StudyBuddy

Stay consistent with task list, timer and support — with your StudyBuddy.

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Inspiration

We all make study plans. We rarely follow through.
StudyBuddy was inspired by the idea of making productivity social and accountable. What if, instead of letting your own tasks slide, you knew your buddy would get rewarded if you didn’t follow through? That’s what StudyBuddy does.

It gamifies accountability — so you either hit your study goals, or your buddy gets points (your money too)

What it does

  • Lets users sign up/login
  • Allows you to create tasks with Pomodoro goals and deadlines
  • Pair with a buddy (1-on-1)
  • Track Pomodoro sessions
  • Automatically gives your buddy points if you fail to complete your goal
  • Styled login, signup, and dashboard pages
  • Keeps a record of all penalties via a reward ledger

🛠️ How we built it

  • Framework: Django (Python)
  • Database: SQLite
  • Frontend: Tailwind CSS (via CDN)
  • Key Django Concepts Used:
    • Models: User, Buddy, Task, PomodoroSession, RewardLedger
    • Templates with inheritance
    • Views and forms
    • Static files and custom CSS
  • Extra:
    • Custom Django management command (apply_penalties)
    • Styled UI with Tailwind
    • GitHub for version control

Challenges we ran into

  • Accidentally deleted half of models.py
  • Migration conflicts with existing database tables
  • CSRF token issues during signup/login
  • Making the buddy pairing logic bug-free
  • Styling Django’s default forms cleanly with Tailwind

Accomplishments

  • The automatic penalty system works!
  • The buddy system is functional and fair
  • The login/signup pages are clean, calming, and mobile-friendly
  • Learned GitHub, Tailwind, Django commands — and survived it all
  • We didn’t give up when things broke — and things did break

What we learned

  • Django end-to-end (models, views, forms, templates)
  • How to debug migration issues
  • Tailwind basics and form styling
  • Git/GitHub workflows and pushing live projects
  • Writing clean, reusable code
  • Keeping calm while managing sessions, tokens, errors, and more...

What's next for StudyBuddy

  • Add email invites and notifications
  • Pomodoro timer with live countdown
  • Leaderboards for friendly competition
  • Payment integration to allow real-life wagers
  • Deploy online for real users!
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