Sync with Anki

Ankinize speaks Anki's own sync protocol, so the Anki you already have works as is: you only change one setting, the address it syncs with.

Before you start#

An Ankinize account with a verified email address.
Your sync address, which is the address of this server, ending in a slash:

Sync address

https://ankinize.com/

You can copy it from API Keys & Devices in the dashboard. Keep the slash on the end: Anki adds sync/ and msync/ after it, and a server behind a reverse proxy on a sub-path needs it.

Anki on your computer#

Open the syncing settings
Choose Tools → Preferences → Syncing.
Enter the address
Paste your sync address into Self-hosted sync server and press OK. If Anki asks you to restart, restart it.
Log in and sync
Press Sync in the main window. Log in with your Ankinize email and password. If you turned on two-factor, use an API key as the password instead; see below.

Your first sync#

If your computer and the server hold different collections, Anki cannot merge them and asks which side to keep. This is a full sync:

Choice	What happens
Upload to Ankinize	The server's copy is replaced by the one on this computer. Choose this for your first sync from your main computer.
Download from Ankinize	The copy on this computer is replaced by the server's. Choose this on a second device.

After that, syncs only send what changed, and media files follow automatically.

AnkiDroid#

Open the setting
Choose Settings → Sync → Custom sync server.
Enter the address
AnkiDroid 2.16 and newer asks for one address: use your sync address. Older versions ask for two:
Older AnkiDroid
Sync URL https://ankinize.com/sync/ Media sync URL https://ankinize.com/msync/
Log in
Use the same email and password as on the computer, then sync.

AnkiMobile (iPhone and iPad)#

Open the setting
Choose Settings → Syncing → Custom sync server and enter your sync address.
Log in and sync
Log in on the sync screen and press Sync.

If you use two-factor login#

Anki has nowhere to type a second code. Create an API key with the sync scope under API Keys & Devices and use it as the password in Anki, with your email as the username. The key works only for syncing unless you also give it the REST scopes. See Authentication.

Seeing and removing devices#

Each Anki that signs in appears under Devices in the dashboard, with its version and when it last synced. Sign a device out there and it has to log in again before it can sync.

Troubleshooting#

What you see	What to do
“Invalid username or password”	Check that the email is verified. If two-factor is on, use a sync API key as the password.
A network or connection error	Open the sync address in a browser. It must load over HTTPS, and the address must end in a slash.
Error -9836 on iPhone	The server's TLS version is too old. Serve it with TLS 1.2 or newer.
Works on Wi‑Fi at home, not on iPhone	Allow Local Network access for AnkiMobile in iOS Settings.
Works on a phone only with two addresses	That AnkiDroid is older than 2.16: enter the sync and media addresses separately.
The API says “423 Locked”	A sync is running. Wait the number of seconds in Retry-After and try again.