About

Canvas Notifier is a Python script that texts you as the assignment gets closer if you haven't submitted.

Sample Text:

Tragic Backstory

I had an assignment that I was about to do and then forgot until 10 minutes before.

My live reaction 10 minutes before:

Setup

Credentials

First, you'll need to set up credentials stuff (for texting and Canvas API).

I set it up with multiple .env files (there's probably a better way to do it) but you could also alter
the variables inside the code. (methods shown below)

Gmail Texting Setup

Follow this guide to get your credentials for texting via Gmail servers.

ENV Method

add this .env file to src/util:

EMAIL=INSERT_YOUR_EMAIL 
PASSWORD=INSERT_YOUR_PASSWORD
PHONE_NUMBER=PHONE_NUMBER_TO_SEND_ALERTS_TO

Edit Code Variables Method

edit these variables found in src/util/sms.py:

EMAIL = 'PUT YOUR EMAIL HERE'  # email to send via
PASSWORD = 'PUT YOUR PASSWORD HERE'  # special auth password for email above
PHONE_NUMBER = 'PUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER HERE'  # phone number to send texts to

Canvas API Setup

Follow this guide to get your developer key

ENV Method

add this .env in the scope of canvas.py:

CANVAS_API_TOKEN=INSERT_YOUR_TOKEN

Edit Code Variable Method

edit this variable in canvas.py:

CANVAS_API_TOKEN = 'INSERT YOUR TOKEN HERE'  # Your Canvas API token

Hosting

I used a cron job on an ec2 instance that just checks Canvas every minute.

Get 1 year free of AWS (not sponsored)

The following commands are only UNIX based machines (sorry windows users)

1. cd into /src:

cd canvas-notifier/src/

2. install needed packages:

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. adjust permissions of python file with chmod:

chmod +x main.py

4. edit crontab:

crontab -e

5. put this in your crontab thing (with respective Python and main.py paths):

* * * * * /usr/bin/python3 /home/ec2-user/canvas-notifier/src/main.py

6. enjoy!

TODO

• Make it work
• Refactor (lol)
• Fix some assignment checking bugs
• Finish Canvas refresh token feature (for more security)

What I learned

• using cronjobs
• making a free ec2 instance (thanks bezos)
• building a simple project with Python
• you can text for free on gmail servers
• making a decent readme

FAQ

Q: Why AWS?
A: Beacuse it was free (thanks bezos)

Q: Is this practical?
A: kind of?

Q: Does this use AI?
A: unfortunately, no.