cp476-project

AI-powered school management app for students and teachers.

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Overview

This app lets students upload a course syllabus and have it automatically parsed into a structured course with assignments, due dates, grading weights, office hours, and other important course information. Teachers can publish courses with a join code, and students can enroll to have course information added to their semester dashboard.

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Features

• AI-powered syllabus ingestion through PDF upload or pasted text
• Semester dashboard with calendar and weekly views
• Course view with grade tracking
• Assignment/activity tracker with due dates, grading weights, status, hours logged, and grades
• GPA tracker using both 4.0 and 12.0 scales
• Reminder settings through email or WhatsApp
• Teacher course publishing with join codes
• Student enrollment flow

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Backend	Node.js
Database	PostgreSQL
Auth	To be implemented
AI / LLM	To be implemented
Reminders	Email / WhatsApp, planned feature
Hosting	Local development for Milestone 02

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

To view the front-end, you only need one of:

• Python 3 — preinstalled on macOS/Linux (recommended, nothing to install), or
• Node.js + npm — if you prefer the npx serve option below

Plus Git to clone the repo. (Node.js and PostgreSQL are only needed for the optional back-end/database, which are still in progress.)

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How to Run Locally

Both servers must be running, on these exact ports:

Part	Port
Front-end	3000
Back-end	5000

Changing either port breaks the app.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm

That's all — the database is hosted, so there's nothing to install or create.

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/kruugerr/cp476-project.git
cd cp476-project

2. Add the Environment File

The app needs backend/.env, which holds the database credentials, JWT secret, and Claude API key. It is not in this repository — it has been submitted separately alongside the project.

Copy the provided .env file into the backend/ folder:

cp476-project/
└── backend/
    └── .env        <- (place it here)

The back-end will not start without it.

3. Install Back-End Dependencies

cd backend
npm install

The front-end has no dependencies and needs no install step.

4. Start Both Servers

Open two terminals, both from the project root.

Terminal 1 — back-end API (port 5000):

cd backend
npm run dev

Wait for Database connection successful. and Server running on http://localhost:5000. If the database line doesn't appear, check that .env is in the right place.

Terminal 2 — front-end (port 3000):

npx serve frontend -l 3000

Then open http://localhost:3000

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Project Structure

cp476-project/
├── docs/              # planning docs, meeting minutes, activity blog/wiki
├── frontend/          # front-end files
├── backend/           # back-end server files
└── README.md

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Activity Blog / Wiki

The activity blog/wiki is maintained in the project documentation and includes weekly meeting notes, task assignments, progress updates, design decisions, blockers, and resolutions.

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Team Member Contributions

Name	Contribution Summary
Zach Gould	Worked on project setup, GitHub repository organization, and development tasks.
Zohra Haidary	Worked on planning documentation, front-end/design tasks, and project organization.
Tyler Rizzi	Worked on back-end setup, README updates, and project documentation.
Thanh Phan	Worked on development tasks, milestone planning, and implementation support.
Qichen Hao	Worked on planning, project documentation, and implementation support.

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Course

CP476 — Internet Computing Wilfrid Laurier University