西红柿
A companion app for Anki*
Learn Chinese with your own Anki: add words in seconds, read short stories made from the words you're learning, and see your study habits.
*xihongshi is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anki or its developers (Ankitects).
Hi, I'm Klaus 👋 I built xihongshi for my own Chinese studies. It has been a work in progress for almost a year: I use it every day and have kept improving it to fit exactly how I learn. Now I'm sharing it, so if something is unclear or doesn't work for you, please tell me. xihongshi is free; if it helps you, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi ☕.
xihongshi (西红柿, "tomato") is a website that works together with Anki, the free flashcard app. You keep studying your cards in Anki as usual; xihongshi helps you fill and use your deck:
- Add a word (Word → Anki): type a Chinese word and you get a finished flashcard: pinyin, a short definition, similar words and how they differ, four example sentences with translations, and audio for everything.
- Stories (Anki → Story): a short story written around words from your own deck, with pinyin, translation and audio. Select a phrase to save it as a highlight (it stays marked in the story), or select a word you don't know to add it to Anki. Shortcuts: P pinyin, T translation, Space play/pause, ← → jump 3 seconds.
- Words: everything you're learning, grouped by level (HSK1, HSK2, …). Click a word to hear it, hover for its meaning, search in characters, pinyin or English.
- Habits: how much you study, when, and your streak, straight from Anki's review history. You can also log offline study time (writing, lessons) and hours you studied before using xihongshi.
Curious first? Read a sample story, no setup needed.
💻 Use it on a computer (Mac, Windows or Linux) with Google Chrome. It works together with the Anki desktop app, so it doesn't work on phones, and Safari blocks the connection to Anki.
Why Anki: the part that makes words stick
xihongshi fills your deck; Anki makes sure you never forget what's in it. Anki uses spaced repetition: it shows you each card again right before you'd forget it, a day later, then a few days, then weeks and months. A few minutes of reviews a day keep hundreds or thousands of words fresh.
- Every word you add is studied automatically. Each one becomes two cards: Chinese → meaning (with the example sentences) and English → Chinese, both with audio. Anki works them into your daily study by itself (new cards are introduced gradually, up to 20 a day by default), with no extra effort.
- Review anywhere. Sync your collection for free with AnkiWeb and do your daily reviews on your phone with AnkiDroid (Android, free) or AnkiMobile (iPhone, paid). xihongshi is for adding and reading on your computer; reviewing works wherever you are.
- Reading and reviewing reinforce each other. Stories are written around the words you're learning, so you meet your cards again in real context. Red-flag a card you keep getting wrong and it shows up in your next story.
- Your progress is visible. Anki's statistics and xihongshi's Habits page both build on your review history: streaks, study time, best hours.
- Free and yours. Anki is free and open source (except AnkiMobile), and your cards live in your own collection, not on someone else's server.
Already an Anki user?
- xihongshi works with your existing collection through the AnkiConnect add-on. No new account, no export.
- It leaves your cards alone. It only adds its own notes (in
Mandarin: Vocabulary::HSK…,Mandarin: StoriesandMandarin: Highlights) and only ever changes notes it created. Your other decks and your review scheduling are never touched. - New words use a "Chinese (Basic)" note type: pinyin, definition, similar words, four example sentences with translations and audio. The starter deck installs it.
- It reads your review history for the Habits page and your red flags for stories. Apart from the words sent to your AI provider for stories and new cards, nothing leaves your computer (see Privacy).
Setup (about 15 minutes, once)
1Install Anki
Download Anki for your computer from https://apps.ankiweb.net and open it. If you already use Anki, you can use your existing profile.
2Install the AnkiConnect add-on
AnkiConnect lets the website talk to Anki on your computer.
- In Anki: Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons…
- Enter the code
2055492159and click OK. - Restart Anki.
3Connect the website to Anki
- Keep Anki open and go to https://www.xihongshi.app/setup.
- Click Connect to Anki.
- Chrome asks whether the site may access devices on your local network: click Allow. (That's how the page reaches Anki on your computer; nothing goes over the internet.)
- Anki asks whether
https://www.xihongshi.appmay use AnkiConnect: click Yes.
You should see "Connected to Anki ✓ … decks found". Clicked "Block" or "No" by accident? See Troubleshooting.
4Import the starter deck (recommended)
On the Setup page, click Download HSK1 deck, then in Anki choose File → Import… and pick the downloaded file.
You get 150 HSK1 words, each with pinyin, definition, four example sentences, translations and audio. It also installs the card type that "Add a word" needs, so import it even if you already have your own decks.
