Anki Flashcard Management

Use the anki.sh script to create and manage flashcards via AnkiConnect.

ANKI="$(dirname "$SKILL_PATH")/scripts/anki.sh"

Preflight:

Ensure Anki desktop is running with AnkiConnect enabled
Ensure curl and jq are available in PATH

CRITICAL: User Approval Required

NEVER add cards to Anki without explicit user approval.

Before adding any cards:

Display all proposed cards in full (front + back)
Ask user to confirm: "Ready to add these cards?"
Only proceed after explicit "yes" / approval

This is non-negotiable. Users must review card quality before adding.

For potentially destructive or irreversible actions:

delete: ask explicit confirmation before deleting notes
update: confirm exact fields/IDs before updating notes
rate: show card + suggested rating, then wait for user confirmation before submitting

Guidelines

MUST use the Anki Markdown note type for basic cards or Anki Markdown Cloze for cloze deletions
Use markdown for both front and back fields
Test exactly one fact or idea per card
Make questions atomic and simple
Keep questions and answers short, clear, and unambiguous
Ensure each card has one unique, specific answer
Avoid long lists or multiple items in one card
Add context or hints so your future self understands
Personalize with examples or mnemonics if helpful
Allow multiple simple cards for important concepts
Create multiple variants of important questions from different angles
Connect cards to personal goals and projects to avoid "orphan" facts
Always use syntax highlighting for code (see Code Snippets section)
When creating multiple related cards, use bulk operations for efficiency

Choosing Card Type

Use Anki Markdown (Front/Back) for question-answer pairs where you write a specific question. Use Anki Markdown Cloze (Text/Extra) for fill-in-the-blank cards where hiding parts of a statement is more natural than writing a question.

Cloze Cards

Use Anki Markdown Cloze for fill-in-the-blank cards. Fields are Text and Extra.

Syntax

Three forms:

{{c1::answer}} - shows [...] on front
{{c1::answer::hint}} - shows [hint] on front
{{c1::answer::blur}} - shows blurred content on front (reveals shape but not text)

Full markdown works inside cloze deletions: bold, italic, highlights, inline code with language tags, links, images, code blocks, and tables.

Multiple Cards

Each cloze number (c1, c2, c3...) generates a separate card. Use different numbers to test different facts from the same note:

{"Text": "{{c1::HTML}} provides structure, {{c2::CSS}} provides style."}

This produces 2 cards. Card 1 hides "HTML", card 2 hides "CSS".

Using the same number multiple times hides all instances on the same card:

{"Text": "{{c1::React}} and {{c1::Vue}} are frontend frameworks."}

This produces 1 card that hides both "React" and "Vue".

Nested Cloze

Cloze deletions can be nested. The outer cloze hides everything including the inner:

{"Text": "{{c1::Canberra was {{c2::founded}}}} in 1913."}

Card 1 hides "Canberra was founded". Card 2 only hides "founded".

Inline Code in Cloze

Inline code with language tags works inside cloze. Note the triple closing braces (}}}) when code uses {lang} syntax:

{"Text": "Use {{c1::`querySelector()`{js}}} to find DOM elements."}

Extra Field

The Extra field appears on the back of every card. Use it for context, examples, or references. It supports full markdown including code blocks and callouts.

Cloze Examples

# Basic cloze
$ANKI add "MyDeck" "Anki Markdown Cloze" '{"Text":"The {{c1::CPU}} executes {{c2::instructions}}.","Extra":"Basic computer architecture."}' --tags "cs"

# Cloze with hint
$ANKI add "MyDeck" "Anki Markdown Cloze" '{"Text":"{{c1::JavaScript::language}} was created in {{c2::1995::year}}.","Extra":"Created by Brendan Eich."}' --tags "history"

# Cloze with blur
$ANKI add "MyDeck" "Anki Markdown Cloze" '{"Text":"The speed of light is {{c1::299,792,458 m/s::blur}}.","Extra":"Often approximated as 3 x 10^8 m/s."}' --tags "physics"

Front Field Format

Use markdown on the front to highlight key terms the question is about:

Use bold or ==highlight== for the main concept being tested
Use inline code for technical terms, functions, or syntax

Example: What does **vertex_index** return in WGSL?

Back Field Format

Use this format for the Back field:

Bold one-liner with the direct answer
Blank line
Additional context in normal text (optional)

Formatting for Fast Skimming

Use ==highlighted== to make key terms stand out at a glance
Use bold for critical concepts within explanations
Use syntax highlighting for all code blocks including inline
Optimize for quick visual scanning—readers should grasp the core idea instantly

Keyboard Shortcuts

Use <kbd> tags for keyboard keys:

Press <kbd>Cmd</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>P</kbd> to open the command palette.

Code Snippets

Always use syntax highlighting:

Fenced blocks: Use triple backticks with language (js, python, ```rust, etc.)
Inline code: Use `code`{lang} syntax (e.g., `const x = 1`{js})

Advanced features:

Line highlighting: ```js {2} to highlight line 2
Word highlighting: ```js /pattern/ to highlight specific words
Focus mode: Add // [!code focus] comment to focus specific lines

Callouts

Use GitHub-style alerts sparingly for important notes:

> [!TIP]
> Brief helpful insight here.

> [!NOTE]
> Useful context the learner should know.

> [!WARNING]
> Common mistake or gotcha to avoid.

Example

Front: What does `passEncoder.draw(3)`{js} do with **no vertex buffer**?
Back:

**Invokes the ==vertex shader== 3 times.**

The shader uses `@builtin(vertex_index)`{wgsl} to generate positions ==procedurally==.

> [!TIP]
> Useful for fullscreen quads without geometry data.

Common Operations

Run via $ANKI <action> [args...]:

Action	Description	Example
`sync`	Trigger AnkiWeb sync	`$ANKI sync`
`decks`	List decks	`$ANKI decks --stats`
`models`	List note types	`$ANKI models`
`fields`	Fields for a model	`$ANKI fields "Anki Markdown"`
`find`	Search notes	`$ANKI find "deck:Spanish tag:verb"`
`info`	Note details	`$ANKI info 1234 5678`
`add`	Add one note	`$ANKI add "My Deck" "Anki Markdown" '{"Front":"Q","Back":"A"}' --tags "t1 t2"`
`add-bulk`	Add many notes	`$ANKI add-bulk "My Deck" "Anki Markdown" '[{"Front":"Q1","Back":"A1"}]'`
`update`	Update fields	`$ANKI update 1234 '{"Front":"New Q"}'`
`delete`	Delete notes	`$ANKI delete 1234 5678`
`due`	Get due cards	`$ANKI due "My Deck" --limit 5`
`review`	Show card	`$ANKI review 1234`
`rate`	Rate card (1-4)	`$ANKI rate 1234 3`
`tags`	List tags	`$ANKI tags --pattern "verb"`

Typical workflow

$ANKI sync                          # sync first
$ANKI decks                         # check available decks
$ANKI models                        # verify required model exists
$ANKI fields "Anki Markdown"        # verify field names for selected model
$ANKI find "deck:MyDeck front:test" # check for duplicates
$ANKI add "MyDeck" "Anki Markdown" '{"Front":"...","Back":"..."}'
$ANKI sync                          # sync after changes