Hi all! 
I recently started learning Spanish and I’m using Anki for learning. Reaaallly like the experience of using it.
Not really enjoying the process I have right now. Right now after the lesson I take the photos manually, then upload them into google drive. Later I download them on my cachy os powered PC and just prompt claude to do the stuff. I review it and then comes the most annoying part of the process. I have to generate .txt files, then later import them but before importing I have to create a new deck MANUALLY, then import and I export it in apkg format and share with other classmates.
I can of course create a fork of Anki, let the LLM explain me the codebase and develop / extract what I need and convert it to one script, but is there already existing solution that I could somehow automate .txt → apkg conversion?
I already have whole architecture for the fully automated process done, I just need automating .txt → apkg conversion / apkg creation. (and some prompt tweaking for well done one-shots).
Hey! You can generate a CSV file instead and then drag the csv file into the decks screen of Anki. This will open the import view and then you just need to change the field separator to be a comma.
You could then give this csv alone to other people and they could import it on their own.
Also what techniques have you used to make the AI flashcard generating go well? I’ve had mixed success, though I use it for a variety of subjects of STEM subjects like computer science and psychology, which makes it harder from more conceptual focus.
Tools and tips related to AI and Anki are shared on the r/AnkiAi subreddit, so if you look there you might find something.
Recently one of the popular AI tools is Anki MCP Server, allowing AI assistants like Claude to interact with your flashcard collection.
When collaborating with friends to create a deck it’s common to use Ankihub or AnkiCollab. (AnkiHub is a paid service but if you apply for a scholarship probably anyone can use it for free)
Hi Devine,
I’ve built an Anki add-on for this workflow:
Since you’re already using Claude to generate the content, you could use the add-on to skip the .txt-to-.apkg step entirely. Connect Claude to your Anki collection over MCP, and it can write cards directly into a deck in your local Anki. After pasting a photo into Claude, you can say “make cards from this in my Spanish deck,” and the deck updates while you watch.
The add-on connects your local Anki to Toolforest, a free hosted MCP platform I built. It works from ChatGPT, Grok, and other AI assistants too. Toolforest doesn’t store any user data, so your collection never leaves your computer.
I just added a link to add-on page for a YouTube video showing the setup steps plus a few automation examples. One of them builds a stylized Japanese vocabulary deck (custom note type, fonts, colors) from a single prompt. That example maps directly onto Spanish: same prompt, swap the language, add whatever fields you want (conjugations, example sentences, gender):
For sharing with classmates, the cards end up in your normal collection, so exporting an .apkg for them stays the usual one-click step in Anki. The automation just removes everything before that.
Happy to answer questions if you try it, and I welcome suggestions and feedback, both positive and negative.
Cheers,
Gerrit