Syllabye

Say bye to syllabus's. Say syllabye

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🎯 Inspiration

College students are overwhelmed with PDFs, slides, and cluttered syllabi. We kept hearing the same frustrations:

  • “I didn’t realize the midterm was this week.”
  • “I have all the materials but no idea how to pace myself.”

We wanted a tool that goes beyond storing course info—something that actually transforms it into a clear, manageable plan. That idea became Syllabye: an AI-powered platform that turns any syllabus into a structured, adaptive study roadmap.

📘 What It Does

Syllabye helps students shift from overwhelmed to organized by turning course documents into actionable daily plans.

  • Upload or link your syllabus
    Supports PDFs, pasted text, or manual entry for assignments and exam dates.

  • AI-powered syllabus parsing
    Automatically detects deadlines, topics, readings, and assessments.

  • Personalized study schedule
    Breaks the course into small, manageable tasks optimally distributed across your calendar.

  • Progress tracking & reminders
    Know what’s due today, what needs attention, and what’s coming soon.

  • Multi-course balancing
    Syllabye distributes workload across classes to prevent overload on any single day.

🛠️ How We Built It

Frontend

  • Built with Expo / React Native for a clean, cross-platform mobile experience.
  • Designed a simple, low-friction UI that makes “what’s next” instantly clear.

Backend

  • Node/Express (or your actual backend) handles authentication, uploads, schedule logic, and task generation.
  • PostgreSQL / Firebase (based on your setup) for data persistence.

AI & Parsing Pipeline

We used a combination of industry-leading AI tools to handle complex syllabus parsing and schedule generation:

  • ChatGPT Models (OpenAI)
    Used for understanding syllabus structure, extracting assignments, identifying deadlines, and generating logical task breakdowns.

  • Claude (Anthropic)
    Helpful for long-context syllabus parsing, summarization, and resolving ambiguous course instructions.

  • Windsurf
    Used for AI-assisted coding, refactoring logic, and accelerating development across both frontend and backend codebases.

  • OpenAI Codex
    Used for generating boilerplate, debugging snippets, and speeding up repetitive parts of the development process.

-Github Copilot Used to make the pull requests and commit messages.

By combining these tools, we built a pipeline that’s accurate, flexible, and capable of handling many different syllabus formats.

Scheduling Logic

  • Custom-built algorithm that turns course structures into daily tasks.
  • Respects deadlines, pacing preferences, and personal constraints like study hours or off-days.

Collaboration & Tools

  • GitHub for version control and pull request workflows.
  • Expo for rapid testing and iteration with hot reloading.

🚧 Challenges We Ran Into

  • Real-world syllabus inconsistency
    Different formats, vague instructions, missing dates—no two syllabi look alike.

  • Balancing automation with control
    Early versions gave too much control to AI, so we added more user editing tools.

  • Task distribution conflicts
    Ensuring workload balance across multiple courses was non-trivial.

  • Limited development time
    Building a full AI pipeline + app required ruthless prioritization.

🏆 Accomplishments We're Proud Of

  • A fully functioning product
    Students can upload a syllabus and instantly receive a detailed, personalized study roadmap.

  • Reliable automated parsing
    Our AI stack handles a surprising variety of formats with high accuracy.

  • A smooth, stress-reducing user experience
    Turning “I don’t know where to start” into a guided, simple workflow.

  • Strong collaboration
    Our team worked efficiently across design, AI, backend, and frontend.

📚 What We Learned

  • AI is powerful, but UX makes or breaks adoption
    The model’s output is only as helpful as the interface that presents it.

  • Real data uncovers the real problems
    Testing with real syllabi showed edge cases we never expected.

  • Scope control = success
    Cutting features early allowed us to ship polished core functionality.

  • Cross-platform considerations matter
    Expo accelerated development but required performance tuning.

🔮 What’s Next for Syllabye

  • Calendar sync (Google, Apple, Outlook)
  • AI-powered personalization that adapts based on user study habits
  • Class collaboration tools for shared task lists and planning
  • Professors/schools integration for ready-to-use syllabi
  • Web and desktop versions to extend beyond mobile

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