CardCast for Anki

CardCast is an Anki add-on that allows you to batch-export the audio from your flashcards into a single, continuous MP3 file.

Note: CardCast merges existing audio fields. It does not generate Text-to-Speech (TTS) from plain text itself. If your cards only contain text, you will need to generate audio fields first using an add-on like HyperTTS.

Why it exists

Reviewing flashcards usually requires staring at a screen. CardCast was built to make studying hands-free. By stitching together the audio fields of your cards (with customizable pauses in between), you can listen to your Anki card while commuting, walking, or at the gym.

Prerequisites

To stitch the audio files together, this add-on requires FFmpeg to be installed on your system.

• Mac: Install via Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg
• Windows/Linux: Download from the official FFmpeg site and ensure it is added to your system PATH.

Installation

The easiest way to install CardCast is through AnkiWeb.

1. Open Anki and navigate to Tools -> Add-ons.
2. Click on Get Add-ons....
3. Paste the code: 1697388828
4. Click OK to download.
5. Restart Anki to complete the installation.

View the add-on page on AnkiWeb.

How to Use

1. Open the Browse window in Anki.
2. Select the cards you want to export.
3. Right-click the selected cards and choose Generate CardCast Audio...
4. In the dialog box:
   • Choose to process by Unique Notes or Every Card.
   • Drag and drop your audio fields into the exact order you want them played.
   • Set the pause durations (e.g., 0.5 seconds between fields, 1.0 seconds between cards).
   • Choose where to save the MP3.
5. Click OK.

Development Setup

1. Link to Anki

Instead of copying files back and forth, create a symbolic link (symlink) from this repository directly into Anki's add-on folder.

For Mac:

ln -s /path/to/your/repo/cardcast "~/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/cardcast"

(Make sure Anki is closed and there isn't already a cardcast folder in the addons21 directory before running this).

2. Python Environment

1. Ensure you have uv installed.
2. In the root of this repository, run:

uv sync

Whenever you make changes to cardcast/__init__.py, simply restart Anki to see your changes live.

3. Building for Release

To package the add-on for sharing (via AnkiWeb or direct download), use the included build script. It will safely zip only the necessary files into a .ankiaddon package, ignoring your development environment.

Open your terminal in the root of the project repository.

sh build.sh

This will generate a cardcast_release.ankiaddon file in your project folder, which is ready to be uploaded to AnkiWeb or shared directly.

Make the script executable (you only need to do this once):

Disclaimer

This tool is being developed for personal use, quickly and mostly by AI. Please use at your own risk.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.