Anki Card Creator

Create Anki flashcards directly via the anki MCP server (AnkiConnect).

Prerequisites

• Anki desktop must be running
• AnkiConnect addon installed (addon code 2055492159)
• Run health tool first if unsure about connectivity

Routing

Check the ARGUMENTS passed to this skill:

• `extract` → Follow the Extract Workflow below
• `progress` → Call the progress MCP tool and present results
• Anything else / no args → Follow the Manual Card Creation Workflow

Extract Workflow

Trigger: /anki extract — scans the full conversation, finds extractable knowledge, deduplicates against existing cards, proposes a batch of new cards and updates, then creates them after user approval.

Principle: Knowledge Graph, Not Knowledge Dump

Each card is a unique node in a knowledge graph. Never duplicate — instead:

• If a concept already has a card, update it or create a follow-up card that builds on it
• Use tags to connect related concepts across decks
• Ask "next level" questions that deepen understanding rather than restating basics

Step 1: Gather Context (parallel)

Run these in parallel:

1. list_decks — get existing deck structure
2. search_notes with broad queries covering the session's main topics (e.g., tag:terraform, deck:Delphi, keywords from discussion) — get existing cards in relevant areas. Run multiple searches to cover all topics discussed.

Step 2: Analyze the Conversation

Scan the full conversation for extractable knowledge. Look for:

Skip: things the user clearly already knows, trivial operations, session-specific details (file paths, variable names) that won't generalize.

Step 3: Deduplicate and Place

For each candidate card:

1. Check against existing cards from Step 1 — does this concept already exist?

• If yes and the existing card is incomplete: propose an update (show old → new)
• If yes and the existing card is adequate: skip it
• If no: propose a new card

1. Choose deck: slot into existing deck hierarchy. Only propose a new deck if nothing fits.
2. Choose tags: reuse existing tags where possible. Add new tags only when they represent a genuinely new topic.

Step 4: Present Batch for Approval

Present all proposed cards in a single batch. Format:

## Proposed Anki Cards

### New Cards (N)

**1. [Deck::Subdeck]** `tag1` `tag2`
> **Q**: What does X do?
> **A**: It does Y because Z.

**2. [Deck::Subdeck]** `tag1` `tag3`
> **Q**: Why does A happen when B?
> **A**: Because C — the key insight is D.

### Updates (M)

**1. Update note ID 12345** [Deck]
> **Before**: Old back content...
> **After**: Improved back content with new insight...

### Skipped (K duplicates found)
- "concept X" — already covered by note 12345
- "concept Y" — already covered by note 67890

---
Create these? (or tell me what to change)

Step 5: Create and Sync

After user approves (or after applying requested changes):

1. add_notes for new cards
2. update_note for each update
3. sync to push to AnkiWeb

Manual Card Creation Workflow

1. Check connectivity: Call health if this is the first card creation in the session
2. Check for existing cards: Use search_notes with relevant query to avoid duplicates
3. Create cards: Use add_notes with a list of NoteInput objects
4. Sync: Call sync after adding cards to push to AnkiWeb

Card Quality Rules

1. Front should be a clear question — test recall, not recognition
2. Back should be concise but complete
3. One concept per card (atomic cards)
4. Prefer "why" and "how" questions over "what" — they test deeper understanding
5. For debugging insights: front = the symptom/error, back = root cause + fix
6. For patterns: front = "when should you use X?", back = the decision criteria

Card Formatting

Use HTML in front/back fields:

• <kbd>key</kbd> for keyboard keys and shortcuts
• <code>command</code> for CLI commands, code snippets, function names
• <b>term</b> for emphasis and key terms
• <br> for line breaks
• <ul><li>...</li></ul> for lists

Deck Conventions

• Use descriptive deck names with :: hierarchy (e.g., AWS::IAM, Neovim::Keybindings)
• Check existing decks with list_decks before creating new ones
• Default deck is "Default" — always specify a meaningful deck name

Tag Conventions

• Lowercase, hyphenated (e.g., rails, python, algorithms, pr-review)
• Space-separated in Anki, list in the API
• Add context tags: topic + source (e.g., ["terraform", "aws", "session-review"])
• Add session-extract tag to all cards created via the extract workflow

Example (Manual)

add_notes(notes=[
    NoteInput(
        front="What does <code>terraform plan</code> do?",
        back="Shows what changes Terraform <b>would</b> make without applying them.<br>Compares desired state (config) with current state (state file).",
        tags=["terraform", "cli"],
        deck="DevOps::Terraform",
    ),
])

Then call sync to push to AnkiWeb.