anki-cli 0.1.0

Hybrid Anki CLI for humans and agents

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: 0.1.0 (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

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.