Keyboard Switcher

Automatically switch your operating system's keyboard input language based on the Card Type of the card you're currently reviewing.

Studying with a note type like Japanese -> German? This addon detects that a card of that type is on screen and switches your Mac or PC's keyboard input language to German (or whatever you configure) for you -- no more manually flipping your keyboard language every time you switch direction.

This changes the real, system-level keyboard input language (the same thing you'd change by hand in your OS's language settings) -- not just something internal to Anki -- so anything you type anywhere is immediately in the right language.

Note: this addon matches on the card template name, and Anki's built-in note types normally use generic template names like Card 1. You'll need to create/rename your own templates with meaningful names (e.g. Japanese -> German) -- see "How to use it" below for exact steps. You can't match against the default Card 1 / Card 2 names unless you rename them yourself first.

Setup (required -- please read before using)

This addon controls your operating system's input language directly, so both Windows and macOS require a one-time permission or configuration step before it will actually work. The addon will not silently fail forever -- if something's misconfigured, check the log file mentioned at the bottom of this page and it will tell you exactly what's wrong.

Windows

No special permission is required. Just make sure every language you want to switch to is already added under:

Settings -> Time & Language -> Language & region

Only languages you've added there will show up in the addon's dropdown -- the addon reads this list directly from Windows, it doesn't install languages for you.

macOS

Two things are required:

1. Add every input source you want to use under:

   System Settings -> Keyboard -> Input Sources -> Edit...

   (or System Settings -> Keyboard -> Text Input -> Input Sources on some macOS versions). Only enabled sources appear in the addon's dropdown.

2. Grant Anki two privacy permissions, both under System Settings -> Privacy & Security:

   • Accessibility -- add Anki.app and enable it.
   • Input Monitoring -- add Anki.app and enable it.

   Both matter: plain keyboard layouts (German, French, English, etc.) generally only need Accessibility, but switching into input methods for languages like Japanese, Chinese, or Korean specifically requires Input Monitoring as well -- macOS treats these as a more sensitive category of switch.

   After granting either permission, fully quit Anki (Cmd+Q, not just closing the window) and reopen it -- macOS only applies newly granted permissions to a fresh process.

   If Anki isn't listed yet under either permission at all, just open the configuration dialog (see below) or review a card once; macOS will usually prompt you automatically, or you can add Anki manually with the + button in each permission list.

How to use it

1. In Anki, go to Tools -> Keyboard Switcher...

2. Click + Add Condition.

3. In Card Type Name, type the exact name of the card template (not the note type!) as it appears in your note type's card layout editor -- e.g. Japanese -> German. You can find this name in Tools -> Manage Note Types -> [your note type] -> Cards...; it's the tab name shown at the top of the card template editor.

   Important: Anki's built-in note types come with generic template names like Card 1 or Card 2. Since one template name is rarely unique to a single language direction, you'll usually want to rename the template to something meaningful yourself first -- e.g. rename Card 1 to Japanese -> German. To rename a template, open Tools -> Manage Note Types -> [your note type] -> Cards..., double-click the tab name at the top (or use the rename button, if your Anki version has one), type the new name, and save. Only after renaming it will that exact name be available to match against in a rule here.

4. In Input Language, pick the language to switch to from the dropdown. This list is populated automatically from the languages installed and enabled on your computer -- nothing to type by hand.

5. Click + Add Condition again to add as many rules as you like -- there's no limit.

6. (Optional) Tick Match Card Type Name case-insensitively if you'd rather not worry about exact capitalization.

7. Click Save.

From now on, every time the reviewer shows a card whose card type matches one of your rules, your keyboard input language switches automatically -- no further action needed.

To edit or remove a rule later, reopen Tools -> Keyboard Switcher..., adjust as needed, and click Save again. Click Remove on any row to delete that rule.

Troubleshooting

If switching doesn't seem to work, open the addon's log file:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Anki2\addons21\keyboard_switcher\keyboard_switcher.log
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/keyboard_switcher/keyboard_switcher.log
• Linux: ~/.local/share/Anki2/addons21/keyboard_switcher/keyboard_switcher.log

Review a card that should trigger a rule, then check the newest lines:

• No new lines appear at all -- the reviewer hook isn't firing, or something's preventing Anki from loading the addon; check for an error dialog on Anki startup.
• "did not match any of N configured rule(s)" -- your Card Type Name doesn't exactly match the card's actual template name. Double-check spelling, spacing, and that you used the template name, not the note type name.
• "matched rule" followed by "reported success" but nothing visibly changes -- the OS accepted the request; check that you selected the correct language for that rule (typos are easy when several similarly named input sources exist, e.g. multiple Japanese input methods).
• "matched rule" followed by a macOS OSStatus error -- almost always a missing permission; re-check the Accessibility and Input Monitoring steps above, making sure to fully quit and reopen Anki afterward.

Notes and limitations

• Languages must already be installed/enabled in your OS -- this addon switches between existing languages, it doesn't install new ones.
• Switching applies to whatever window currently has focus at the moment a card is shown, which in normal use is Anki itself.
• Linux support is best-effort (via IBus, falling back to XKB layouts) since Linux has no single standard input-switching API across distributions and desktop environments.