New online installer/launcher

[sprvlcn]

Switching between versions was described in dae’s post above. You do have to edit the TOML file.

[sprvlcn]

Using 25.06b5 ( 782645d) on Windows,

• Typing anki into the Task Manager search shows nothing.
• Typing mpv into the Task Manager search shows “〉Python”, and clicking to expand shows “﹀ Python” with “mpv” displayed on the next line.

[andrewsanchez]

Here are a couple of add-on errors resulting from assumptions about the version string:

ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10

Anki 25.06b5 (782645d9) (ao)
Python 3.13.5 Qt 6.8.1 PyQt 6.8.0
Platform: macOS-14.6.1-arm64-arm-64bit-Mach-O

When loading AnkiConnect:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/addons.py", line 250, in loadAddons
    __import__(addon.dir_name)
    ~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/2055492159/__init__.py", line 19, in <module>
    anki_version = tuple(int(segment) for segment in aqt.appVersion.split("."))
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/2055492159/__init__.py", line 19, in <genexpr>
    anki_version = tuple(int(segment) for segment in aqt.appVersion.split("."))
                         ~~~^^^^^^^^^
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '06b5'

When loading The KING of Button Add-ons:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/addons.py", line 250, in loadAddons
    __import__(addon.dir_name)
    ~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/374005964/__init__.py", line 13, in <module>
    from . import answer_buttons
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/374005964/answer_buttons.py", line 12, in <module>
    from .nmcheck import isnightmode
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/374005964/nmcheck.py", line 5, in <module>
    old_anki = tuple(int(i) for i in anki_version.split(".")) < (2, 1, 20)
               ~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users/andrewsanchez/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/374005964/nmcheck.py", line 5, in <genexpr>
    old_anki = tuple(int(i) for i in anki_version.split(".")) < (2, 1, 20)
                     ~~~^^^
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '06b5'

I also noticed on MacOS there is no Anki icon in the dock and Python 3.1.13 is apparently being used. Maybe something caused by my local uv installation Kinda odd because my gobal system python is 3.12.9

[dishkun]

same issue

[dae]

I have not had time to address all the issues yet (some will require a new beta), but new launchers are now available to try:

Release packaging-test: Extend launcher to other platforms + more ·...

Use the same debug console command mentioned here after installing it:

New online installer/launcher

A new beta has been released: Auto-update If you start Anki, you’ll notice nothing has changed, because update checks do not happen on every run. To simulate what happens after agreeing to an update pop-up, open the debug console and run the following: from aqt.update import update_and_restart as u; u() Or you can remove the pyproject.toml file mentioned below. Switching between versions The standard pyproject.toml that you’ll find in your AnkiProgramFiles folder (see top post) looks like…

Make sure betas are enabled in the menu before you try to update to the latest (which is still 25.06b5).

[salman]

@dae

Automatic updates

This build introduces support for automatic updates. When Anki’s ‘update available’ pop-up appears, answering yes to “download it now?” will trigger an automatic upgrade on the next launch. We can’t easily test this during beta testing, but I’ll provide steps to manually trigger it when the next beta is available (likely tomorrow), so you can see how much faster/convenient it is.

Feature request: Allow user to select beta or stable release from a drop down menu next to this option

[llama]

The error message when trying to install the latest anki whlle Allow betas is off might be a bit daunting

1) Latest Anki (just press enter)
2) Choose a version
3) Keep existing version

4) Allow betas: off
5) Quit
> 1

Updating Anki...

Ignoring existing lockfile due to change in pre-release mode: `allow` vs. `if-necessary-or-explicit`
  x No solution found when resolving dependencies for split (python_full_version >= '3.10'):
  `-> Because there is no version of anki==0.1.2 and anki-release==0.1.2 depends on anki==0.1.2, we can conclude that
      anki-release==0.1.2 cannot be used.
      And because only anki-release==0.1.2 is available and your project depends on anki-release, we can conclude that
      your project's requirements are unsatisfiable.

      hint: Pre-releases are available for `anki-release` in the requested range (e.g., 25.6b5), but pre-releases
      weren't enabled (try: `--prerelease=allow`)
Install failed: Failed with code Some(1): C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Programs\Anki\uv.exe sync --upgrade --managed-python --python 3.13.5

1) Latest Anki (just press enter)
2) Choose a version
3) Keep existing version

4) Allow betas: off
5) Quit

[dae]

That won’t happen once the first stable release with this system goes out.

[vaibhav]

This launcher uses the classic Windows Console interface instead of the modern Terminal app even though Terminal is the default on my computer.

The previous launcher used the Terminal app.

[Shigeyuki]

@andrewsanchez

Here are a couple of add-on errors resulting from assumptions about the version string:

This error seems to be caused by the version of Anki returned by aqt.appVersion in the pre-release being 25.06b5 instead of numbers. (If future official releases do not include a string like b5 this error may not occur?) If you use pointVersion instead I think it’s probably safe (pointVersion is available from Anki2.1.20+). from anki.utils import pointVersion

[giragira]

One thing I only noticed today, is even though I’m using an M2 Mac and had definitely installed the Apple Silicon binaries before, now apparently after using the launcher it’s all Intel binaries. I had noticed everything being a bit slower to load than before and on a hunch opened Activity Monitor to check.

