genanki-mnemocards 0.13.0
Generate Anki decks programmatically
License: MIT
Requires Python: >=3.6
Keywords: anki,flashcards,memorization

# genanki: A Library for Generating Anki Decks

`genanki` allows you to programatically generate decks in Python 3 for Anki, a popular spaced-repetition flashcard
program. Please see below for concepts and usage.

*This library and its author(s) are not affiliated/associated with the main Anki project in any way.*

[![CI](https://github.com/kerrickstaley/genanki/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/kerrickstaley/genanki/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

## Notes
The basic unit in Anki is the `Note`, which contains a fact to memorize. `Note`s correspond to one or more `Card`s.

Here's how you create a `Note`:

```python
my_note = genanki.Note(
  model=my_model,
  fields=['Capital of Argentina', 'Buenos Aires'])
```

You pass in a `Model`, discussed below, and a set of `fields` (encoded as HTML).

## Models
A `Model` defines the fields and cards for a type of `Note`. For example:

```python
my_model = genanki.Model(
  1607392319,
  'Simple Model',
  fields=[
    {'name': 'Question'},
    {'name': 'Answer'},
  ],
  templates=[
    {
      'name': 'Card 1',
      'qfmt': '{{Question}}',
      'afmt': '{{FrontSide}}<hr id="answer">{{Answer}}',
    },
  ])
```

This note-type has two fields and one card. The card displays the `Question` field on the front and the `Question` and
`Answer` fields on the back, separated by a `<hr>`. You can also pass a `css` argument to `Model()` to supply custom
CSS.

You need to pass a `model_id` so that Anki can keep track of your model. It's important that you use a unique `model_id`
for each `Model` you define. Use `import random; random.randrange(1 << 30, 1 << 31)` to generate a suitable model_id, and hardcode it
into your `Model` definition.

## Generating a Deck/Package
To import your notes into Anki, you need to add them to a `Deck`:

```python
my_deck = genanki.Deck(
  2059400110,
  'Country Capitals')

my_deck.add_note(my_note)
```

Once again, you need a unique `deck_id` that you should generate once and then hardcode into your `.py` file.

Then, create a `Package` for your `Deck` and write it to a file:

```python
genanki.Package(my_deck).write_to_file('output.apkg')
```

You can then load `output.apkg` into Anki using File -> Import...

## Media Files
To add sounds or images, set the `media_files` attribute on your `Package`:

```python
my_package = genanki.Package(my_deck)
my_package.media_files = ['sound.mp3', 'images/image.jpg']
```

`media_files` should have the path (relative or absolute) to each file. To use them in notes, first add a field to your model, and reference that field in your template:

```python
my_model = genanki.Model(
  1091735104,
  'Simple Model with Media',
  fields=[
    {'name': 'Question'},
    {'name': 'Answer'},
    {'name': 'MyMedia'},                                  # ADD THIS
  ],
  templates=[
    {
      'name': 'Card 1',
      'qfmt': '{{Question}}<br>{{MyMedia}}',              # AND THIS
      'afmt': '{{FrontSide}}<hr id="answer">{{Answer}}',
    },
  ])
```

Then, set the `MyMedia` field on your card to `[sound:sound.mp3]` for audio and `<img src="image.jpg">` for images.

You *cannot* put `<img src="{MyMedia}">` in the template and `image.jpg` in the field. See these sections in the Anki manual for more information: [Importing Media](https://docs.ankiweb.net/importing.html#importing-media) and [Media & LaTeX](https://docs.ankiweb.net/templates/fields.html#media--latex).

You should only put the filename (aka basename) and not the full path in the field; `<img src="images/image.jpg">` will *not* work. Media files should have unique filenames.

## Note GUIDs
`Note`s have a `guid` property that uniquely identifies the note. If you import a new note that has the same GUID as an
existing note, the new note will overwrite the old one (as long as their models have the same fields).

This is an important feature if you want to be able to tweak the design/content of your notes, regenerate your deck, and
import the updated version into Anki. Your notes need to have stable GUIDs in order for the new note to replace the
existing one.

By default, the GUID is a hash of all the field values. This may not be desirable if, for example, you add a new field
with additional info that doesn't change the identity of the note. You can create a custom GUID implementation to hash
only the fields that identify the note:

```python
class MyNote(genanki.Note):
  @property
  def guid(self):
    return genanki.guid_for(self.fields[0], self.fields[1])
```

## sort_field
Anki has a value for each `Note` called the `sort_field`. Anki uses this value to sort the cards in the Browse
interface. Anki also is happier if you avoid having two notes with the same `sort_field`, although this isn't strictly
necessary. By default, the `sort_field` is the first field, but you can change it by passing `sort_field=` to `Note()`
or implementing `sort_field` as a property in a subclass (similar to `guid`).

You can also pass `sort_field_index=` to `Model()` to change the sort field. `0` means the first field in the Note, `1` means the second, etc.

## YAML for Templates (and Fields)
You can create your template definitions in the YAML format and pass them as a `str` to `Model()`. You can also do this
for fields.

## Using genanki inside an Anki addon
`genanki` supports adding generated notes to the local collection when running inside an Anki 2.1 addon (Anki 2.0
may work but has not been tested). See the [`.write_to_collection_from_addon() method`](
https://github.com/kerrickstaley/genanki/blob/0c2cf8fea9c5e382e2fae9cd6d5eb440e267c637/genanki/__init__.py#L275).

## CLOZE_MODEL DeprecationWarning
Due to a mistake, in genanki versions before 0.13.0, `builtin_models.CLOZE_MODEL` only had a single field, whereas the real Cloze model that is built into Anki has two fields. If you get a `DeprecationWarning` when using `CLOZE_MODEL`, simply add another field (it can be an empty string) when creating your `Note`, e.g.

```python
my_note = genanki.Note(
  model=genanki.CLOZE_MODEL,
  fields=['{{c1::Rome}} is the capital of {{c2::Italy}}', ''])
```

## FAQ
### My field data is getting garbled
If fields in your notes contain literal `<`, `>`, or `&` characters, you need to HTML-encode them: field data is HTML, not plain text. You can use the [`html.escape`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/html.html#html.escape) function.

For example, you should write
```
fields=['AT&amp;T was originally called', 'Bell Telephone Company']
```
or
```
fields=[html.escape(f) for f in ['AT&T was originally called', 'Bell Telephone Company']]
```

This applies even if the content is LaTeX; for example, you should write
```
fields=['Piketty calls this the "central contradiction of capitalism".', '[latex]r &gt; g[/latex]']
```

## Publishing to PyPI
If your name is Kerrick, you can publish the `genanki` package to PyPI by running these commands from the root of the `genanki` repo:
```
rm -rf dist/*
python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
python3 -m twine upload dist/*
```
Note that this directly uploads to prod PyPI and skips uploading to test PyPI.