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* Set up a Briefcase project * Replace pip-system-certs with truststore It doesn't play nicely with Briefcase and triggers RecursionError * Pass --adhoc-sign MacOS signing is deferred to a later PR. * Fix lint errors * Set `supportd = false` for mobile/web deployments * Fix `qt` extra * Use Briefcase 0.4.0 Released yesterday
* Add Briefcase icons * Generate scaled PNG icons * Generate CHANGELOG Required for .deb packages
* Add permissions * Add macOS entitlements * Add the audio-input entitlement permission.microphone maps to "com.apple.security.device.microphone" but the Briefcase docs claim otherwise. It doesn't seem to be required with the microphone entitlement in place, but adding it just in case. https://stackoverflow.com/a/57060745
* Move Briefcase app to subdir * Use our custom Windows template * Update Windows template
* Pass --identity to briefcase * Write Briefcase logs Can be found under out/installer/logs
* Use sys.executable * Refactor installer action into a BuildAction impl Also pass version as an arg * Use argparse * Build a universal macOS wheel * Move universal_wheel action to installer group So that the build-x64-mac script doesn't need to be run first every time the wheels group is run. * Add build-installer scripts * Fix mypy error * Replace cp39 tag We bumped the minimum Python version earlier * Fix Windows build
andrewsanchez
commented
Mar 24, 2026
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| if [[ "$(uname -s)" == "Darwin" ]]; then | ||
| ./tools/build-x64-mac | ||
| fi |
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A different Rust toolchain is required for macos so we call this prior to running the installer.
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* Use our Linux template * Update template * Fix mypy error * Update template * Update template
## Changes This changes the new installer to use PyInstaller instead of Briefcase on Linux. The main benefit is that PyInstaller bundles all dependencies with the app (including Python), while Briefcase relies on the system's Python matching the one linked to the app, which makes distribution and support for multiple distros really hard. See #4622 for some details. ## How to test - Build the installer: `./ninja installer`. - Run the executable under `./out/installer/dist/anki`. - If you have access to another (newer) Linux distro, move the compiled dist folder there and try running it. I did some tests on Ubuntu 22 and Debian 13. ## Comments One approach I considered is to use PyInstaller on all platforms for bundling dependencies, then pass the output to Briefcase as an [external app](https://briefcase.beeware.org/en/stable/how-to/building/external-apps/) so we have less platform differences to worry about. This worked well, especially on Windows, except that macOS universal binary support is [complicated](https://pyinstaller.org/en/stable/feature-notes.html#macos-multi-arch-support) (it requires all dependencies to have universal2 builds).
Add a small section about the Briefcase/PyInstaller installer to docs/development.md.
## Changes This reworks packaging on Linux to produce a zip with custom install/uninstall scripts based on the ones under `qt/launcher/lin`. ## How to test - Build the package: `./ninja installer`. - Extract the zip under `out/installer/dist`: ```bash cd out/installer/dist tar xaf anki-25.09.2-linux-x86_64.tar.zst ``` - cd into the extracted dir and run Anki: ```bash cd anki-25.09.2-linux ./anki ``` - Test the install script (`sudo ./install.sh`) and confirm Anki is integrated into the system (i.e., icon displayed and file associations work). - Test the uninstall script (`sudo /usr/local/share/anki/uninstall.sh`) ---- See #4622
## Changes This disables Briefcase's universal builds for macOS and removes universal wheel handling. Briefcase now needs to be run natively on Intel to produce a separate .dmg package. This has the advantage of smaller packages and installations: #4632 (comment) Compare release sizes: - Universal builds: https://github.com/abdnh/anki/releases/tag/26.03 - Native builds: https://github.com/abdnh/anki/releases/tag/26.04 ## How to test Build installer on ARM/Intel Mac and confirm package still works on the same system: `tools/build-installer`.
Luc-Mcgrady
approved these changes
Apr 7, 2026
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I've tested it on linux and windows and it all LGTM. It seems to fix #4144 as well.
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| rm -rf "$PREFIX"/share/anki "$PREFIX"/bin/anki | ||
| mkdir -p "$PREFIX"/share/anki | ||
| cp -av --no-preserve=owner,context -- * "$PREFIX"/share/anki/ |
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If I'm being super picky, it might be worth not using "*" here and manually listing the top level files and _internal in case the user copies some files into the folder which would then be copied into their system files.
| To install system wide, run 'sudo ./install.sh' | ||
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| To remove in the future, run 'sudo /usr/local/share/anki/uninstall.sh'. You should | ||
| do this before installing a newer version. |
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Maybe uninstalling before a re-install should be automatic?
