What is MOOC utils

MOOC Utils is a set of tools for NPTEL and SWAYAM learners who are tired of repetitive busywork. Three parts: an AI assignment helper extension, a notices CLI/API, and a Next.js marketing site plus dashboard.

Repo: tashifkhan/MOOC-utils

Three packages, each with its own stack:

• assignment-solver/: Chrome/Firefox extension (Vite, Gemini).
• notice-reminders/: Python 3.12+ CLI and FastAPI backend.
• website/: Next.js App Router landing page and dashboard.

graph TB
subgraph "MOOC Utils Monorepo"
AS["assignment-solver<br/>Browser Extension"]
NR["notice-reminders<br/>CLI + FastAPI Backend"]
WEB["website<br/>Next.js Landing + Dashboard"]
end
NR --> WEB
AS -. "UI/UX".-> WEB

• Assignment Solver

  • Purpose: extract and solve assignment questions on MOOC pages.
  • Modes: Study Hints and Auto-Solve.
  • Types: single choice, multi choice, fill-in-the-blank, plus screenshots for image questions.
  • Privacy: BYOK. Client-side only. Key stored in the browser.
  • Browsers: Chrome 116+, Firefox 121+.

• Notice Reminders

  • Purpose: course updates without hunting the Swayam UI.
  • CLI: search and list announcements, no database.
  • API: users, search, courses, announcements, subscriptions, notifications.
  • Auth: email OTP, JWT access/refresh cookies.
  • Notify: Telegram and email still planned.

• Website

  • Purpose: marketing plus the Notice Reminders dashboard, and an Assignment Solver page.
  • Auth: OTP against the Notice Reminders API.
  • Also: public course search, subscription manager, inbox, profile.

The extension talks to Gemini. The website talks to Notice Reminders. Those two paths do not share a server.

graph TB
subgraph "User"
U["Learner/User"]
end
subgraph "Browser"
EXT["Assignment Solver Extension"]
end
subgraph "Backend"
API["Notice Reminders API"]
DB["SQLite"]
end
subgraph "Frontend"
WEB["Website (Next.js)"]
end
U --> EXT
U --> WEB
WEB --> API
API --> DB
EXT -. "Gemini API".-> U

Layered background, content script, side panel, and Gemini service.

sequenceDiagram
participant User as "User"
participant Ext as "Extension UI"
participant BG as "Background Script"
participant CS as "Content Script"
participant Gemini as "Gemini API"
User->>Ext : "Open side panel"
Ext->>BG : "EXTRACT_HTML"
BG->>CS : "Inject extraction"
CS-->>BG : "Page HTML"
BG->>Gemini : "Structured extraction prompt"
Gemini-->>BG : "Questions JSON"
BG-->>Ext : "Display questions"
User->>Ext : "Study Hints / Auto-Solve"
Ext->>BG : "GEMINI_REQUEST"
BG->>Gemini : "Answer prompt"
Gemini-->>BG : "Answer JSON"
BG-->>Ext : "Answers"
Ext->>CS : "Apply answers to page"
CS-->>User : "Answers filled/submitted"

Extraction turns page HTML into JSON. Solving asks Gemini per question. Application clicks radios, checks boxes, or types fill-ins.

uv run python main.py cli or uv run python main.py api. CLI uses app/cli. API uses Tortoise against SQLite.

sequenceDiagram
participant User as "User"
participant CLI as "CLI"
participant API as "FastAPI Server"
participant DB as "Database"
User->>CLI : "Search courses"
CLI->>API : "HTTP GET /search"
API->>DB : "Query courses"
DB-->>API : "Results"
API-->>CLI : "JSON response"
User->>API : "POST /auth/request-otp"
API-->>User : "OTP sent to email"
User->>API : "POST /auth/verify-otp"
API-->>User : "JWT cookies set"

Public: GET /search, GET /courses, GET /courses/{code}. Everything else needs auth. CORS defaults to http://localhost:3000.

OTP login, course search, subscriptions, inbox. TanStack Query for dashboard fetches.

sequenceDiagram
participant User as "User"
participant Site as "Website"
participant Auth as "Auth Context"
participant API as "Notice Reminders API"
User->>Site : "Visit dashboard"
Site->>Auth : "Load session"
Auth->>API : "GET /users/me"
API-->>Auth : "User info"
Auth-->>Site : "Set user state"
Site->>API : "GET /notifications"
API-->>Site : "Notifications"
Site->>API : "GET /subscriptions"
API-->>Site : "Subscriptions"

lib/auth-context.tsx owns request/verify OTP, refresh, and logout. Do not use npm run dev or bun dev.

graph TB
AS["Assignment Solver"]
NR_API["Notice Reminders API"]
NR_DB["Notice Reminders SQLite"]
WEB["Website"]
AS --> |"Gemini"| AS
WEB --> NR_API
NR_API --> NR_DB

• Assignment Solver: delays between Gemini calls and DOM writes so quota and the page keep up.
• Notice Reminders: cache TTL 60 minutes; SQLite is the local default.
• Website: Query cache and App Router splits.

• Assignment Solver: page HTML, missing containers, invalid key, custom widgets, rate limits.
• Notice Reminders: CLI vs API, CORS origin, jwt_secret.
• Website: API down, cookies blocked, wrong NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL.

Less manual checking, fewer missed notices, assignment help that does not ship your key to a random server.

• Assignment Solver: cd assignment-solver && bun install && bun run build, load dist/chrome or dist/firefox.
• Notice Reminders: cd notice-reminders && uv sync, then cli or api.
• Website: cd website && bun install, set NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL, bun run build.