anki-cli

Hybrid Anki CLI for humans and agents.

anki-cli supports both:

• AnkiConnect backend (use a running Anki Desktop instance)
• Direct SQLite backend (operate directly on collection files)

Current release: 0.1.4 (alpha).

Install

From PyPI (recommended):

uv tool install anki-cli
anki --version

With optional TUI extras:

uv tool install "anki-cli[tui]"

Quick Start

Inspect environment and backend:

anki status
anki version

List core entities:

anki decks
anki notetypes
anki tags

Query cards and notes:

anki cards --query "deck:Default is:due"
anki notes --query "tag:verb"
anki search --query "(tag:verb OR tag:noun) -is:suspended"

Inspect individual objects:

anki card --id 1234567890
anki note --id 1234567890
anki deck --deck "Default"
anki notetype --name "Basic"

Backend Modes

Global backend selection:

anki --backend auto ...
anki --backend ankiconnect ...
anki --backend direct ...

Collection override (direct backend):

anki --backend direct --col "/path/to/collection.anki2" status

Backend behavior:

• auto: detects and chooses best available backend
• ankiconnect: forwards search queries to findCards and findNotes
• direct: compiles queries to SQL and executes directly on the collection DB

Search Query Language

Supported filters:

• deck:NAME (supports * glob)
• notetype:NAME
• tag:NAME (supports * glob)
• is:new, is:learn, is:review, is:due, is:suspended, is:buried
• flag:N
• prop:ivl>N, prop:due>N, prop:reps>N, prop:lapses>N (<, <=, =, >=, >)
• nid:ID, cid:ID
• bare text and quoted text ("specific text")

Logical syntax:

• implicit AND from whitespace
• explicit OR
• unary - and NOT
• parentheses for grouping

Examples:

anki cards --query "deck:Japanese is:due"
anki cards --query "tag:verb -is:suspended"
anki notes --query "\"specific text\""
anki cards --query "(tag:a OR tag:b) is:new"

Common Commands

Cards

anki cards --query "deck:Default"
anki card --id 123
anki card:suspend --query "is:due"
anki card:unsuspend --id 123
anki card:move --query "tag:to-move" --deck "Archive"
anki card:flag --query "is:review" --flag 3
anki card:bury --query "deck:Default"
anki card:unbury --deck "Default"
anki card:reschedule --query "tag:reset-me" --days 3
anki card:reset --query "tag:relearn"
anki card:revlog --id 123 --limit 20

Notes and tags

anki notes --query "deck:Default"
anki note --id 123
anki note:add --deck "Default" --notetype "Basic" --Front "Q" --Back "A"
anki note:edit --id 123 --Front "Updated Q" --Back "Updated A"
anki note:fields --id 123
anki note:delete --id 123 --yes
anki tag --tag "verb"
anki tag:add --query "deck:Default" --tag "important"
anki tag:remove --id 123 --tag "important"
anki tag:rename --from "old" --to "new"

Decks and notetypes

anki deck --deck "Default"
anki deck:create --name "Japanese::Vocab"
anki deck:rename --from "Old" --to "New"
anki deck:delete --deck "Temporary" --yes
anki deck:config --deck "Default"
anki deck:config:set --deck "Default" --new-per-day 20 --reviews-per-day 200

anki notetypes
anki notetype --name "Basic"
anki notetype:create --name "MyType" --field "Front" --field "Back"
anki notetype:field:add --notetype "Basic" --field "Extra"
anki notetype:field:remove --notetype "Basic" --field "Extra"
anki notetype:css --notetype "Basic" --set ".card { font-size: 18px; }"

Review

anki review
anki review:next
anki review:show
anki review:preview --id 123
anki review:answer --id 123 --rating good
anki review:undo

Interactive TUI review (requires TUI extras, direct backend):

anki review:start --deck "Japanese"

Output and Exit Codes

Global output formats:

anki --format json ...
anki --format table ...
anki --format md ...
anki --format csv ...
anki --format plain ...

Exit codes:

• 0: success
• 1: backend operation failed
• 2: invalid input or confirmation required
• 4: entity not found
• 7: backend unavailable

AI Agent Integration

This repo ships a SKILL.md at the project root that AI agents (Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, etc.) can consume to operate anki-cli without human guidance. It covers the full command reference, JSON output structure, search query syntax, error codes, and common workflows.

To use it in Cursor, copy or symlink it into your skills directory:

# Personal skill (available across all projects)
mkdir ~/.cursor/skills/anki-cli
cp SKILL.md ~/.cursor/skills/anki-cli/SKILL.md

# Or project-local skill (shared via the repo)
mkdir .cursor/skills/anki-cli
cp SKILL.md .cursor/skills/anki-cli/SKILL.md

For other AI coding agents, point them at SKILL.md in the repo root or include it in your agent's context/system prompt.

Safety Notes

• Use --yes for destructive operations (note:delete, deck:delete).
• In direct mode, avoid write operations while Anki Desktop is open.
• If Anki Desktop is running, prefer --backend ankiconnect.

Development

uv sync --group dev
uv run ruff check .
uv run ty check
uv run pytest

With optional TUI dependencies:

uv sync --group dev --extra tui
uv run pytest -m tui

License

MIT. See LICENSE.