VocabMaster

Master new languages with this user-friendly CLI tool, designed to help you record vocabulary, access translations and examples, and seamlessly import them into Anki for an optimized language learning experience.

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Installation
   1. Prerequisites
   2. Install via pip
   3. Install via pipx (recommended)
   4. Shell Completion
3. Usage
   1. Set up a new language pair
   2. Add words to your vocabulary list
   3. Generate an Anki deck from your vocabulary list
   4. For detailed help on each command, run
4. Licence

Features

• Record vocabulary words with ease
• Automatic translation and usage examples via OpenAI GPT
• Anki integration for seamless language learning
• Supports multiple languages

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS

Install via pip

You can install VocabMaster using pip. Simply run the following command:

python3 -m pip install vocabmaster

Install via pipx (recommended)

pipx is an alternative package manager for Python applications. It allows you to install and run Python applications in isolated environments, preventing conflicts between dependencies and ensuring that each application uses its own set of packages. I recommend using pipx to install VocabMaster.

First, install pipx if you haven't already:

• On macOS and Linux:

  python3 -m pip install --user pipx
  pipx ensurepath
  

Alternatively, you can use your package manager (brew, apt, etc.).

• On Windows:

  py -m pip install --user pipx
  py -m pipx ensurepath
  

Once pipx is installed, you can install VocabMaster using the following command:

pipx install vocabmaster

OpenAI API key

Vocabmaster requires an OpenAI API key to function. You can obtain a key by signing up for an account at OpenAI's website.

Once you have your API key, set it as an environment variable:

• On macOS and Linux:

  export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

  To avoid having to type it everyday, you can create a file with the key:

  echo "your-api-key" > ~/.openai-api-key.txt

  Note: Remember to replace "your-api-key" with your actual API key.

  And then, you can add this to your shell configuration file (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.):

  export OPENAI_API_KEY="$(cat ~/.openai-api-key.txt)"

• On Windows:

  setx OPENAI_API_KEY your_key
  

Shell Completion

To enable shell completion for bash or zsh, source the completion file (see the completion folder) related to your shell by adding the following line to your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

For bash

source /path/to/vocabmaster/completion/_complete_vocabmaster.bash

For zsh

source /path/to/vocabmaster/completion/_complete_vocabmaster.zsh

Remember to replace /path/to/vocabmaster with the actual path where the completion file is located.

Usage

Before using VocabMaster, you need to set up the OpenAI API key, which is required for the translations and usage examples.

Follow the instructions provided within the CLI tool to configure the API key:

vocabmaster config key

Below is an example of common commands and their usage:

Set up a new language pair

vocabmaster setup

Add words to your vocabulary list

vocabmaster add la casa

Generate an Anki deck from your vocabulary list

vocabmaster translate

For detailed help on each command, run

vocabmaster <command> --help

Importing into Anki

To import the vocabulary deck into Anki, follow the steps below:

1. Launch Anki.
2. Click on the Import File button. This will open a file picker dialog.
3. In the file picker, locate and select the anki_deck_language1-language2.csv file.
4. When prompted for the field separator, use "semicolon" (this should be set as the default in Anki).
5. Ensure that the Allow HTML in fields option is selected. This allows the app to correctly interpret any HTML formatting in your card fields.
6. In the import options, choose Basic (and reversed card) for the Note type field.
7. Select the name of your vocabulary deck in which you want the cards to be added.
8. For the Existing notes field, choose Update. This will prevent the creation of duplicate cards if the same note already exists in your deck.

These instructions will ensure your imported cards appear correctly in your Anki deck.

Remember that the naming scheme anki_deck_language1-language2.csv is an example, replace language1 and language2 with the appropriate languages you're learning and the deck corresponds to.

Licence

VocabMaster is released under the Apache Licence version 2.

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https://github.com/sderev/vocabmaster