. Public HTTPS and base64 sources do not need this setting.

Review previews before approving destructive changes. Not every tool offers a preview. The server does not make backups or automatically retry writes; after an error, check Anki before repeating the action.

Troubleshooting

• The client cannot find npx: make sure both Node and npm are on the client's PATH. On Windows, use npx.cmd if your client needs the shim.
• Anki is unreachable: check that Anki is open and AnkiConnect is enabled. Use the base address in ANKI_URL without /api/v1.
• The package is not found: check that the requested version has been published and that your client can reach the npm registry.

MIT License.