anki-miner 2.0.4

Automated Japanese vocabulary mining from anime subtitles with Anki integration

Anki Miner

Automated Japanese vocabulary mining from anime subtitles. Extracts unknown words, fetches definitions, pulls screenshots and audio from video files, and creates Anki flashcards automatically.

Showcase

App Showcase

Cards Created with Anki Miner

How It Works

1. Parse subtitles — Tokenizes Japanese text using MeCab morphological analysis
2. Filter words — Keeps content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and removes words already in your Anki collection
3. Extract media — Captures screenshots and audio clips from the video at each subtitle's timestamp using ffmpeg
4. Fetch definitions — Looks up English definitions from JMdict (offline) or the Jisho API
5. Create cards — Batch uploads everything to Anki via AnkiConnect

Features

• CLI and GUI — Use from the terminal or through a desktop application
• Batch processing — Process entire anime series at once with automatic video/subtitle file pairing
• Offline dictionary — Fast JMdict lookups with Jisho API fallback
• Parallel media extraction — Concurrent ffmpeg processes for speed
• Preview mode — See what words would be mined without creating any cards
• Smart filtering — Skips particles, pronouns, onomatopoeia, sound effects, and words you already know
• Theming — Light, Dark, and Japanese-inspired GUI themes

Installation

Requirements

• Python 3.10+ — download
• ffmpeg — must be on your PATH
  • macOS: brew install ffmpeg
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install ffmpeg
  • Windows: download from ffmpeg.org and add to PATH
• Anki with AnkiConnect installed
  • In Anki, go to Tools > Add-ons > Get Add-ons and paste code 2055492159
  • Restart Anki — AnkiConnect runs in the background while Anki is open

Install Anki Miner

Install with pipx (recommended, creates an isolated environment):

pipx install anki-miner

Don't have pipx? Install it first: pip install pipx && pipx ensurepath, then restart your terminal.

Or install with pip directly:

pip install anki-miner

Download standalone executable (no Python required)

Download the latest release for your platform:

Platform	Download
Windows	AnkiMiner-Windows-x86_64.zip
macOS	AnkiMiner-macOS-arm64.tar.gz
Linux	AnkiMiner-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Note: You still need ffmpeg installed and Anki running with the AnkiConnect add-on.

Manual installation (from source)

git clone https://github.com/0xzerolight/anki_miner.git
cd anki_miner
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
# or: venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows
pip install .

Create Desktop Shortcut (Optional)

Create a clickable shortcut to launch Anki Miner from your desktop or app menu:

anki_miner create-shortcut

• Linux: Adds "Anki Miner" to your application menu
• Windows: Creates an "Anki Miner" shortcut on your Desktop and Start Menu

Recommended Setup

These steps are optional but improve the experience.

Lapis Note Type

Anki Miner uses the Lapis note type fields by default (an open-source Anki note type for Japanese learning).

1. Download the latest .apkg from Lapis releases
2. In Anki, go to File > Import and select the .apkg file

The default field mapping:

Anki Miner Field	Note Field	Content
word	Expression	Dictionary form of the word
sentence	Sentence	Original subtitle line
definition	MainDefinition	English definitions
picture	Picture	Screenshot from the video
audio	SentenceAudio	Audio clip of the sentence

You can use a different note type by changing the field mappings in the GUI settings. As long as the note type contains all the 'Anki Miner' fields, it should work well with the app.

JMdict Offline Dictionary

For fast offline lookups, download JMdict:

mkdir -p ~/.anki_miner
wget -O ~/.anki_miner/JMdict_e.gz http://ftp.edrdg.org/pub/Nihongo/JMdict_e.gz
gunzip ~/.anki_miner/JMdict_e.gz

Without JMdict, Anki Miner falls back to the Jisho API (slower, requires internet, rate-limited).

Quick Start

CLI

# Mine a single episode
anki_miner mine video.mkv subs.ass

# Preview words without creating cards
anki_miner mine video.mkv subs.ass --preview

# Adjust subtitle timing (negative = earlier, positive = later)
anki_miner mine video.mkv subs.ass --offset -2.5

# Batch process a folder of episodes
anki_miner mine-folder ./episodes/

# Batch preview
anki_miner mine-folder ./episodes/ --preview

GUI

anki_miner_gui

The GUI provides three tabs:

• Single Episode — Mine one video/subtitle pair with file selectors and progress tracking
• Batch Processing — Queue multiple series for sequential processing
• Settings — Configure Anki connection, media extraction, dictionary, and word filtering options

Configuration

All settings can be adjusted in the GUI Settings tab. Here are the key options:

Setting	Default	Description
anki_deck_name	"Anki Miner"	Target Anki deck
anki_note_type	"Lapis"	Note type to use
audio_padding	0.3	Seconds added before/after audio clips
screenshot_offset	1.0	Seconds after subtitle start for screenshot
min_word_length	2	Minimum characters per word
max_parallel_workers	6	Concurrent ffmpeg processes
use_offline_dict	true	Use JMdict instead of Jisho API
subtitle_offset	0.0	Global subtitle timing adjustment

GUI settings are saved to ~/.anki_miner/gui_config.json. CLI commands use the default values shown above.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Cannot connect to Anki"	Start Anki and ensure AnkiConnect is installed
"Deck not found"	Create the deck in Anki or update the deck name in settings
"Note type not found"	Import the Lapis note type (see Installation above) or configure your own
"ffmpeg not found"	Install ffmpeg and add to PATH
"JMdict file not found"	Download to ~/.anki_miner/ (see Installation above) or disable offline dictionary
Audio is wrong language	The tool tries Japanese audio tracks first, then falls back to the default track
Subtitles out of sync	Use --offset (CLI) or the subtitle offset control (GUI) to adjust timing

Issues and Contributing

Found a bug or have an idea for a feature? Open an issue — all bug reports and suggestions are welcome.

Pull requests are also welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 — see the LICENSE file for details.