WaniKani Next Review Checker

Tools for checking the WaniKani API to determine when your next review will be available for unlocked items at your current level.

This project includes:

• Command-line tool - Check reviews from the terminal
• macOS Menu Bar Widget - Display next review time in your menu bar

Features

• Fetches your current WaniKani level
• Finds unlocked kanji and radical assignments at your current level
• Shows when the next review is available in both UTC and local time
• Displays a countdown showing how long until the review is available
• Shows the number of items that will be available for review

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• uv package manager (recommended) or pip
• A WaniKani API token (get yours here)

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Install dependencies using uv:

   uv sync

   Or using pip:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Command-Line Tool

Set your WaniKani API token as an environment variable:

export WANIKANI_API_TOKEN='your_token_here'

To make this permanent, add the export line to your shell configuration file (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.).

Run the script:

uv run cli.py

Or if using a traditional Python environment:

python cli.py

Example Output

鰐蟹 user_name level 10 next review 1 of 17 unlocked items:
  今日 4:00 PM (2h 14m 39s)

macOS Menu Bar Widget

The macos Keyring is used to store the API Token.

Run the menu bar widget:

uv run macos_widget.py

Or if using a traditional Python environment:

python macos_widget.py

Or create a macos application:

uv run pyinstaller WaniKaniNext.spec

The widget will:

• Display the next review time (in local time) and item count in your menu bar
• Show as: 鰐蟹 今日 7:30 PM (12) format
• Automatically refresh every hour
• Allow manual refresh via the dropdown menu
• Click the menu bar icon to see:
  • Full date and time of next review
  • Time remaining until next review
  • Manual refresh option
  • Last update time
  • Update API Token

Note: To run the widget at login, you can add it to your Login Items in System Preferences.

How It Works

The script:

1. Authenticates with the WaniKani API using your personal access token
2. Retrieves your current level
3. Fetches all unlocked kanji and radical assignments at your current level (SRS stages 0-4)
4. Finds the earliest review time from those assignments
5. Displays the review time in both UTC and your local timezone, along with a countdown

API Documentation

This tool uses the WaniKani API v2.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

This is an independent project and is not affiliated with WaniKani or Tofugu LLC.

Claude Code

This project created with assistance from Claude Code and Sonnet 4.5