A powerful CLI tool that converts your study notes (PDF, DOCX, Markdown) into Anki-compatible flashcards using Claude AI.

• 📄 Multiple Input Formats: Supports PDF, DOCX, and Markdown files
• 🤖 AI-Powered: Uses Anthropic's Claude models to intelligently generate flashcards
• 📝 Anki-Compatible: Exports to TXT (tab-separated) and CSV formats
• 🎯 Smart Card Generation: Creates atomic, focused flashcards following spaced repetition best practices
• 🏷️ Auto-Tagging: Automatically tags cards based on the source file
• 👀 Preview Mode: Dry-run option to preview cards before saving
• ⚡ Fast Processing: Typically processes notes in under 30 seconds
• 🛠️ Configurable: Customizable prompts and LLM parameters

• Go 1.21 or higher
• Anthropic API key

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/note2anki.git
cd note2anki

# Install dependencies
go mod download

# Build the binary
go build -o note2anki main.go

# Optional: Install globally
go install

Create a .env file in your project root:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-anthropic-api-key-here

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Create a config.json file:

{
  "api_key": "your-anthropic-api-key",
  "model": "claude-3-5-haiku-20241022",
  "max_tokens": 2000,
  "temperature": 0.7
}

go mod tidy
go build -o build/note2anki main.go

note2anki <input-file> <output-file>

# Convert PDF notes to Anki flashcards
note2anki biology_notes.pdf biology_cards.txt

# Convert DOCX to CSV format
note2anki lecture.docx flashcards.csv

# Convert Markdown notes
note2anki chemistry.md chemistry_cards.txt

# Preview cards without saving (dry-run)
note2anki -dry-run physics.pdf preview.txt

# Use custom configuration
note2anki -config custom_config.json notes.pdf cards.txt

• -config <path>: Path to configuration file
• -dry-run: Preview first 5 flashcards without saving
• -help: Show help message

Default Anki import format:

Question[TAB]Answer[TAB]Tags
What is photosynthesis?[TAB]The process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy[TAB]biology

Spreadsheet-compatible format with headers:

Front,Back,Tags
"What is photosynthesis?","The process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy","biology"

1. Text Extraction: Parses your input file and extracts all text content
2. AI Processing: Sends content to Anthropic's Claude model with specialized prompts
3. Card Generation: AI identifies key concepts and creates question-answer pairs
4. Quality Control: Ensures cards follow Anki best practices (atomic, clear, testable)
5. Export: Saves flashcards in Anki-compatible format

The tool generates flashcards following these principles:

• Atomic: One concept per card for optimal retention
• Clear: Unambiguous questions with precise answers
• Contextual: Preserves important context from notes
• Comprehensive: Covers all key concepts, definitions, and relationships
• Active Recall: Questions designed to promote active memory retrieval

You can customize the AI's behavior by modifying the system prompt in your config file:

{
  "system_prompt": "Create medical school flashcards focusing on clinical applications..."
}

Choose different Claude models based on your needs:

• claude-3-5-haiku-20241022: Fast and cost-effective (default)
• claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022: More accurate and capable
• claude-3-opus-20240229: Most powerful for complex tasks

1. "API key not found"

   • Set the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable
   • Or provide it in a config file

2. "No text content found"

   • Ensure the PDF is not image-based (scanned documents)
   • Check that the file is not corrupted

3. "LLM request failed"

   • Verify your API key is valid
   • Check your Anthropic account has credits
   • Ensure you have internet connectivity

4. Large files taking too long

   • Consider splitting very large documents
   • Adjust max_tokens in configuration

1. Organize Your Notes: Well-structured notes produce better flashcards
2. Use Clear Headings: Help the AI understand topic boundaries
3. Include Examples: Examples in notes often become great flashcard content
4. Review Generated Cards: Always review Claude-generated content before studying
5. Batch Processing: Process related notes together for consistent tagging

• Small files (<10 pages): ~5-10 seconds
• Medium files (10-50 pages): ~15-20 seconds
• Large files (50+ pages): ~20-30 seconds

Note: Processing time depends on file complexity and API response time

1. Open Anki Desktop
2. Click "File" → "Import"
3. Select your generated file
4. Configure import settings:
   • For TXT: Set field separator to "Tab"
   • For CSV: Anki will auto-detect
5. Map fields to your note type
6. Click "Import"

• Your notes are sent to Anthropic for processing
• No data is stored by this tool
• API keys are never logged or transmitted except to Anthropic
• Consider sensitive content before processing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

• Support for more file formats (RTF, HTML, EPUB)
• Batch processing multiple files
• Local LLM support (Ollama integration)
• Direct .apkg file generation
• Web interface option
• Custom note types support
• Image-based flashcard support
• Cloze deletion cards

For issues, questions, or suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.