Getting Started with Pindu
Installing Pindu, configuring it for your Anki collection, and running your first reading session.
Installing Pindu
If You're New to Anki
Anki is a free, open-source flashcard application that uses a spaced repetition system (SRS) to help you study effectively. You build a deck of vocabulary cards, and Anki schedules reviews so that you see each word just before you're about to forget it. Pindu is a free Anki add-on that extends this system with a text engine and reader UI: instead of reviewing words one card at a time, you can read passages that contain your vocabulary.
If You Already Use Anki
Pindu and traditional Anki reviews are complementary options within your daily practice, not competing systems. Both feed into the same Anki scheduler. Traditional Anki reviews vocabulary words in isolation: fast, focused, and effective for intensive practice. Pindu gives you reading passages and lets you mark words as you read: immersive, natural, and effective for comprehension. Do either or both in any session: your work compounds regardless. Figure 1 shows how the two systems work together.
Getting the Pindu add-on
- Open Anki and go to Tools > Add-ons > Get Add-ons.
- Paste in the Pindu add-on code:
600135790. - Restart Anki.
After restart, you can launch Pindu from the Tools menu (Tools > Pindu > Launch), from the "Launch Pindu" button on Anki's main screen, or from the "Pindu (Express)" button on any deck overview.
Setup for Your First Session
Map your note types
Pindu needs to know which field in your Anki cards contains the Chinese characters. You only have to do this configuration once per note type.
- Launch Pindu and open the "Configure" dialog from the sidebar.
- Go to the "Anki Note Type Mapping" tab.
- Select your note type from the "Unconfigured" list on the left.
- Use the dropdown menus to map your note type's fields to Pindu's standard fields. Only the "Hanzi" mapping is required. (This tells Pindu where to find the Chinese text on each card.) Other mappings (pinyin, English definition, example sentence, audio) are optional but enable richer display and tooling in the reader.
- Click "Add/Update Pindu Configuration". The note type will move to the "Configured" list on the right.
- Save and exit the configuration dialog.
If you use multiple note types across different decks, repeat this for each one.
Run a test session
The quickest way to see Pindu in action is to run a session using the "Study Cards (Existing)" workflow. This uses example sentences already stored in your Anki cards, so it requires no API keys and no setup beyond the note type mapping above. A Pindu session moves through four stages:
- Model your vocabulary: choose the Anki deck you want to review. Pindu reads its card scheduling data and builds a personalized vocabulary model from the deck.
- Prepare reading passages: select the "Study Cards (Existing)" workflow and generate the session. Pindu pulls example sentences from your due cards without modification.
- Support your reading: read through the passage. Click a word once to mark it "Hard" (you got it but struggled). Click twice to mark it "Again" (you missed it or couldn't recall it). Words you don't click are implicitly "Good".
- Commit reviews to Anki: submit your reviews. The words you encountered are marked as reviewed in your deck, and your traditional review queue shrinks accordingly. Words not in your Anki collection are not marked as reviewed.
Workflow Overviews
Pindu offers four pre-configured workflow types that differ fundamentally in how the reading text is sourced:
| Workflow | Text source | API key needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Study Cards (Existing) | Example sentences already in your Anki cards | No |
| Study Cards (AI) | AI-generated sentence per due card | Yes (OpenAI or OpenRouter) |
| Study Collection | AI-generated passage on a topic you choose, calibrated to your vocabulary | Yes (OpenAI or OpenRouter) |
| Read Any Text | Text you paste in or import from a URL | Optional (for releveling) |
Start with "Study Cards (Existing)" to get comfortable with the four-stage flow. If your cards don't have example sentences, "Study Cards (AI)" generates a fresh sentence for each due card instead. For a detailed explanation of how each workflow generates and processes text, see How Pindu Works.
Setup of API Services
Pindu itself is free. The AI-powered services are not, and they cost whatever you pay the service providers directly. To integrate the services into Pindu, you need to obtain API keys from the respective providers. There are two basic services that Pindu integrates with:
- LLMs: for text generation, rewriting, translations, and more. Typical sessions cost a few cents; a month of daily use might total $1–2. The OpenAI and OpenRouter APIs are supported.
- TTS: for passage-level and word-level audio in the reader. The OpenAI and Azure APIs are supported. Azure is the superior and recommended option for Chinese.
None of these is required to start. "Study Cards (Existing)" and "Read Any Text" (with manual paste) work with no API keys at all. To add keys, open the "Configure" dialog from Pindu's sidebar and go to the "Services and Accounts" tab.
Where to Go from Here
- How Pindu Works: more technical detail on vocabulary modeling, text generation, segmentation, and SRS integration.
- The Science of Extensive Reading: a literature review of the second-language-acquisition research that motivates Pindu's approach.
- Pindu demo on YouTube: a walkthrough of a full session.
- Questions? Email [email protected].