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homeschool/README.md
2026-03-03 08:44:08 -08:00

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Homeschool Dashboard

A self-hosted web app for managing homeschool schedules, tracking daily learning sessions, and logging activities. Features a full-screen TV dashboard with live timers and real-time updates via WebSockets.


Features

  • TV Dashboard — Full-screen display for the living room TV. Shows the current subject, countdown timer, day progress, activity options, and the schedule block list. Updates live without page refresh via WebSocket.
  • Morning Routine — Define a list of morning routine items in Admin. They appear in the TV dashboard Activities panel during the "Good Morning" greeting before the first block starts, then switch to subject-specific activities once a block begins.
  • Break Time — Each schedule block can optionally include a break at the end. Enable the checkbox and set a duration (in minutes) when building a block in Admin. Once the block's main timer is done, a Break Time section appears on the Dashboard with its own Start / Pause / Resume / Reset controls — the break does not start automatically. While break is active the TV left column switches to an amber break badge and countdown timer, and the center column shows the configurable Break Activities list instead of subject options.
  • Break Activities — A global list of break-time activities (e.g. "Get a snack", "Go outside") managed in Admin → Break Activities, using the same add/edit/delete interface as Morning Routine. These items are shown on the TV during any active break.
  • Schedule Builder — Create named schedule templates with time blocks assigned to subjects. Set optional school day start/end hours for a day-progress bar. Each block supports an optional custom duration override, label, and break time setting. Managed inside the Admin page.
  • Daily Sessions — Start a school day against a schedule template. Click any block in the list to select it as the current block. Use the Start button to begin timing, Pause to stop, Resume to continue from where you left off, and Reset to clear the elapsed time and restart the timer from zero. Elapsed time per block is remembered across switches, so returning to a block picks up where it left off.
  • Block Timer Remaining — Each block in the schedule list shows time remaining (allocated duration minus elapsed), counting down live on both the parent dashboard and the TV sidebar. Shows "< 1 min" when under a minute, and "Done!" when the full duration is elapsed.
  • Activity Log — Automatically records every timer event (day started, block start/pause/resume/complete/skip/reset, break start/pause/resume/reset) and every strike change as a timestamped timeline. Includes which schedule template was used. Supports manual notes with free text. Browse and filter history by child and date.
  • Behavior Tracking (Strikes) — Issue up to 3 strikes per child from the Dashboard. Strike additions and removals are logged in the activity log with a timestamp. Strike count is shown on the TV dashboard and resets automatically when a new school day begins.
  • Timezone Support — Set your local timezone in Admin → Settings. All activity log timestamps display in your timezone, including the TV dashboard clock.
  • Multi-Child Support — Manage multiple students under one parent account, each with their own color, schedule, and history.
  • JWT Authentication — Secure parent login with access tokens and httpOnly refresh cookies. TV dashboard is public (no login required).

Tech Stack

Layer Technology
Frontend Vue 3 + Vite + Pinia + Vue Router
Frontend server nginx (Docker)
Backend API FastAPI (Python 3.12)
Real-time WebSockets via FastAPI
Database MySQL 8
ORM SQLAlchemy 2.0 (async)
Auth JWT — python-jose + passlib/bcrypt
Orchestration Docker Compose

Project Structure

homeschool/
├── docker-compose.yml            # Stack definition (3 services: db, backend, frontend)
├── .env.example                  # Environment variable template
│
├── backend/
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   ├── requirements.txt
│   └── app/
│       ├── main.py               # FastAPI app entry point + table auto-creation
│       ├── config.py             # Settings (reads from .env)
│       ├── database.py           # Async SQLAlchemy engine
│       ├── dependencies.py       # Auth dependencies (get_current_user)
│       ├── auth/jwt.py           # Token creation, password hashing
│       ├── models/               # SQLAlchemy ORM models
│       │   ├── child.py
│       │   ├── subject.py        # Subject + SubjectOption
│       │   ├── schedule.py       # ScheduleTemplate + ScheduleBlock (incl. break fields)
│       │   ├── session.py        # DailySession + TimerEvent
│       │   ├── activity.py       # ActivityLog (manual notes)
│       │   ├── morning_routine.py# MorningRoutineItem
│       │   ├── break_activity.py # BreakActivityItem
│       │   └── strike.py         # StrikeEvent (strike history)
│       ├── schemas/              # Pydantic request/response schemas
│       ├── routers/              # API route handlers
│       │   ├── auth.py
│       │   ├── children.py
│       │   ├── subjects.py
│       │   ├── schedules.py
│       │   ├── sessions.py       # Timer actions + break timer events
│       │   ├── logs.py           # Timeline + strike events
│       │   ├── morning_routine.py
│       │   ├── break_activity.py # Break activities CRUD
│       │   ├── dashboard.py      # Public snapshot endpoint (TV)
│       │   └── users.py
│       ├── utils/
│       │   └── timer.py          # Elapsed-time computation for block and break timers
│       └── websocket/manager.py  # WebSocket connection manager
│
└── frontend/
    ├── Dockerfile                # Multi-stage: Node build → nginx serve
    ├── nginx.conf                # Proxy /api/ and /ws/ to backend
    └── src/
        ├── composables/
        │   ├── useApi.js         # Axios with auto token-refresh
        │   └── useWebSocket.js   # Auto-reconnecting WebSocket
        ├── stores/               # Pinia: auth, children, schedule
        ├── views/                # LoginView, TVView, DashboardView, LogView, AdminView
        └── components/           # TimerDisplay, ScheduleBlock, NavBar, etc.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Docker and Docker Compose installed
  • Port 8054 available on the host (or change it in docker-compose.yml)

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://git.chns.tech/CooperandGoodman/homeschool.git
cd homeschool

2. Create your .env file

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and fill in the values:

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_root_password
MYSQL_DATABASE=homeschool
MYSQL_USER=homeschool
MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_secure_db_password

# Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
SECRET_KEY=your_generated_secret_key

ALGORITHM=HS256
ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES=30
REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_DAYS=30

# Your host IP or domain (no trailing slash)
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:8054

3. Build and start

docker compose up --build

The first build takes a few minutes (npm install + pip install). On subsequent starts it's fast.