Luc-Mcgrady
reviewed
Apr 7, 2026
| mkdir -p "$PREFIX"/share/applications | ||
| mkdir -p "$PREFIX"/share/man/man1 | ||
| cd "$PREFIX"/share/anki && (\ | ||
| mv -Z anki.xpm anki.png "$PREFIX"/share/pixmaps/;\ |
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Also picky but maybe "$PREFIX" should be made absolute because the cd will break the script if it is relative here I think.
mv: target '../share/pixmaps/': No such file or directory
See @Luc-Mcgrady's comments on #4629 (review)
## Linked issue Closes #4670 ## Summary - Silently uninstall existing non-elevated NSIS-based installations. - If an elevated install is detected (Anki versions before 2.1.64 - see #2497), abort installation with an error message (for simplicity). See changes to the WiX template: https://github.com/ankitects/briefcase-windows-app-template/compare/806816f1a4ed376a7f1441184644d146f5e0dade..1c01b4cc29122280c7a03127db9410b95d5a749a ## Steps to reproduce (before) 1. Install the latest stable release. 2. Build the new MSI installer (`./tools/ninja installer`) and install it on top of the existing version. 3. Notice two entries in the system's app list (Settings > Apps > Installed apps on Windows 11): "Anki" and "Anki Launcher". ## How to test (after) 1. Repeat the process with the latest stable release: The existing installation should be silently uninstalled. 2. Repeat the process with [Anki 2.1.64](github.com/ankitects/anki/releases/tag/2.1.64): Installer should fail with an error message. ### Checklist - [x] I ran `./ninja check` or an equivalent relevant check locally. - [ ] I added or updated tests when the change is non-trivial or behavior changed. ## UI evidence Installation on top of an elevated installation: <img width="398" height="189" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2cb1a0db-37be-43e7-b36a-24110b745f2f" /> ## Scope - [x] This PR is focused on one change (no unrelated edits).
## Linked issue Closes #4675 ## Summary Remove duplicate icons created by Briefcase for Anki file types (the `document_type` options in pyproject.toml.template). See Briefcase template changes here: 1. ankitects/briefcase-windows-app-template@56bfc07 2. ankitects/briefcase-macOS-app-template@8ef2200 ## Steps to reproduce (before) 1. Build and install Anki on Windows or macOS. 3. Notice several anki-\*.ico icons in the installation folder on Windows. On macOS, right-click the app icon and click Show Package Contents then go to the Resources folder and confirm you see several anki-\*.icns icons. ## How to test (after) Build and install the app and confirm the duplicate icons are removed. ### Checklist - [x] I ran `./ninja check` or an equivalent relevant check locally. - [ ] I added or updated tests when the change is non-trivial or behavior changed. ## Scope - [x] This PR is focused on one change (no unrelated edits).
This was referenced Apr 13, 2026
This was referenced Apr 13, 2026
## Linked issue #4679 ## Summary Add anki-console.bat to Briefcase's Windows package to launch Anki in a new terminal. ## How to test - Build the installer: `./tools/ninja installer`. - Install the package at `./out/dist/`. - Confirm anki-console.bat exists in the installation folder. ## Notes Console output won't show up yet. That depends on an upstream fix: beeware/briefcase-windows-VisualStudio-template#88
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iamllama
reviewed
Apr 17, 2026
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| if __name__ == "__main__": | ||
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| from pathlib import Path |
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For console output, instead of modifying the wix template to reopen the console handles, we can do it within the interpreter itself (https://github.com/iamllama/anki/blob/3e0e5914ebf9208dba65cd4e24b93b15fe5592d1/qt/launcher/src/platform/mod.rs#L139) (tested on win10/11)
Suggested change
| from pathlib import Path | |
| from pathlib import Path | |
| sys.stdout = sys.stderr = open("CONOUT$", "w") | |
| sys.stdin = open("CONIN$", "r") |
EDIT: within the try block as opening the handles will fail when run normally as a gui app
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That works. I submitted a PR to upstream anyway: beeware/briefcase-windows-VisualStudio-template#88
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Summary
Feature branch that migrates Anki Desktop packaging from the legacy NSIS/uv-based installer to BeeWare Briefcase. This branch integrates work from many related issues and PRs to deliver cross-platform native installers (MSI on Windows, .app on macOS, PyInstaller on Linux) with code signing, notarization, and file association support.
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