How to set up Anki

Kana typing can pull due cards from your Anki deck and grade them as you type. Desktop Anki and AnkiMobile stay the real Anki apps — this site is only a typing screen for whatever card Anki would show next. There are two ways to connect:

On this site — Anki syncs its collection to kanatyping.com instead of AnkiWeb. After one sync you can close Anki and type here any time, on any device, including a phone. Grades sync back to Anki the next time it syncs.
On this computer — Anki keeps syncing to AnkiWeb as before and stays open with the AnkiConnect add-on while you type. Use this if you do not want to change where Anki syncs.

On this site

On kanatyping.com, tap Settings on the session card and set Where Anki lives to On this site.
Type your email and tap Send password. We send the password to that address. Paste it back here and tap Verify. On another phone or browser, paste that same email and password and tap Verify — do not send a new password.
Copy the Sync address shown after that — it ends with a slash.
In desktop Anki, open Preferences → Syncing (older versions: Network), paste the address into self-hosted sync server, and restart Anki. When it asks you to log in, use that same email and password.
On AnkiMobile, paste the same address under Settings → Syncing → Custom sync server.
Press Sync in Anki and wait until it finishes. Then tap Refresh next to Deck — the list does not update on its own.

Two things to know: the address replaces AnkiWeb as that device's sync home, so sync every device you care about at least once. And do not press Sync in Anki at the same moment you are typing here — both are writing to the same collection. Finish typing, then sync.

Your data

This applies to On this site only. Syncing uploads your whole Anki collection — every deck, every card, and the recordings on them, not just the deck you type here. It is stored on this site's server so Anki's scheduler can pick your next card, and it stays there until you ask for it to be removed.

Grades written here go back into the same collection and reach your other devices the next time they sync.
Usage counters record that a card was graded, never what was on it. The only card text that ever leaves is the word itself when an example sentence is written for it — same as before, in both ways of connecting.
The user and password are saved in your browser on this device, like the other settings.
To leave: point Anki back at AnkiWeb (or another server) and sync, then email [email protected] and the copy on this site is deleted.
With On this computer, nothing is uploaded — your cards stay in the Anki app on your computer.

On this computer (AnkiConnect)

Anki stays open next to the browser and this site talks to it directly. Nothing about Anki's own syncing changes.

1. Install desktop Anki

Download Anki from apps.ankiweb.net and open it on the same computer as your browser. Leave it running while you practice.

2. Install AnkiConnect

In Anki, open Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons….
Paste the add-on code 2055492159 and click OK.
Restart Anki when it asks you to.

The add-on page is AnkiConnect on AnkiWeb.

3. Allow this site

On kanatyping.com, tap Settings on the session card, then tap Refresh next to Deck. Anki should prompt you to grant access. Click Allow.

If you dismissed the prompt or it never appeared:

In Anki, open Tools → Add-ons, select AnkiConnect, then Config.

Add https://kanatyping.com to webCorsOriginList (keep http://localhost if it is already there):

{
    "webCorsOriginList": [
        "http://localhost",
        "https://kanatyping.com"
    ]
}

Save the config and restart Anki.

4. If port 8765 is already in use

AnkiConnect listens on 127.0.0.1:8765 by default. If another program already uses that port, pick a free one and set it in both places:

In Anki, open Tools → Add-ons, select AnkiConnect, then Config.

Change webBindPort (keep webBindAddress as 127.0.0.1):

{
    "webBindAddress": "127.0.0.1",
    "webBindPort": 8770,
    "webCorsOriginList": [
        "http://localhost",
        "https://kanatyping.com"
    ]
}

Save the config and restart Anki.
On kanatyping.com, tap Settings on the session card and set Port to the same number (8770 in the example), then tap Verify next to Port.

5. Review on a phone

With On this site, a phone needs nothing extra — just open kanatyping.com. The steps below are only for the AnkiConnect way, where Anki must stay open on the computer and the phone is a remote typing screen. This site is served over HTTPS, so a phone cannot talk to a plain http:// address on your network. Share Anki over a secure address instead:

On the computer, install cloudflared if you do not have it.
In a terminal, run:
```
cloudflared tunnel --url http://127.0.0.1:8765
```
If you changed the AnkiConnect port, use that port instead of 8765.
Copy the https:// address it prints (it looks like https://….trycloudflare.com).
On the phone, open kanatyping.com, tap Settings, paste that address into Phone address, then tap Verify next to Port. Leave Port as it is.
Stop the tunnel when you are done. Anyone who has the address can talk to Anki while it is running.

A private share such as Tailscale Serve also works if it gives you an https:// address. Do not paste a LAN address that starts with http://.

Pick a deck and type

However you connect, pick the deck in Settings and confirm the Reading, Meaning, and Word boxes. After you sync from Anki, tap Refresh next to Deck so this site sees the new collection — it does not update on its own. The session shows the same next card Anki would, a window of up to 40. Finish clean to grade Good; recover from a mistake to grade Hard; peek to grade Again. After Again, Anki may show that card again right away. Cards with a recording play that audio. Cards with nothing to type can be skipped for today.

If it still cannot connect

On this site:

The user and password here must be exactly the pair Anki logs in with.
If it says nothing synced yet, press Sync in Anki once — the collection only exists here after the first sync.
If the deck list is empty or it says Anki is still syncing, wait until Sync in Anki finishes, then tap Refresh next to Deck.
Do not press Sync in Anki at the same moment you are typing here.

On this computer (AnkiConnect):

Anki must stay open on the computer. Closing the window stops AnkiConnect.
This site talks to 127.0.0.1 on the port in Settings (8765 unless you changed it). A VPN, firewall, or browser extension that blocks localhost can break it.
On a phone, Phone address must be the secure https:// address from the tunnel, and the tunnel must still be running.
The Port setting on the session card must match AnkiConnect's webBindPort.
Use a desktop browser for local review. Safari is sometimes stricter about HTTPS pages calling local HTTP — Chrome or Firefox usually work.

Either way: Anki cards without a sentence get one written automatically and saved to the note. Use New example for a different sentence, then Save to card if you want it on the note — a card that already has a sentence is never overwritten on its own. Choose Sentence in Settings first if you do not want Notes.

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