Inspiration: ADHD-related struggles with remembering events, especially local Portland events, inspired us to build a tool that makes saving events effortless and automatic.
What it does: Auto Calendar allows users to highlight event information on any webpage and instantly convert it into a downloadable .ics calendar file. This makes it easy to add events to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook without manual entry.
How we built it: We built a Chrome extension using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The extension uses Chrome APIs to capture selected text, parse event details, and generate a standards-compliant .ics file for universal calendar compatibility. Challenges we ran into We initially explored OCR for extracting text from images and flyers, but ran into limitations with accuracy and implementation time. We also faced challenges integrating different parts of the extension and debugging cross-script communication.
Accomplishments that we're proud of: We successfully built a fully working Chrome extension that automates event extraction and calendar integration. We’re especially proud of creating a reliable .ics export system and getting all components to work together under hackathon time constraints.
What we learned: We learned how Chrome extensions work end-to-end, including content scripts, popup interfaces, and messaging between components. We also improved our debugging skills and learned how to integrate multiple features into a cohesive product.
What's next for Auto Calendar: We plan to add OCR support for image-based event extraction, improve natural language parsing for more complex events, and integrate directly with Google Calendar APIs for one-click event creation. Try the updated version now: https://github.com/payalmistryy/auto-calendar-extension
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