PrepCore

Core of PrepCore
Focused Study Sessions
Your Ai Companion
Tasks Planner

Inspiration 💡

As a student, I know the struggle of trying to focus while studying. Your phone buzzes, YouTube recommendations call, and your mind wanders. I tried countless productivity apps, but they all failed in the same way—they either tried to block distractions completely (unrealistic) or offered scattered tools that didn't work together.

I realized we need a distraction-first approach: acknowledge that distractions exist, understand why we get distracted, and then systematically overcome them. PrepCore was born from this idea and my own frustration during exam prep.

What It Does ✨

PrepCore is your complete study companion that tackles distractions from three angles:

🎯 Focus Sessions
Use the proven Pomodoro Technique with customizable work and break intervals. The default is 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. You can link sessions to specific tasks, and the app tracks all your focus time. No more "where did my day go?"—you'll see exactly how much you studied.

🤖 AI Study Assistant
Stuck on a concept? The AI assistant is there instantly. Instead of losing your focus by searching Google or waiting for a tutor, just ask your question and get helpful explanations right away. It's powered by cutting-edge AI to give you fast, accurate answers so you stay in your flow state.

🔥 Habit & Task Tracking
Create and organize your study tasks, check them off as you complete them, and build a daily study streak. Every day you study, your streak grows. Miss a day, and you start over. It's simple motivation that actually works—students love watching their streak number climb!

📊 Progress Visualization
See your study time, completed sessions, and task progress on a clean analytics dashboard. Know exactly how productive you've been.

The Journey 🚀

Building PrepCore in 48 hours was intense but incredibly rewarding. I started by sketching the core features on paper, then dove straight into coding. The hardest part wasn't the code—it was making tough decisions about what to include and what to save for later.

Some challenges I faced:

Getting the timer to work perfectly without freezing or losing track
Making the AI responses feel natural and helpful, not robotic
Calculating daily streaks correctly (timezone issues are tricky!)
Designing a clean, distraction-free UI that students would actually enjoy using

But the victories made it worth it:

Seeing the first focus session complete successfully
Getting my first AI answer that was actually useful
Realizing I built something I genuinely want to use every day

What I Learned

This hackathon taught me so much beyond just coding:

Scope management: I wanted to add 20 features but focused on making 4 features work perfectly
Speed vs. quality: Finding the balance between shipping fast and building something I'm proud of
Problem-solving: Every bug forced me to think creatively and learn new solutions

Most importantly, I learned that I can build something meaningful in just 48 hours. That confidence is priceless.