Create study timetable

A weekly plan of study blocks fitted around lectures and the student's life, kept in the vault:

timetable/
├── TIMETABLE.md          ← overview: preferences, this week's grid, hours per module, log
├── blocks/<slug>.md      ← one note per recurring (or one-off) block, in Full Calendar's note format
└── deadlines/            ← generated by scripts/sync_deadlines.py from the assessment notes (all-day, red)

The block notes are the source of truth. The Full Calendar plugin shows them as a week view and edits their frontmatter when the student drags an event. Never regenerate them from somewhere else. Read them, and edit them.

scripts/timetable.py (in this skill's folder, no extra packages) checks the blocks, finds clashes, including with the university timetable, writes the week grid and hours into TIMETABLE.md, and can export an .ics file:

python3 scripts/timetable.py timetable [--lectures <ics file or URL>] [--week YYYY-MM-DD] [--ics study.ics]

0. Before you start

• Read projects/PROFILE.md, every projects/*/MODULE.md for this semester (credits, study hours, timetable, semester) and the assessment notes due in the next 6 weeks.
• If timetable/ exists, you're updating (section 7). Read TIMETABLE.md and the blocks first.

1. Get the university timetable

You need the whole semester, not one typical week. Timetables are full of one-off events (briefings, careers talks, extra lectures, project labs) that a weekly pattern misses. In order of preference:

1. A downloaded export (.ics) of the student's personal timetable. Most timetable systems have an "Export" or "Download" button. It's the safest input for the clash check: pass its path to --lectures. Don't copy it into the vault. It's a snapshot, and the calendar should use the live link (section 5).
2. Their Google Calendar, if a Google Calendar connector is available and the timetable is already subscribed there: read the whole semester's events (read-only). This is good for the pattern, but for the clash check, still ask for an export.
3. A screenshot or PDF: read it, and add lectures as Uni - … block notes so they show and are clash-checked. Ask about one-off events.

The timetable's subscribe link (iCal/webcal) is for the plugin only (section 5). It works like a password, so ask the student not to paste it into chat, and never write it into a file.

Also find the teaching dates (term start and end, reading week, bank holidays) from the university's calendar or the student. They become startRecur, endRecur and skipDates.

2. Interview (one message, short)

Ask only what you don't already know, and offer a default for each:

1. Regular commitments: sport, clubs and societies, a part-time job, volunteering, caring, church, regular calls. Give the day, time and travel time.
2. Working pattern: which days you study, the earliest start and latest finish, and a day (or half-day) that stays free.
3. Focus: are you sharper in the morning or the evening? Where do you usually study (library, home)?
4. Weekly target for independent study outside lectures. Suggest a number: each module's study hours (from MODULE.md, or about 10 hours per UK credit or 25–30 per ECTS credit) minus timetabled hours, spread over the teaching and revision weeks. Let them lower it: a plan they'll keep beats an ideal one.
5. Extras: a daily flashcards slot (if they use create-flashcards), a weekly planning slot, exercise or meals to protect.

Record the answers in TIMETABLE.md under ## Preferences (template: reference/timetable-template.md).

3. Plan the week

• Blocks of 60–120 minutes, with at least 15 minutes between them. Put the hardest modules in the student's best focus time. At most two blocks of the same module in one day.
• Split hours by credits, then shift some towards whatever has deadlines in the next 4 weeks. Give the individual project steady blocks every week.
• After each lecture, a 30–45 minute review within 24 hours (it can be the start of that module's block).
• Recurring hand-ins (problem sheets, weekly quizzes): read the module notes and projects/updates/ for the cycle, including predicted assessment notes (see sync-moodle). Give the recurring block a note of what's due when, and add one-off blocks before each sheet, marked "(predicted)" until Moodle confirms the date.
• Coursework crunch: for coursework due in the next 4 weeks, add one-off blocks (type: single) in the 2 weeks before the deadline, named after the assessment.
• Daily flashcards, 15–20 minutes on weekdays (if they use them), and a 15–20 minute weekly planning slot.
• Protect: commitments and their travel time, the day off, lunch, and evenings after the latest finish.
• Leave slack: plan about 80% of the target and don't fill every gap. Weeks always overrun.

