Anki MCP Server

A FastMCP server for interacting with Anki through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This server provides comprehensive tools for managing Anki decks, notes, and note types, with advanced features including AI-powered audio generation, bulk operations, and semantic similarity search.

External APIs Used

This project integrates with several external APIs to provide enhanced functionality:

Google Cloud Text-to-Speech API

• Purpose: High-quality audio generation from text using Google’s Chirp voices
• Use Case: Generate pronunciation audio files for flashcards
• Features: HD quality voices with natural pronunciation, especially excellent for Chinese
• Setup: Requires GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY environment variable

AnkiConnect API (Local)

• Purpose: Interface with Anki desktop application
• Use Case: All Anki operations (create/read/update notes, manage decks, etc.)
• Features: Complete Anki functionality via HTTP API
• Setup: AnkiConnect add-on must be installed and Anki must be running

Setup

1. Install dependencies using uv:

   uv sync
   

2. Make sure Anki is running with the AnkiConnect add-on installed:

   • In Anki, go to Tools > Add-ons > Get Add-ons
   • Enter code: 2055492159
   • Restart Anki

3. (Optional) Set up API key for audio generation:

   # For audio generation with Google Cloud TTS
   export GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY='your-google-cloud-api-key-here'
   

4. Run the server:

   uv run server.py
   

Claude Desktop Integration

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop, add the following configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

Configuration Location

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Configuration Example

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "anki-mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/your/anki-mcp/",
        "run",
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY": "your-google-cloud-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup Steps

1. Ensure dependencies are installed: Make sure you’ve run uv sync in your anki-mcp directory
2. Find your config file at the location above (create it if it doesn’t exist)
3. Update the path: Replace /path/to/your/anki-mcp/ with the actual path to your anki-mcp directory
4. Add your API key:
   • Replace your-google-cloud-api-key-here with your actual Google Cloud API key (for audio generation)
5. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect

Important Notes

• Make sure Anki is running with the AnkiConnect add-on before using the tools
• The uv command will automatically handle the Python environment and dependencies
• Make sure uv is installed on your system (curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh)