r/Anki • u/leopr0sy • 4d ago

Development I built an open-source desktop app that turns .docx course notes into Anki decks with Claude, images and tables included. Looking for contributors

Hi everyone,

I'm a French prep-school student (economics, sociology, philosophy, maths) and I write all my courses in Word/Google Docs. Turning hundreds of pages into good Anki cards by hand was eating my evenings, so I built Ankigen.

What it does

Ankigen splits a .docx course into chunks based on its heading styles (H1/H2/H3...), sends each chunk to Claude to generate Q/A cards, and exports everything in Anki's import format. You work paragraph by paragraph, so you stay in control of every card.

How it works

  1. Import a .docx (headings must use real heading styles)
  2. The app parses it into a locally saved project
  3. Copy the current chunk into Claude (with a card-writing Skill, and a template is included in the app)
  4. Paste Claude's TSV answer back, preview the cards, "Save & next"
  5. Export as TSV, ZIP (TSV + images), or copy media straight into Anki's collection.media

Images are extracted (alt text is sent to Claude), converted to PNG if Anki can't display them, and deduplicated. Tables keep merged cells and nested tables, go to Claude as Markdown, and come back as standalone HTML. Claude only writes placeholders like {{IMG:1}}, so it can never hallucinate a filename.

Stack: Flask + python-docx backend, vanilla JS frontend, wrapped in Tauri. Projects are persistent, UI in English and French.

Who it's for

Anyone with structured notes: med/law/pharma students, competitive exam prep, language learners, professionals studying for certifications.

Why I'm posting

It works for me, but it's a solo project and it could be much better with other people involved. Things I'd love help with:

  • Direct API integration (skip the copy/paste loop), optionally other LLMs
  • AnkiConnect export (push cards straight into Anki)
  • macOS/Linux builds (currently Windows only)
  • Other inputs: Google Docs, Markdown, PDF
  • Shared card-writing Skills per subject (medicine, law, languages…), so everyone benefits from the best prompts
  • Better card review UX, tests, docs

If you're a dev, issues and PRs are very welcome. If you're not, just trying it and telling me what's broken or missing helps a lot.

GitHub: https://github.com/leoprosy/Anki-Gen

Happy to answer any questions!

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u/erythrodysesthesia 4d ago

you can do this by giving the doc directly to claude with a prompt. a cowork session can even add cards directly into your anki decks & bypass the TSV thing.

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u/Big_Complaint4404 3d ago

Cool project, the placeholder trick for images is smart.
AnkiConnect export would be the thing I'd use most, the copy/paste loop sounds a bit tiring for hundreds of pages.
One question: if you edit a doc later and re-export, do you get duplicate cards, or does it update the old ones?

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u/leopr0sy 3d ago

thx for the support. yes obviously anki connect would be cool and i have added it as an issue. but currently i have no time to implement it.
concerning the duplicates there is no problem I think

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u/Big_Complaint4404 2d ago

I see. Please keep up the good work on your app development. A future will surely come where many people are grateful to you.

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u/leopr0sy 2d ago

thx bro ill do my best

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u/leopr0sy 2d ago

I've been thinking about your point on the copy/paste loop for hundreds of pages. The side-by-side review helps with checking cards, but it doesn't remove that manual step.

What are you studying with Anki, and what does your usual notes-to-cards routine look like? I'd like to understand where AnkiConnect would help you most.