Anki MCP Desktop

What anki-mcp/anki-mcp-desktop MCP server does

The anki-mcp/anki-mcp-desktop MCP server connects an AI assistant to the Anki spaced-repetition application. Its tools cover the main collection objects: cards, notes, decks, tags, media, and note models. It also supports study-session actions, including retrieving cards, showing a question, recording a rating, resetting scheduling, and moving a card's due date.

Review tools can retrieve due cards or filter cards by states such as new, learning, suspended, or buried. Deck filters are available for card queries and due-card retrieval. The server can report deck-level study queues and card-state information, while collection and review statistics are also described in the repository documentation.

For content management, the server can create individual notes or batches of up to 100 notes, search with Anki query syntax, inspect note fields and styling, update HTML-aware fields, and delete notes with their associated cards. Deck creation supports a parent and child structure up to two levels, and cards can be moved into a destination deck that is created when needed.

How it works

The MCP tools operate on the connected Anki collection and can synchronize it with AnkiWeb using sync. Card content is rendered for the individual card from its template, which supports reversed and cloze cards as well as template-provided static text. Review ratings use Anki's Again, Hard, Good, and Easy choices and schedule the next review.

Scheduling changes have different meanings. forgetCards resets cards to new without recording a review, while setDueDate moves the next due date without adding a review record. Deletion and cleanup operations are destructive and require confirmation according to the tool descriptions.

Media can be listed, retrieved as base64, uploaded from base64, an absolute local path, or a URL, and deleted from Anki's collection.media directory. The model tools expose available note types, fields, CSS, and card templates. The README also describes model creation and model-field or template changes, including workflows for custom right-to-left styling.

Setup and configuration

The repository describes the anki-mcp/anki-mcp-desktop MCP server as supporting one-click MCPB installation and includes documentation for use with Claude Desktop. The supplied material does not provide a complete installation command or configuration block, so deployment details should be taken from the project's current documentation. The project is labeled beta, and its APIs and features may change during active development.

AnkiWeb synchronization is available through the server's sync tool. The material does not specify environment variables, API keys, or an external authentication configuration.

Tools and capabilities

Supported capability groups include:

• Review cards, retrieve due cards, inspect card states, and record ratings.
• List, create, inspect, and reorganize decks.
• Create, search, inspect, update, batch-create, and delete notes.
• Add, remove, replace, and clean up tags.
• List, download, upload, and delete collection media.
• Inspect note models, fields, styling, and front/back templates.
• Drive selected Anki desktop interface workflows through GUI tools described in the README.

The README distinguishes GUI tools from review tools: GUI operations are intended for note editing, note creation, and deck-management workflows rather than review sessions.