anki/docs/development.md

Anki development

Packaged betas

For non-developers who want to try this development code, the easiest way is to use a packaged version - please see:

https://betas.ankiweb.net/#/

You are welcome to run Anki from source instead, but it is expected that you can sort out issues by yourself - we are not able to provide support for problems you encounter when running from source.

Pre-built Python wheels

If you want to run Anki from a local Python installation but don't want to make changes to the source code, you can install pre-built packages from PyPI.

For older versions:

$ python -m venv pyenv
$ pyenv/bin/pip install aqt anki ankirspy pyqt5 pyqtwebengine
$ pyenv/bin/python -c 'import aqt; aqt.run()'

From Anki 2.1.36 onwards:

• Make sure your pip version is 20 or later (pip install --upgrade pip).
• Then:

$ python -m venv pyenv
$ pyenv/bin/pip install aqt
$ pyenv/bin/python -c 'import aqt; aqt.run()'

Building from source

Platform-specific instructions:

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux

Don't name the Git checkout ~/Anki or ~/Documents/Anki, as those folders were used on old Anki versions and will be automatically moved.

Before contributing code, please see Contributing.

If you'd like to contribute translations, please see https://translating.ankiweb.net/#/.

Running tests

From inside the source folder:

bazel test //...

Fixing formatting

If the format tests fail, most can be fixed by running format_fix in the relevant folder:

bazel run //rslib:format_fix
bazel run //pylib:format_fix
bazel run //pylib/rsbridge:format_fix
bazel run //qt:format_fix

Currently the typescript code needs to be formatted differently:

cd ts
./node_modules/.bin/prettier --write .

Building redistributable wheels

bazel build -c opt //pylib/anki:wheel
bazel build -c opt //qt/aqt:wheel

The generated wheel paths will be printed as the build completes. To install them, see earlier in this document.

Tracing build problems

You can run bazel with '-s' to print the commands that are being executed.

Subcomponents

• pylib contains a Python module (anki) with the non-GUI Python code, and a bridge to the Rust code.
• qt contains the Qt GUI implementation (aqt).
• rslib contains the parts of the code implemented in Rust.
• ts contains Anki's typescript and sass files.

Environmental Variables

If ANKIDEV is set before starting Anki, some extra log messages will be printed on stdout, and automatic backups will be disabled - so please don't use this except on a test profile.

If LOGTERM is set before starting Anki, warnings and error messages that are normally placed in the collection2.log file will also be printed on stdout.

Mixing development and study

You may wish to create a separate profile with File>Switch Profile for use during development. You can pass the arguments "-p [profile name]" when starting Anki to load a specific profile.

If you're using PyCharm:

• right click on the "run" file in the root of the PyCharm Anki folder
• click "Edit 'run'..." - in Script options and enter: "-p [dev profile name]" without the quotes
• click "Ok"

Instructions need updating:

optional deps: pyaudio dpkg: portaudio19-dev

mpv lame

1. Download and install the pyaudio wheel from: https://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/#pyaudio