Screenshot anything. Get Anki flashcards in seconds.
Point it at a textbook page, lecture slide, diagram, or article — press a hotkey, drag to select what you want to learn, and flashcards appear in Anki automatically. No copy-pasting, no typing.
Works with latest models from Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, or a free local model (no internet required).
- Install Anki if you haven't already
- Get an API key from your favorite AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or Groq — free tiers available)
- Run the installer:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vishnya/anki-fox/main/install.sh | bash - Follow the prompts — it walks you through everything, including the one-time Anki setup
- Press
⌥⇧A(Option + Shift + A), paste your API key, pick a deck, click Start Session - Press
⌥⇧Aagain and drag over anything on your screen — cards appear in Anki in seconds
- A Mac
- Anki (free, download and install it first)
- An API key from one of the supported AI providers — or a free local model (see below)
The installer handles everything else automatically.
Open Terminal and paste this:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vishnya/anki-fox/main/install.sh | bashThe installer will:
- Install the tools it needs (Homebrew, Hammerspoon, Python)
- Walk you through a one-time Anki setup (just copy-paste an add-on code)
- Start a background service that runs automatically on login
One thing you'll need to do manually: grant two permissions to Hammerspoon when macOS asks — Accessibility and Screen Recording. Both are in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Without these, the hotkey and screenshots won't work.
If hotkeys stop working after granting permissions, click the Hammerspoon icon in your menu bar and choose Quit, then reopen it.
| Hotkey | What it does |
|---|---|
⌥⇧A (Option + Shift + A) |
Opens setup if no session is running. Takes a screenshot if one is. |
⌥⇧M (Option + Shift + M) |
Cycles capture mode: Screen → Multi → Video. Multi stitches several selections into one image. Video pairs screenshots with YouTube transcripts. |
⌥⇧⌘A (Option + Shift + Cmd + A) |
Opens the setup page (useful if you closed the tab). |
Step by step:
- Press
⌥⇧A— your browser opens to the anki-fox setup page - Choose which Anki deck to add cards to
- Pick an AI model and paste your API key
- Click Start Session
- Press
⌥⇧Aagain, then drag to select any part of your screen - Cards show up in Anki in about 10 seconds
You can watch progress live in the Activity Log on the setup page.
The setup page has a dropdown — you can switch models any time and it saves automatically.
| Provider | Cost | Where to get a key |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic (Claude) — default | Paid, ~$0.01–0.05 per screenshot | console.anthropic.com |
| OpenAI (GPT-4o) | Paid, similar pricing | platform.openai.com/api-keys |
| Google (Gemini) | Free tier available | aistudio.google.com |
| Groq | Free tier available | console.groq.com |
| Local model (Ollama) | Free, runs on your Mac | No key needed — see below |
No internet connection or API key required. Quality is lower than cloud models, but it's completely free.
brew install ollama
ollama pull minicpm-vThen in the setup page, choose Custom endpoint and set:
- Base URL:
http://localhost:11434/v1 - Model name:
minicpm-v
In ~/.anki-fox/config.json. The file is private (readable only by you). Settings save automatically — there's no Save button.
If you have $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set in your terminal environment, it will pre-fill on first run.
Once the server is running, open http://localhost:5789 in your browser to configure decks, API keys, and watch the activity log.
View the server log:
tail -f /tmp/anki-fox.logbash ~/anki-fox/uninstall.shThis removes everything the installer added and prompts before deleting the repo folder.