4. Register your parent account

Open http://localhost:8054/login and register. This creates your admin account.

5. Set up your data (in order)

  1. Admin (/admin) → Add each child, pick a color
  2. Admin → Add subjects (Math, Reading, Science, etc.) with emoji icons and colors. Add activity options to each subject — they appear on the TV dashboard during that block.
  3. Admin → Add Morning Routine items — these show on the TV during the greeting before the first block starts.
  4. Admin → Add Break Activities items — these show on the TV center panel whenever a break is active.
  5. Admin → Scroll to Settings and select your local timezone
  6. Admin → Scroll to Schedules → Create a schedule template, set school day hours, add time blocks assigned to subjects. For any block that should include a break, check Break and enter the break duration in minutes.
  7. Dashboard (/dashboard) → Click "Start Day", choose a template
  8. TV → Open http://your-lan-ip:8054/tv/1 on the living room TV (replace 1 with the child's ID)

Usage

Parent Views (require login)

URL Description
/dashboard Overview, start/stop sessions, select and time blocks, issue behavior strikes
/logs Browse timer and strike event history and manual notes; filter by child and date
/admin Manage children, subjects (with activity options), morning routine, break activities, schedule templates, and account settings

Dashboard Controls

While a session is active, clicking a block in the schedule list selects it as the current block without starting the timer. The action buttons then provide explicit control:

Main block timer:

Button Condition Action
Start Block selected, never timed Begin counting from zero
Resume Block was previously paused Continue from saved elapsed time
Pause Timer is running Stop counting, save elapsed time
Reset Any current block Clear elapsed to zero and restart timer immediately
End Day Session active Mark the session complete

Break timer (shown when the current block has Break Time enabled):

Button Condition Action
Start Break Break not yet started Begin break countdown from zero
Pause Break timer running Stop break countdown
Resume Break timer paused Continue break countdown
Reset Break in progress Clear break elapsed to zero and restart immediately

TV Dashboard (no login)

URL Description
/tv/:childId Full-screen display — greeting + morning routine, current block timer with subject activities, break timer with break activities, day progress, schedule sidebar

Point a browser on the living room TV at http://your-lan-ip:8054/tv/1. The page connects via WebSocket and updates automatically when a parent starts/stops/advances the timer from the Dashboard.

API Documentation

FastAPI auto-generates interactive API docs:

  • Swagger UIhttp://localhost:8054/api/docs
  • ReDochttp://localhost:8054/api/redoc

Schema Migrations

The app automatically creates all database tables on startup via SQLAlchemy's create_all. Additive column changes are applied with idempotent ALTER TABLE statements in the startup lifespan, so upgrading to a new version is safe — just rebuild and restart:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

No separate migration tool or manual steps are required.


WebSocket Events

The TV dashboard connects to ws://host/ws/{child_id} and receives JSON events:

Event Triggered by Key payload fields
session_update Session start Full session snapshot including blocks, morning routine, break activities, and day times
start Block timer started block_id, current_block_id, block_elapsed_seconds, prev_block_id, prev_block_elapsed_seconds
pause Block timer paused block_id, current_block_id
resume Block timer resumed block_id, current_block_id
select Block selected (not started) block_id, current_block_id, block_elapsed_seconds, prev_block_id, prev_block_elapsed_seconds
reset Block timer reset to zero block_id, current_block_id, block_elapsed_seconds (always 0)
break_start Break timer started block_id, current_block_id, break_elapsed_seconds
break_pause Break timer paused block_id, current_block_id
break_resume Break timer resumed block_id, current_block_id
break_reset Break timer reset to zero block_id, current_block_id, break_elapsed_seconds (always 0)
complete Session ended is_active: false
strikes_update Strike issued/cleared strikes

block_elapsed_seconds on start and select events carries the authoritative accumulated elapsed time for that block (all previous intervals, respecting any prior resets), so every client — including the TV — can restore the correct timer offset without a local cache.

prev_block_id and prev_block_elapsed_seconds on start and select events carry the saved elapsed for the block being left, so the TV sidebar immediately shows the correct remaining time for that block.

Break timer events (break_*) are stored as TimerEvent records alongside regular timer events but are computed and broadcast independently — they do not affect block selection, implicit pauses, or elapsed time for the main block timer.


Environment Variables Reference

Variable Required Description
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD Yes MySQL root password
MYSQL_DATABASE Yes Database name (default: homeschool)
MYSQL_USER Yes App database user
MYSQL_PASSWORD Yes App database password
SECRET_KEY Yes JWT signing key — generate with openssl rand -hex 32
ALGORITHM No JWT algorithm (default: HS256)
ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES No Access token lifetime (default: 30)
REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_DAYS No Refresh token lifetime (default: 30)
CORS_ORIGINS No Comma-separated allowed origins (default: http://localhost:8054)

Stopping and Restarting

# Stop containers (data preserved in Docker volume)
docker compose down

# Stop and wipe the database volume (full reset)
docker compose down -v

# Restart without rebuilding
docker compose up