Anki Card Manager

Manage Anki flashcards from Claude Code — create, update, delete, and browse. Scripts are bundled in ./scripts/. Full AnkiConnect API reference is in Anki-Connect.md.

Available operations

Create a card

./scripts/create_card.sh \
  --deck "CS" \
  --front "What guarantee does a WAL provide?" \
  --back "Durability — changes are written to a log before being applied, so committed transactions survive crashes." \
  --tags "databases,durability"

Create a card with an image on the front

Image is centered with text above it. Use for diagrams, screenshots, visual concepts.

# Local file
./scripts/create_card.sh \
  --deck "CS" \
  --front "What does this diagram show?" \
  --back "B-tree node split" \
  --image-path "/path/to/diagram.png" \
  --tags "algorithms"

# Remote URL (AnkiConnect downloads it)
./scripts/create_card.sh \
  --deck "CS" \
  --front "What pattern does this show?" \
  --back "CQRS" \
  --image-url "https://example.com/cqrs.png" \
  --tags "architecture"

Update a card

./scripts/update_card.sh --id NOTE_ID --front "Better question?" --back "Cleaner answer"
./scripts/update_card.sh --id NOTE_ID --tags "algorithms,trees"   # retag only

Delete a card

./scripts/delete_card.sh --id NOTE_ID

List cards (check for duplicates before creating)

./scripts/list_cards.sh --query "tag:algorithms added:7"
./scripts/list_cards.sh --deck "CS" --tag "algorithms"

List decks (discover deck names)

./scripts/anki_connect.sh

Card quality rules

Quality over quantity. Bad cards — vague fronts, bloated backs, trivia — create leeches that waste review time without building real knowledge.

1. Atomic — one fact per card. If the answer has "and", split it.
2. Short, specific front — few words, one unambiguous answer. Not open-ended.
3. Minimal back — no unnecessary text. If a structure speaks for itself, don't add explanation below it.
4. Visual over prose — prefer file trees, code blocks, or diagrams over sentences when the answer is structural.
5. No trivia — only things worth remembering long-term (concepts, gotchas, mental models).
6. Tag consistently — use lowercase, comma-separated (e.g. algorithms,trees).

Good card

• Front: What guarantee does a WAL provide?
• Back: Durability — changes are written to a log before being applied, so committed transactions survive crashes

Bad card

• Front: Explain CAP theorem, PACELC, and distributed consistency models
• Back: (four paragraphs) — too many facts, split into separate cards.

Workflow

1. Propose the card: show front, back, deck, and tags in a formatted block.
2. Wait for user approval. Never create without explicit confirmation.
3. Check duplicates with list_cards.sh --query "<relevant keywords>" before creating.
4. Create the card only after approval.
5. Confirm with the note ID from the output.

Troubleshooting

If the connection fails, Anki desktop must be running with the AnkiConnect addon installed (addon code: 2055492159). Full AnkiConnect API reference is in Anki-Connect.md.