Anki AI Explainer

Anki add-on that generates an HTML explanation for the current card (or for a batch of notes) using an LLM.

This add-on is designed to be simple and highly generic:

• You can write any prompt you want (single “User prompt”).
• You can choose any number of input fields to send to the model (no hard limit).
• The add-on enforces that the model returns HTML only (to paste directly into an Anki field).
• Prompts support:
  • {{fields}} : all selected fields concatenated as FieldName:\nvalue
  • {{FieldName}} : access an individual field value directly (e.g. {{Question}}, {{Answer}})

The add-on intentionally does not provide built-in settings like language, style, or length. Put those instructions in your prompt.

Features

• Generate explanation for the current reviewer card (via shortcut / reviewer context menu)
• Batch-generate explanations for notes matched by an Anki search query (Tools menu)
• Flexible behavior when the destination field already has content:
  • Skip / Overwrite / Append (with custom separator)
• Works with either:
  • OpenAI (Chat Completions API)
  • Google Gemini (Generative Language API)

Installation

From AnkiWeb

Install via AnkiWeb (recommended).
(AnkiWeb URL will be added after publishing.)

Manual install (GitHub)

1. Download this repository as a zip
2. Extract into your Anki add-ons folder:
   • Tools → Add-ons → View Files
3. Restart Anki

Quick Start

1. Open add-on settings: Tools → Add-ons → Anki AI Explainer → Config
2. Set your provider and API key
3. Choose:
   • Input fields you want the model to read (e.g. Question, Answer, Extra)
   • Explanation field to write the output to (default: Explanation)
4. Write your User prompt
5. Generate explanations:
   • In review: press the shortcut (default Ctrl+Shift+L)
   • Or: open reviewer “More…” menu → Generate AI Explanation
   • Or: Tools → AI Card Explainer: generate for search results

Prompt Placeholders

{{fields}}

Expands to all selected input fields, concatenated in order:

Example expansion:

Question:
What is ATP?

Answer:
Adenosine triphosphate

{{FieldName}}

Expands to the value of the individual field.

Example:

• {{Question}} → value of the Question field
• {{Answer}} → value of the Answer field

If a placeholder refers to a field that is missing/unavailable, it is replaced with an empty string.

Example Prompts

Minimal (recommended)

Explain the following Anki note in concise HTML.

{{fields}}

Q/A style

<p><b>Q:</b> {{Question}}</p>
<p><b>A:</b> {{Answer}}</p>

Requirements:
- HTML only
- No greetings
- Use <ul><li> for lists
- Highlight key words with <b>

Settings

Key settings (in config.json):

• 01_provider: openai or gemini
• 01_openai_api_key, 01_openai_model
• 01_gemini_api_key, 01_gemini_model
• 02_input_fields: array of field names to read (order matters)
• 02_explanation_field: field name to write HTML output into
• 03_user_prompt: your prompt template
• 04_on_existing_behavior: skip / overwrite / append
• 04_append_separator: used when appending
• 05_max_notes_per_run: batch limit
• 05_review_shortcut: reviewer shortcut

Notes / Safety

• The add-on requests the model to return HTML only. Some models may still wrap output in Markdown fences (```html).
  The add-on attempts to strip a single surrounding fence to reduce friction.
• Field values are passed to the model as-is (including any HTML contained in the note fields). Do not include sensitive data in notes if you do not want to send it to your provider.

License

MIT License