ZotBlock

Onboarding
Personalization
Connect to other Services
Generate Calendar
Calendar
Chrome Extension - App Blocker
Info Card with Canvas Information
Study Timer based on Blocks

Inspiration

As college students, our schedules are packed and chaotic: lectures, homework, clubs, work shifts, and (sometimes) sleep. Most planners help you sort deadlines, but they aren't personalized to your habits and routines. So we built something that works around our schedules and helps us stick to a plan we'll actually follow.

What it does

ZotBlock uses AI to help you manage your schedule as effectively as possible.

Personalized scheduling: asks about your preferred work times, sleep schedule, and how often you want breaks, then builds a schedule tailored to you.
Integrations: connects with Gmail, Canvas, and Google Calendar to pull in homework, events, and other tasks, then prioritizes them.
Focus timer: helps you stay focused and tracks how much time you actually spend working.
Block mode: blocks distracting tabs while you work. You can add or remove sites from the block list anytime.

How we built it

We started with paper sketches, moved to Figma designs, and then built ZotBlock with:

Frontend: React + Next.js
Backend: Node.js, hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
AI: LangChain, which analyzes users' answers and plans their study blocks in real time
Collaboration: GitHub and Cursor

Challenges we ran into

Keeping the frontend consistent across the team was tricky, but our biggest hurdle came mid-build: our API key stopped working. That cut ZotBlock off from the AI chat that analyzes users' answers and plans their study blocks. We generated a new key, reconnected everything, and re-merged the frontend and backend.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that we got Google Calendar, Canvas, and Gmail all talking to our website. ZotBlock pulls data from each one, combines it with each user's preferences, and generates the best and most achievable time slots for them.

What we learned

We learned how to set up the private keys and authentication that let our AI connect to Canvas, Google Calendar, and Gmail, retrieve data from them, and turn it into personalized schedules. We also learned how to recover quickly when a key part of our stack breaks mid-hackathon.

What's next for ZotBlock

Next, we want ZotBlock to be even more cohesive:

More app syncs to pull in everything on your plate
Reminders so you never miss a block
Weekly insights that show how your time actually went
Group scheduling so study groups and clubs can find times that work for everyone