AnkiMCP Server (Addon)

Seamlessly integrate Anki with AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol

An Anki addon that exposes your collection to AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

What is this?

AnkiMCP Server runs a local MCP server inside Anki, allowing AI assistants like Claude to interact with your flashcard collection. This enables AI-powered study sessions, card creation, and collection management.

Part of the ankimcp.ai project.

Note on First Run

On first run, this addon downloads pydantic_core (~2MB) from PyPI. This is required because pydantic_core contains platform-specific binaries (Windows/macOS/Linux) that cannot be bundled in a single addon file.

Features

• Local HTTP server - Runs on http://127.0.0.1:3141/ by default
• Remote tunnel - Access your collection from anywhere via a public HTTPS URL
• MCP protocol - Compatible with any MCP client (Claude Desktop, etc.)
• Auto-start - HTTP server starts automatically when Anki opens
• Tunnel-friendly - Works with Cloudflare Tunnel, ngrok, or the built-in tunnel (exposing the HTTP server this way also requires extending the allowed hosts/origins)
• DNS-rebinding protection - The HTTP server validates Host/Origin headers against a loopback allowlist by default; extend it for tunnel/reverse-proxy exposure
• Optional API key - Require an Authorization: Bearer token on the HTTP transport via http_api_key (AnkiConnect-style; empty = disabled)
• Toolbar indicator - A ● AnkiMCP item in the top toolbar shows tunnel connection state at a glance (opt out via show_toolbar_indicator)
• Diagnostic logging - Opt-in log_to_file writes a rotating, secret-redacted log to user_files/ankimcp.log, with Open log folder / Copy diagnostics buttons in settings
• Field management - Add, rename, and reposition note-type fields via the model_fields tool (with an opt-in destructive remove)
• Bulk card stats - The read-only cards_stats tool returns compact per-card scheduling metrics (type/queue/interval/tags/dueToday) for a whole deck including subdecks, FSRS-independent — a lean bulk read for analytics
• Cross-platform - Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux (x64 and ARM)

Installation

From AnkiWeb (recommended)

1. Open Anki and go to Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons...
2. Enter code: 124672614
3. Restart Anki

From GitHub Releases

1. Download anki_mcp_server.ankiaddon from Releases
2. Double-click to install, or use Tools → Add-ons → Install from file...
3. Restart Anki

NixOS

With flakes (recommended)

Add the flake input and use the pre-built package:

# flake.nix
{
  inputs.anki-mcp.url = "github:ankimcp/anki-mcp-server-addon";

  outputs = { nixpkgs, anki-mcp, ... }: {
    # Option A: Standalone — Anki with the addon pre-installed
    environment.systemPackages = [
      anki-mcp.packages.${system}.default
    ];

    # Option B: Composable with other addons via overlay
    nixpkgs.overlays = [ anki-mcp.overlays.default ];
    environment.systemPackages = [
      (pkgs.anki.withAddons [ pkgs.ankiAddons.anki-mcp-server ])
    ];
  };
}

Without flakes

# configuration.nix
{ pkgs, ... }:
let
  python3 = pkgs.python3;

  ankiMcpPythonDeps = python3.withPackages (ps: with ps; [
    mcp pydantic pydantic-settings starlette uvicorn anyio httpx websockets
  ]);

  anki-mcp-server = pkgs.anki-utils.bui

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/ankimcp/anki-mcp-server-addon#readme)