5Add an AI key
xihongshi uses AI to write example sentences and stories. You use your own account, so you only pay for what you use (see Costs).
- Create an account at https://console.anthropic.com, add a little credit (e.g. $5) under Billing, and set a monthly spending limit there.
- Under API Keys, create a key and copy it (it starts with
sk-ant-). - Paste it into Anthropic (Claude) API key on the Setup page. It's saved as you paste it; click Check key to make sure it works.
Already have an OpenAI account? An OpenAI key works instead of Anthropic.
6Audio (optional)
Audio works without any key, using a free but slightly robotic voice. For a natural voice, add an ElevenLabs key (https://elevenlabs.io) on the Setup page. You can even pick a different voice or clone your own: paste its Voice ID under Voice and click Listen to hear it.
7Add words from any website (optional)
On the Setup page, drag the ➕ xihongshi button onto your bookmarks bar. Reading Chinese somewhere? Select a word and click the bookmark: xihongshi opens with the word, the sentence it appeared in and the page as source already filled in, and you just click Add to Anki.
That's it. Start with Word → Anki or Anki → Story in the menu; 西红柿 at the top left brings you back to this guide.
How your decks are organised
- Words live in decks called
Mandarin: Vocabulary::HSK1,…::HSK2and so on (the starter deck creates the first one). - New words go into the HSK deck you created most recently. Ready for the
next level? Create
Mandarin: Vocabulary::HSK2in Anki (Create Deck) and new words land there from then on. - Stories pick words from all your HSK decks. To practise a word more, flag its card red in Anki (Ctrl/Cmd + 1 while reviewing): flagged words are used in stories first.
- Story options (on the story page): choose which decks to use, only words added in the last 7 or 30 days or words you often get wrong, which flag colours count as trouble words, an optional topic ("at the restaurant"), and how simple the other words in the story should be. For an easy story, also untick your higher-level decks, since your own words always come from the decks you select.
- Saved stories go into
Mandarin: Stories, highlights intoMandarin: Highlights. You can review both in Anki like any deck.
Costs
xihongshi itself is free. AI providers bill you directly, by usage. Rough figures:
| Action | Roughly |
|---|---|
| Add a word (text) | well under 1 cent |
| Generate a 150-word story | a few cents |
| Audio with ElevenLabs | counts characters against your ElevenLabs plan (a word with its 4 example sentences ≈ 50–80 characters) |
| Audio without a key | free |
Set a monthly spending limit with your provider and you can't be surprised.
Privacy
- Your Anki stays on your computer. The website talks to Anki directly from your browser. Your cards never go to the xihongshi server, and other visitors can only ever reach their own Anki.
- What leaves your computer: only the word you add, or the handful of words picked for a story, sent to your AI provider with your key.
- Your keys are saved in your browser only and sent along with each request. They are never stored on the server.
- Anonymous visitor statistics: the site counts page views with Vercel Web Analytics (no cookies, no personal data), so I can see which pages are used. Nothing from your Anki is ever part of it.
- Your logged study time is stored as a small file inside your Anki
(
_xihongshi_habits.json), so it's backed up and synced with your cards. - Saying "Yes" in Anki lets this site read and edit your Anki while you use
it. To take that back: Anki → Tools → Add-ons → AnkiConnect → Config,
remove the site from
webCorsOriginList.
Troubleshooting
"Anki not connected" or "Could not reach AnkiConnect"
- Is Anki open? Is AnkiConnect installed, and did you restart Anki afterwards?
- Clicked Block when Chrome asked about local network access? Paste
chrome://settings/content/siteDetails?site=https://www.xihongshi.appinto Chrome's address bar, set Local network access to Allow, reload and click Connect to Anki again. - Clicked No in Anki? Just click Connect to Anki again; Anki asks again.
- Using Safari? Please use Chrome.
"Model "Chinese (Basic)" not found" when adding a word
Import the starter deck (setup step 4); it installs that card type.
"No vocabulary found in your Anki decks" when generating a story
You need at least a few words in a Mandarin: Vocabulary::HSK… deck. The
starter deck has 150.
"No AI key found"
Add an Anthropic or OpenAI key on the Setup page and click Check key.
My keys are gone
Keys are saved per browser. On another computer or browser, enter them again on the Setup page.
Audio says voice_not_found
The ElevenLabs voice ID isn't available to your account. Pick a voice in the ElevenLabs Voice Library, add it to "My Voices", or clear the Voice ID field to use the default voice.