Sorry if this is intentional for now, then I overlooked something. But if not, this would be nice to have native builds.

[mbrubeck]

I’m using the new launcher and have Apple Silicon binaries (on an M4 machine).

[giragira]

Figured out the reason: I had the Terminal.app set to start with Rosetta emulation (you can right click > “show info” on any app with universal binaries and there’ll be a checkbox beneath the copyright info). Because the new Anki launcher uses that to install itself in macOS, then the whole install also got emulated apparently. I guess it’s my fault, even though I would describe this kind of interaction here as unexpected.

I don’t normally use Terminal.app myself but another terminal emulator, so I didn’t notice this in daily usage of my system.

(Edit: If this happened to you and you want to switch to Apple Silicon, make sure to also remove the python binary and everything located under .local/share/uv otherwise it will just install the Intel version again.)

[tatsumoto]

@dae

Anki’s dependencies are placed in the following locations:
~/.local/share/AnkiProgramFiles

Is it still possible to use system dependencies (the way anki package in the AUR does currently)? I don’t like the idea of storing dependencies in the home folder when they’re already installed in the system.

[antecrescent]

Building the program with OFFLINE_BUILD=1 and system dependencies still works. With the environment variable set, the build system skips building the launcher though, so you don’t get auto-updates.

[Anon_0000]

@antecrescent

Building the program with OFFLINE_BUILD=1 and system dependencies still works.

I’m assuming this will be phased out in the future, when the launcher becomes the default.

Though I really wish that this way of building anki (i.e having a complete offline build) will still be possible in the future.

[dae]

New launchers and a new beta are now available: Anki 25.06 Beta - #117 by dae

I’ll post a follow-up with replies to various posts either later tonight or tomorrow.

[dae]

@vaibhav

@dae

@cjdduarte

Let me check if I understood this correctly. From version B6 onwards, does Anki now update itself automatically whenever I open it,

The AnkiProgramFiles location is hard-coded, but the user can install the app elsewhere on Windows

Not a high priority thing, but hardcoded by whom?

(Getting deja vu - apologies if I’m repeating myself here)

We can’t just use the place Anki’s installed, as it may be a read-only location, and it definitely is on macOS & on Linux when installed in a system folder.

@cjdduarte

Let me check if I understood this correctly. From version B6 onwards, does Anki now update itself automatically whenever I open it,

From the latest installer/beta, you can use the new option in the tools menu to update to a different release. The old pop-up notifications will also work to update, but they aren’t sent out for every minor update, and certainly not betas.

There are some caveats/surprises. You lose the upgrade/downgrade menu option in older versions, though an add-on could provide that, or you can manually re-run the Windows installer, bump the pyproject.toml mtime, or remove the AnkiProgramFiles folder. And older versions won’t be able to play audio unless mpv is on the path. But this should only be an issue for stable releases made prior to this launcher.

@sommerluk

With the new installer package, I cannot launch Anki anymore:

Preparing to start Anki…

Using CPython 3.13.5
Creating virtual environment at: .venv
Resolved 64 packages in 12.90s
error: Distribution anki==25.6b5 @ registry+https://pypi.org/simple can’t be installed because it doesn’t have a source distribution or wheel for the current platform

hint: You’re on Linux (manylinux_2_35_x86_64)

Recent builds require glibc2.36 or later. glibc has no way of targeting older versions, so the glibc you build on is the oldest you can target, and we need a modern-enough one that can also support ARM64 for development.

@sommerluk

Will Flathub be able to still deliver up-to-date Anki packages?

@Anon_0000

@antecrescent

Building the program with OFFLINE_BUILD=1 and system dependencies still works.

I’m assuming this will be phased out in the future, when the launcher becomes the default.

The launcher is an additional layer. As I covered earlier, distros doing 1 or 2 should only require minor changes, and the launcher is optional.

@Shigeyuki

This error seems to be caused by the version of Anki returned by aqt.appVersion in the pre-release being 25.06b5 instead of numbers.

Anki 25.06 Beta

Thanks. HyperTTS looks to be vendoring some third-party code that I’m guessing has broken with the switch to Python 3.13 on Windows. @lucw The other ones are caused by the add-ons trying to parse the version number instead of using Porting tips for Anki 23.10. If they follow recommended practice, it’ll fix the problem. Those errors won’t happen for stable releases - they’re caused by the beta/rc tag being included in the version number now.

[SyperEblostrel]

Sorry maybe I missed this, but I have a few q’s:
Is there (still) any way to run it with system Qt?
Does this affect building and running from source package in any way?

[MatejKafka]

Unfortunately, this installer format is a showstopper for portable installation, such as what Scoop or Pog (my project) are doing.

Both package managers download the installer .exe, but unpack it using 7zip and then run Anki by passing -b path/to/portable/data/dir. With launchers, there’s not really any way to unpack them, so I’ll have to drop support for new versions of Anki, and I suspect Scoop will do the same.

If you want to keep the launcher, could you please at least provide a static .zip for each version with everything necessary to run Anki?