Anki Desktop in Docker

This project is inspired by pnorcross/anki-desktop-docker, with a few tweaks. It provides a Dockerfile that uses linuxserver/docker-baseimage-kasmvnc as the base image to run the desktop version of Anki inside a container.

Why? Because it makes automating Anki (with addons like AnkiConnect) easier.

The Anki desktop app runs in a browser (via VNC) on port 3000. Your Anki data is stored in a volume mounted at /config/app inside the container.

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Requirements

• Docker
• Docker Compose (usually bundled with newer Docker versions)
• Ubuntu (focus is on Linux, but Docker can work on Windows too with a slightly different setup)
• cron (for scheduling tasks)
• AnkiConnect addon (to enable scripting Anki via port 8765)

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Files in This Repo

Dockerfile

Builds the container with Anki 25.02.7 You can change the Anki version, but compatibility may vary.

docker_installation

Contains commands to install Docker on Ubuntu.

cleanup

Helps clean up system resources. Anki seems to have a memory leak—on systems with only 1GB RAM, the container might become unresponsive after ~1 day. You can use cron to run cleanup every 12h.

backup

Uses curl to call AnkiConnect (on port 8765) to create a backup. Schedule this with cron for daily backups.

sync

Also uses curl to call AnkiConnect. It forces a sync and optionally reschedules cards (useful with FSRS + AnkiDroid combo).

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Docker Compose Setup

Create a docker-compose.yml in the root of the repo:

services: 
  anki-desktop: 
    build: 
      context: ./
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
    volumes:
      - ~/.local/share/Anki2:/config/app/Anki2
      - ~/backups:/config/app/backups
    ports: 
      - 3000:3000
      # Anki Connect port
      - 8765:8765

• The first volume maps your local Anki data (on Ubuntu it's usually at ~/.local/share/Anki2) into the container.
• The second volume is for backups you extract via AnkiConnect.

To get started:

git clone <this-repo>
cd anki-desktop-docker
docker compose up --build -d

Then open your browser and head to:

http://localhost:3000

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AnkiConnect Configuration

Make sure your AnkiConnect config (inside Anki) looks like this:

{
    "apiKey": null,
    "apiLogPath": null,
    "ignoreOriginList": [],
    "webBindAddress": "0.0.0.0",
    "webBindPort": 8765,
    "webCorsOrigin": "http://localhost",
    "webCorsOriginList": ["*"]
}

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Cron Example

Open your crontab:

crontab -e

And add:

0 8 * * * (~/anki-desktop-docker/sync && date) >> ~/sync.log 2>&1
0 9 * * * (~/anki-desktop-docker/backup && date) >> ~/backup.log 2>&1
0 10,22 * * * (~/anki-desktop-docker/cleanup && date) >> ~/cleanup.log 2>&1

This sets up:

• 8:00 UTC — Sync
• 9:00 UTC — Backup
• 10:00 & 22:00 UTC — Cleanup