Friend Pack

Friend Pack is a bundled Anki add-on that provides two related workflow tools in a single package:

• custom Browser menu actions for question-bank ID searching
• custom right-click menu note-tagging actions for selected notes in the Browser

It is intended for users who organize their Anki workflow around structured tags, especially users who work with question-bank-derived note sets and want faster ways to search by QID or apply study-state tags without repetitive manual editing.

Rather than being a general-purpose add-on for every Anki user, Friend Pack is best understood as a tag-driven workflow utility. It is most useful when your notes already follow a reasonably consistent tagging system, or when you are willing to customize the default configuration to fit your own structure.

What This Add-on Does

Friend Pack combines two primary features into one add-on to maximize efficiency and studying:

1. Browser Menu Tools

Friend Pack adds a custom section to the Anki Browser menu.
These tools are designed to help you search notes by question-bank IDs or related tag patterns.

This is useful when your notes contain tags derived from sources such as:

• UWorld
• NBME
• Amboss
• other Q-bank or resource-specific tagging systems

Instead of manually building tag searches in the Browser every time, the add-on provides menu actions that can run those searches more quickly.

2. Right-Click Tagging Tools for Selected Notes

Friend Pack also adds context-menu actions when you right-click selected notes in the Browser.

These actions let you apply predefined tags to one or more selected notes. Depending on your configuration, this can support workflows such as:

• tagging missed questions
• tagging repeated misses
• tagging notes for later review
• tagging notes as key information
• tagging notes based on custom personal study categories

The goal is to reduce repetitive manual tagging and make it easier to keep your notes organized during question review.

Who It Is For

Friend Pack is most appropriate for users who already think about their Anki workflow in terms of tag structure, not just decks or filtered decks.

It is especially useful for:

• users who organize Anki notes or cards using custom tag workflows
• users who search question-bank IDs in the Browser
• users who want faster right-click actions for note tagging
• users who maintain a consistent naming pattern for tags
• users who are comfortable editing add-on settings to match their own workflow

This add-on may be a good fit if you regularly do things like:

• search for notes linked to a specific question ID
• tag notes as missed after reviewing question blocks
• add custom review-state tags to selected notes
• rely on tag hierarchies to organize study material

This add-on may not be a good fit if:

• you do not use tags heavily
• your workflow depends mostly on decks alone
• you want a plug-and-play add-on with no configuration
• your note tags are highly inconsistent and you do not want to adjust them

Main Features

Browser Menu Features

• Adds a custom top-level menu in the Anki Browser
• Supports question-bank ID style searching
• Can be configured to use different tag roots or tag patterns
• Includes settings related to QID search behavior

Note Tagging Features

• Adds right-click tagging actions for selected notes in the Browser
• Supports predefined tag actions instead of manual tag typing
• Can be configured for custom label/tag combinations
• Supports workflows built around missed-question tagging and custom review tags

Configuration Features

• Includes a built-in configuration window
• Ships with default settings in config.json
• Stores user-specific overrides through Anki’s config system
• Allows adaptation to different tag structures without directly rewriting module logic

Compatibility

• Tested target: Anki Desktop 25.09 (Qt6)
• Intended runtime: modern Anki Desktop 25.x
• Not supported: AnkiMobile, AnkiDroid, and AnkiWeb clients

If you plan to claim support outside 25.x, validate on those versions and update this section before publishing.

Installation

For end users, ship and install Friend Pack as a packaged .ankiaddon file.

Option 1: Local Folder Install

Use this only for local development workflows.

Steps

1. Close Anki completely.
2. Copy the _friend_pack folder directly into your Anki addons21 folder.
3. Reopen Anki.

The final folder structure should look like this:

.../addons21/_friend_pack/__init__.py

Option 2: Packaged .ankiaddon Install (Recommended for Shipping)

Use this method for distribution to end users.

Steps

1. Build _friend_pack.ankiaddon from this repository.
2. In Anki, install the .ankiaddon package.
3. Restart Anki.

Release behavior note

• Local source installs can keep meta.json state from the developer machine (including disabled state).
• The packaged .ankiaddon release path intentionally excludes meta.json, so shipped installs are not tied to local disabled state.
• For end-user distribution, ship the .ankiaddon artifact rather than copying the raw source folder.

Publishing Checklist

Run this before upload/distribution:

1. Build dist/_friend_pack.ankiaddon.
2. Verify archive root is flat (no top-level _friend_pack/ folder inside the zip).
3. Verify archive excludes meta.json.
4. Verify archive excludes planned_update_config.json.
5. Verify archive excludes __pycache__/ and *.pyc.
6. Verify archive includes __init__.py, config.json, config.md, and all runtime module files.
7. Smoke-test the .ankiaddon on a clean profile and verify startup load, Browser menu actions, right-click note actions, and Add-ons -> Config behavior.

Distribution Notes

• AnkiWeb distribution: .ankiaddon is sufficient.
• Outside AnkiWeb distribution: include manifest.json in the package root.