4. Write the notes

One note per block in timetable/blocks/, named <category>-<code or slug>-<days>.md (e.g. study-ma32064-mon-thu.md). Use one note with several daysOfWeek when the time is the same.

---
title: Study - MA32064 - Number theory
allDay: false
type: recurring
daysOfWeek: [M, R]          # U M T W R F S  (R = Thursday, U = Sunday)
startTime: "10:00"          # always quoted HH:mm
endTime: "11:30"
startRecur: 2026-09-28      # first teaching day
endRecur: 2026-12-11        # last teaching day
skipDates: [2026-11-02]     # optional: reading week, bank holidays
---
Optional note: what to work on in this block, links to the module ([[projects/…/MODULE|MA32064]]).

One-off blocks use type: single and date: YYYY-MM-DD instead of the recurrence keys. Titles are Category - Detail, which the plugin can colour by category. Use these categories: Study - <CODE> - <topic> (the module code in the middle is what the hours table counts), Revision - …, Uni - … (only when lectures aren't coming from a feed), Life - …, Admin - ….

Create timetable/TIMETABLE.md from reference/timetable-template.md.

5. Check, then show it

Run timetable.py --lectures <export> for every week of the plan (loop over each Monday with --week), not just one. Fix any clashes and rerun until every week says No clashes. Finish with a run for the coming week, so TIMETABLE.md shows it.

Fixing a clash with a one-off event: don't move the whole recurring block. Add that date to the block's skipDates, and create a one-off block (type: single) for the same work in a slack slot that week. Name it <category>-<code>-moved-<date>.md and say in its note what it was moved for. If the clash is with a contact session for the same module (e.g. a project lab), just skip the block. Log every move in TIMETABLE.md.

Tell the student how to see it in Obsidian (one-time setup, done by them):

1. Settings → Community plugins → Browse → Full Calendar Remastered → Install → Enable.
2. Its settings → Add calendar → Full Note → folder timetable/blocks. Also Add calendar → Full Note → folder timetable/deadlines, in red (skip if setup-obsidian already added it). scripts/sync_deadlines.py fills that folder from the assessment notes, so every deadline shows in the all-day row. Run it now.
3. Optional: Add calendar → ICS → paste the university timetable link. It's read-only and refreshes itself.
4. Optional: turn on Advanced categorization to colour Study, Life and so on. When it asks how to update existing notes, choose Use Parent Folder (Smart), which leaves titles that already have categories alone. Then open the calendar (ribbon icon or command palette) in week view.

(A calendar view for Obsidian Bases is on Obsidian's roadmap. Once it ships, the same notes can be shown with a Bases view and no plugin.)

6. Optional: on their phone's calendar

Ask if they want it in Google or Apple Calendar as well. Don't create events without a clear yes.

• Import (recommended): timetable.py … --ics timetable/study.ics. In Google Calendar, go to Settings → Import & export, and import into a new calendar called "Study", so it's easy to hide or delete. In Apple Calendar, use File → Import and choose a new calendar. Imports don't update, so after changes, delete that calendar and import again.
• Google Calendar connector (if available): list the events you'll create (title, days, times, dates) and get a yes, then create each block as a recurring event. Keep a list of what you created in TIMETABLE.md's Log, so the events can be changed or removed later.

7. Updating

• "I've joined X on Wednesdays 6–8" / "move my Friday blocks" / "less on Sundays": edit or add the block notes, rerun the check, and add a Log line. Mention if the phone calendar copy needs re-importing.
• The student dragged things in the calendar: the notes already changed. Just rerun the check and summary.
• Coursework or deadlines changed: adjust the one-off crunch blocks, and run scripts/sync_deadlines.py.
• New semester: don't delete old blocks. Their endRecur already ends them. Get the new timetable, rerun the interview briefly (just "anything changed?"), and add new blocks for the new modules.

Rules

• The student's calendar feed link and any calendar credentials never go into the vault.
• Ask before creating, changing or deleting any event in an external calendar.
• Be realistic. If commitments plus lectures leave less time than the target, say so and suggest what to drop or shrink, rather than cramming blocks into every gap.