FlashFill — Anki Add-on

Automatically fills language-learning flashcard fields using AI.
Supports any source and target language. Works with Gemini, OpenRouter (100+ models), and an offline Mock mode.

Table of Contents

1. What It Does
2. Installation
3. First Run — Note Type Setup
4. Configuration
5. Getting API Keys
   • Google Gemini (Free)
   • OpenRouter (Free + Paid models)
6. How to Use
7. Audio Feature (Automatic Pronunciation)
8. Image Feature (Automatic Images)
   • Unsplash API Key
   • Pexels API Key
9. Preview Dialog
10. Session Cache
11. Field Mapping
12. Troubleshooting

What It Does

You type a word or phrase in the Front field of a card (e.g., bonjour), click ✨ Auto Fill, and the add-on automatically fills:

Works for any language pair: Spanish→English, Japanese→Arabic, German→Persian, etc.

Installation

Method 1 — Copy the folder (Manual install)

1. Open Anki
2. Go to Tools → Add-ons → Open Add-ons Folder
3. Create a new folder inside addons21/, for example: addons21/language_auto_fill/
4. Copy all files from this project into that folder
5. Restart Anki

Method 2 — From AnkiWeb (if published)

1. In Anki, go to Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons…
2. Enter the add-on code
3. Click OK and restart Anki

First Run — Note Type Setup

On the first time you open Anki after installation, the add-on automatically creates a Note Type called "FlashFill" with all 12 fields pre-configured and a styled card template.

You will see a confirmation message. After that:

1. Go to Add (shortcut: A)
2. At the top, click the Note Type selector (shows "Basic" by default)
3. Choose "FlashFill"
4. You're ready!

No manual field setup required. The Note Type is created automatically on first run.

Configuration

Go to Tools → FlashFill: Settings…

General Tab

Provider Tab

Audio Tab

Image Tab

Field Mapping Tab

Map each data type to the correct field name in your Note Type.
Leave a field blank to skip it.

Getting API Keys

Google Gemini (Free)

Google Gemini offers a generous free tier (15 requests/minute, 1 million tokens/day).

1. Go to https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
2. Sign in with your Google account
3. Click "Create API Key"
4. Copy the key (starts with AIza...)
5. In Anki: Tools → FlashFill: Settings… → Provider tab
   • Set Provider to gemini
   • Paste your key in the API Key field
   • Click Save

Recommended for beginners. No payment info required.

OpenRouter (Free + Paid models)

OpenRouter gives you access to 100+ AI models (GPT-4, Claude, Llama, Gemma, etc.) through a single API key. Many models are free.

Step 1 — Create an account:

1. Go to https://openrouter.ai
2. Click Sign In → create an account (GitHub or Google login available)

Step 2 — Get your API key:

1. Go to https://openrouter.ai/keys
2. Click Create Key
3. Give it a name (e.g., Anki Auto Fill)
4. Copy the key (starts with sk-or-...)

Step 3 — Configure in Anki:

1. Tools → FlashFill: Settings… → Provider tab
2. Set Provider to openrouter
3. Paste your API key
4. Choose a model (recommendations below)
5. Click Save

Recommended Free Models:

To browse all models, visit https://openrouter.ai/models?order=top-weekly and filter by Free.

How to Use

1. Open the Add window in Anki (A key)
2. Select "FlashFill" as your Note Type
3. Type a word or phrase in the Front field
   (e.g., auf Wiedersehen, おはよう, merci beaucoup)
4. Click the ✨ Auto Fill button in the toolbar
   (or press Ctrl+Shift+A)
5. A progress indicator appears while data is fetched
6. The Preview Dialog opens — review all fields
7. Click ✓ Apply to Note to save, or ✕ Cancel to discard

Existing fields are never overwritten. Auto Fill only fills empty fields.

Audio Feature (Automatic Pronunciation)

The add-on uses Google Translate TTS (free, no API key) to download MP3 pronunciation audio.

1. In Settings → Audio tab:
   • Check "Enable automatic audio pronunciation"
   • Set TTS Provider to gtts
   • Set Audio field name to Audio
2. When you click Auto Fill, the pronunciation is downloaded and saved to Anki Media
3. The Audio field is filled with [sound:autofill_es_bonjour.mp3]
4. In card review, the audio plays automatically

Supported languages: 28+ languages including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and more.

Image Feature (Automatic Images)

Unsplash API Key (50 req/hour — Free)

1. Go to https://unsplash.com/developers
2. Click "Register as a developer" and create a free account
3. Click "New Application"
4. Accept the terms, fill in the app name and description
5. Scroll down to "Keys" — copy your Access Key
6. In Anki: Settings → Image tab
   • Set Image Provider to unsplash
   • Paste the Access Key

Pexels API Key (200 req/hour — Free)

1. Go to https://www.pexels.com/api/
2. Click "Get Started" and create a free account
3. Go to https://www.pexels.com/api/new/
4. Fill in the form and submit
5. Your API key appears on the page — copy it
6. In Anki: Settings → Image tab
   • Set Image Provider to pexels
   • Paste the API Key

Image query generation is smart: Nouns → direct search ("dog"), Verbs → gerund form ("person eating"), Phrases → full translation query.

Preview Dialog

After fetching data, the Preview Dialog shows everything before saving:

• All language fields with their values
• The downloaded image (live preview)
• The audio file tag

Actions:

• ✓ Apply to Note — write data to the card and close
• ✕ Cancel — discard everything, note unchanged
• 🔄 Regenerate Image — fetch a new image without closing the dialog

Session Cache

The add-on caches results for the duration of your Anki session. If you run Auto Fill on the same word again, the cached result is returned instantly (no API call).

• Cache is cleared automatically when Anki restarts
• You can manually clear it: Settings → General → 🗑 Clear Cache

Field Mapping

If you use a custom Note Type (not "FlashFill"), you can configure which data goes into which field:

1. Settings → Field Mapping tab
2. For each data type, enter the exact field name from your Note Type
3. Leave blank to skip that data type

Troubleshooting

File Structure

addons21/language_auto_fill/
├── __init__.py              # Entry point — creates Note Type on first run
├── config.json              # Default settings
├── README.md                # This guide (English)
├── GUIDE_FA.md              # Installation guide (Persian / فارسی)
├── core/
│   ├── autofill.py          # Main Auto Fill logic
│   ├── audio_fill.py        # TTS audio download
│   ├── image_fill.py        # Image search and download
│   ├── cache.py             # Session cache
│   └── models.py            # LanguageData dataclass
├── providers/
│   ├── mock.py              # Offline test provider
│   ├── gemini_provider.py   # Google Gemini AI
│   ├── openrouter_provider.py  # OpenRouter (100+ models)
│   └── audio/               # Audio providers (gtts, mock)
│   └── image/               # Image providers (unsplash, pexels, mock)
├── ui/
│   ├── editor_btn.py        # Toolbar button
│   ├── settings_dialog.py   # Settings window
│   └── preview_dialog.py    # Preview before applying
└── utils/
    └── logger.py            # Logging utility

Made with ❤️ for language learners.