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Notosaurus

Advanced installation

The Anki add-on is the simplest way to use Notosaurus. To run it on its own, for instance on a home server always on, install it standalone or with Docker.

Differences with the add-on:

  • Notosaurus runs even when Anki is closed; the .apkg download always works.
  • Add to Anki needs Anki desktop open with the AnkiConnect add-on (code 2055492159).
  • The settings (/admin.html) are reachable from the network, protected by an admin password created on the first visit.

Standalone

Section titled “Standalone”

With Python 3.13:

Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/cchabanois/notosaurus.git
cd notosaurus
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
.venv/bin/uvicorn app.main:app --host 0.0.0.0

Open http://localhost:8000 on the computer. For the phone (same Wi-Fi): ⚙️ → Phones, and scan the QR code.

Docker

Section titled “Docker”
Terminal window
docker build -t notosaurus .
docker run -p 8000:8000 -v notosaurus-data:/data --env-file .env \
  -e NOTOSAURUS_PUBLIC_URL=http://<computer-ip>:8000 notosaurus

Inside Docker, Notosaurus can’t see the computer’s address: NOTOSAURUS_PUBLIC_URL puts it in the phones’ QR code. The computer itself goes through Docker’s network too: open ⚙️ → Phones and use the link under the QR code once.

Environment variables

Section titled “Environment variables”

Copy .env.example to .env. These variables give the defaults: what is saved in the settings page wins.

Variable Use
NOTOSAURUS_LLM AI service: gemini, anthropic, openai, openrouter, compatible
GEMINI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY API keys
NOTOSAURUS_MODEL the model (empty: Notosaurus’s choice for the service)
NOTOSAURUS_FALLBACK_MODEL Gemini models tried when the main one is overloaded
NOTOSAURUS_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL, NOTOSAURUS_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY another OpenAI-compatible service (Ollama: http://localhost:11434/v1)
NOTOSAURUS_PICTURE_SERVICE, NOTOSAURUS_PICTURE_MODEL the service drawing the cards’ pictures (gemini, openai, openrouter, none; empty: the cards’ own) and its model
NOTOSAURUS_DATA the data folder (default: data)
NOTOSAURUS_ANKICONNECT_URL, NOTOSAURUS_ANKICONNECT_KEY AnkiConnect (default: http://localhost:8765)
NOTOSAURUS_PUBLIC_URL the address in the phones’ QR code, when Notosaurus can’t see it (Docker); besides IP addresses and localhost, the only name Notosaurus answers to