Introduction

Have you ever struggled to create Anki cards manually, even though you know it’s a powerful tool for learning? I’ve been there. The process of converting book highlights into cards took so long that I often abandoned it halfway.

This workflow solves that problem by automating the process. Using Readwise, Notion, n8n, AnkiConnect, and Ngrok, you can transform highlights into Anki cards automatically with minimal effort.

How Does the Workflow Work?

Here’s the general flow:

1. Save your highlights in Readwise.
2. Readwise syncs them to a database in Notion.
3. In Notion, locate the "Create an Anki Deck" column for the book or article you want to process and set its status to "Yes" (details below).
4. n8n launches the workflow:
   • Decides which highlights to turn into cards using OpenAI.
   • Creates cards in the format Q: | A: using OpenAI.
   • Adds them to the appropriate deck in Anki.
5. The cards sync through Anki Cloud, so they’re available on all your devices.

Requirements

• A Readwise account (with an active subscription for exporting notes).
• Notion to sync highlights from Readwise and organize your database.
• n8n to create the automation workflow.
• Anki (with the AnkiConnect plugin) for card storage.
• Ngrok to connect n8n with the local AnkiConnect.