Draft Autosave for Add Cards Window

This add-on automatically saves the contents of the Add Cards window every few seconds, so you never lose work if:

• Anki crashes
• Your laptop runs out of power
• You accidentally close the Add window
• Another add-on misbehaves
• The OS freezes or reboots

If you reopen the Add window with the same note type, your draft will be restored automatically.

🚀 Features

✔ Automatic autosave

• Saves every N seconds (default: 5 seconds).
• Saves all fields + tags.
• Very lightweight, no noticeable performance impact.

✔ Separate drafts for each note type

Each note type (Basic, Cloze, Custom types) stores its own independent draft.

✔ Timestamp-based protection

• Each draft has a last_saved timestamp.
• Drafts older than a configurable age (default: 48 hours) are ignored and cleaned automatically.
• Prevents old drafts from “coming back from the dead.”

✔ Safe behavior

• Draft is deleted only after the note is successfully added.
• Never touches Anki’s database directly.
• Writes only tiny JSON files → very low overhead.

🛠 Installation

1. Open Anki.
2. Go to: Tools → Add-ons → Open Add-ons Folder
3. Create a folder, for example:

addons21/
  add_cards_autosave/
    __init__.py
    README.md

4. Place __init__.py inside that folder.
5. Restart Anki.

⚙️ Configuration

Inside __init__.py, you can customize:

Autosave interval

AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL_MS = 5000    # 5 seconds

Maximum draft age

MAX_AGE_SECONDS = 48 * 60 * 60   # 48 hours

Where drafts are stored

Drafts are saved in:

<your Anki profile folder>/add_cards_autosave.json

Each draft is stored by note type:

{
  "Basic": {
    "last_saved": 1732690000.123,
    "fields": ["Front", "Back"],
    "tags": ["tag1"]
  },
  "Cloze": { ... }
}

🔒 When drafts are restored

A draft is restored only if all are true:

• The note type matches
• Draft is not older than MAX_AGE_SECONDS
• JSON entry contains valid fields

Otherwise, the draft is ignored.

🧹 When drafts are deleted

A draft is removed only when a note is successfully added or discarded (Add window closed manually).

Drafts are not deleted when:

• You switch note types
• Anki crashes
• The OS shuts down unexpectedly

This ensures your work is always recoverable.

❗ Compatibility

• Works with Anki 2.1.60+
• Should work with earlier versions with minimal changes
• Compatible with most editor add-ons
• Light enough for slow/older machines

If you find a conflict with another add-on, open an issue or report the add-on name.

🧩 Why this add-on is helpful

The Add Cards window does not autosave by default. If you’ve ever:

• Spent 10–20 minutes writing a detailed card
• Experienced a crash or laptop power loss
• Reopened Anki to find your card completely gone

…this add-on solves that forever. It gives Anki a “draft safety net” that many users wish it had built in.

🙋 FAQ

Q: Will autosaving every 5 seconds slow down my PC? A: No. Each autosave writes a tiny JSON file (1–5 KB). CPU and disk impact are effectively zero.

Q: Does it autosave images / LaTeX? A: It autosaves whatever is in the fields — including image references and LaTeX code.

Q: Does it work with multi-line fields / HTML? A: Yes, everything is stored as plain text in JSON.

Q: How do I test the add-on? A: Write notes in the Add Card Window, next open task manager, then right-click on the Python processes running under "Apps" and click "End Task", after that relaunch Anki, and finally reopen the Add cards window. The draft should be restored.

🧪 Testing notes

Test scenarios to confirm full behavior:

📬 Contact

Feel free to open an issue or request enhancements. This add-on was designed to prevent one of the most common sources of lost work in Anki.