Version 0.4.1: GUI Tools & Smart Updates

We’re thrilled to announce Anki MCP 0.4.1, which brings 11 new GUI tools for interacting with Anki’s interface and automatic update notifications. This release makes it easier than ever to manage your flashcards with AI assistance.

What’s New

🎨 11 New GUI Tools

You can now control Anki’s graphical interface directly through AI commands. These tools are perfect for editing workflows where you want to see and interact with Anki’s UI.

Browser Tools - Navigate and manage cards

• guiBrowse - Open Card Browser with search queries
• guiSelectCard - Jump to a specific card
• guiSelectedNotes - Get currently selected notes

Dialog Tools - Open Anki windows for manual review

• guiAddCards - Pre-fill the Add Cards dialog
• guiEditNote - Open note editor for quick edits
• guiDeckOverview - View deck statistics
• guiDeckBrowser - Access deck management

Utility Tools - Helper actions

• guiCurrentCard - Get info about the current review card
• guiShowQuestion / guiShowAnswer - Control card display
• guiUndo - Undo the last action

🔔 Update Notifications

Web Mode users now get notified when updates are available:

┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Update available 0.3.0 → 0.4.1       │
│  Run npm i -g ankimcp to update       │
└───────────────────────────────────────┘

The check happens automatically when you start the server, and won’t slow down startup (it’s cached and runs in the background).

🛡️ Smarter Safety Controls

We’ve strengthened warnings to prevent unwanted actions:

• GUI tools require explicit user approval - the AI won’t open dialogs without your permission
• Improved create_deck warnings to prevent auto-adding notes
• All GUI tools are restricted to editing/creation workflows only (not for review sessions)

Why This Matters

Before this release, Anki MCP could create and modify notes programmatically, but you couldn’t see what was happening in Anki’s UI. Now you can:

• Open the Card Browser to search and review changes
• Pre-fill Add Cards dialog with AI-suggested content, then review before saving
• Edit notes visually instead of just updating fields programmatically
• Control review sessions by showing questions/answers through the GUI

This gives you the best of both worlds: AI assistance with visual confirmation.

Use Cases

Editing Workflow

You: "Find all my Spanish verb cards and open them in the browser"
AI: *Opens Card Browser with query "deck:Spanish tag:verb"*
You can now review and edit them visually in Anki.

Assisted Creation

You: "Prepare an Add Cards dialog for 'Buenos días' / 'Good morning'"
AI: *Opens Add Cards dialog with fields pre-filled*
You review it, adjust if needed, then click Add.

Deck Management

You: "Show me the overview for my Spanish deck"
AI: *Opens Deck Overview with statistics*
You can see due cards, new cards, and learning progress.

Technical Improvements

Behind the scenes, we’ve also:

• Upgraded to pino v10 for faster logging
• Moved all test files to __tests__/ subdirectories for better organization
• Updated dependencies (@types/node v24, MCP inspector v0.17)
• Added comprehensive test coverage for all GUI tools (203 tests passing)
• Standardized on npm (removed pnpm for consistency with CI/CD)

Important Notes

GUI Tools Require Explicit Permission

All GUI tools have strong warnings in their descriptions. The AI won’t use them unless you explicitly ask:

✅ “Open the browser and search for Spanish cards” ❌ The AI won’t automatically open the browser while creating cards

For Editing, Not Review Sessions

GUI tools are designed for note editing and creation workflows. They’re not meant to replace the review workflow (get_due_cards, present_card, rate_card), which works perfectly for spaced repetition sessions.

Get Started

Desktop Users (MCPB Bundle)

Download the latest bundle from GitHub:

→ Download v0.4.1

Then drag & drop the .mcpb file into Claude Desktop.

Web Mode Users

Update with one command:

npm install -g anki-mcp-http

Or use the latest without installing:

npx anki-mcp-http@latest

What’s Next

We’re continuing to improve Anki MCP with:

• Additional tools based on your feedback
• More documentation and examples
• Performance optimizations
• Enhanced error handling and user guidance

Feedback Welcome

Try out the new GUI tools and let us know how they work for you!

• GitHub Discussions
• Discord Server
• Email Us

Happy studying! 📚

Full Changelog: v0.4.1 on GitHub