Anki import and export

Atheneum reads and writes Anki's plain-text format, so you can move cards both ways. Imported cards become a normal Atheneum deck with spaced-repetition scheduling (see Flashcards and spaced repetition). Exported decks import into Anki with File → Import.

Atheneum doesn't read Anki's .apkg or .colpkg package files, and it can't sync with Anki or AnkiWeb. It uses text files only.

Export a deck from Anki

1. In Anki, choose File → Export.
2. Pick the plain-text format for notes (tab-separated text), and select the deck.
3. Save the .txt file.

A comma-separated .csv file from a spreadsheet also works, as long as the first column is the front of the card and the second is the back.

Import into Atheneum

1. Open Review and select the Flashcards function.
2. In Notebook, choose the notebook the deck should belong to.
3. Select Import from Anki.
4. Choose your .txt or .csv file.

You'll see "Imported N cards." The new deck is named after the file (without its extension, up to 120 characters), labeled "Imported", and every card is due straight away.

Importing doesn't use AI, so it costs no credits.

What the importer reads

• Columns. The first column is the front, the second is the back, and an optional third column holds tags, separated by spaces (up to 10 tags per card). Any further columns are ignored.
• Separators. Tab is the default. If the file starts with an Anki header such as #separator:comma, #separator:semicolon or #separator:pipe, that separator is used. If there's no header and no line contains a tab, but lines contain commas, the file is read as comma-separated.
• Quotes. Fields in double quotes can contain the separator, and "" inside quotes stands for one quote mark, as in Anki's and spreadsheet exports.
• Header lines. Lines that start with # (such as #html:true or #notetype:Basic) are skipped.
• Incomplete rows. A row with an empty front or an empty back is skipped.

HTML is turned into plain text

Anki fields often contain HTML. Atheneum never shows imported HTML as HTML. Instead it converts it to plain text before saving:

• <br> becomes a line break;
• every other tag is removed, keeping the text inside it (so bold, italics and colors are lost);
•  , &, <, > and " become the characters they stand for.

Images, audio and other media can't come across: they're references in Anki, and the tags that point to them are removed. Cloze deletions ({{c1::…}}) aren't converted into cloze cards; the text is kept as it is.

Export a deck to Anki

1. Open Review and select the Flashcards function.
2. On the deck, select the export (download) button, labeled Export to Anki.
3. A .txt file named after the deck downloads.
4. In Anki, choose File → Import and select the file.

The file is tab-separated with three columns (front, back, tags) and starts with the headers #separator:tab, #html:true and #notetype:Basic, so Anki knows how to read it. Your Atheneum schedule (intervals and due dates) is not included; Anki schedules the cards as new.

On the notebook's Flashcards sub-page, Export for Anki takes you to Review, where each deck has its own export button. Anyone who can open the notebook can export its decks.

One-off export from a file

There's also a quicker export that doesn't save a deck:

1. Open a notebook and go to Files.
2. Select the file's ⋯ button, then Export to Anki.
3. Athena writes 15 to 20 cards from that file, and a file named [file]-flashcards.txt downloads.

This uses AI credits each time, and the cards aren't saved in Atheneum or scheduled, so they won't come back in Review. It needs the file to have a summary or to have been indexed, because the cards are written from those. When the download starts, you'll see "Download started. In Anki: File → Import → select this .txt file (tab-separated, HTML enabled)."

The Summaries page also has Export to Anki on summaries that belong to a single file (open one to see it); it does the same one-off export.

Use the one-off export when you want cards for Anki only. Use a saved deck when you want to study in Atheneum too.

Limits

• Up to 500 cards per import; rows after the 500th are ignored.
• Up to 2,000 characters per field; longer fields are cut.
• About 200,000 characters of file text per import.
• Up to 10 imports in 10 minutes.
• Only the owner and contributors of a notebook can import into it.

Troubleshooting

• "That file doesn't look like an Anki text export." No row had both a front and a back. Check that the file is plain text with the front and back in the first two columns, separated by tabs or commas.
• "That file is empty." The file has no text.
• "Could not read that file." Your browser couldn't open the file. Make sure it's a text file, not an .apkg package.
• "That's a lot in a few minutes. …" You've imported 10 files in 10 minutes. Wait as long as the message says.
• "Generate a summary or index this file before exporting flashcards." (one-off export) The file has no summary or index yet. Use Summarize in the file's ⋯ menu first.
• Formatting is gone after import. That's expected: imported HTML is turned into plain text.
• There is no Import from Anki button. You're a viewer in this shared notebook.

Related

• Flashcards and spaced repetition
• Review
• Notebooks
• AI credits