Life-Ops System

Overview

A personal AI system that manages my life as a BYU MBA student with a family. Integrates Canvas LMS, Gmail, and Calendar to eliminate administrative overhead.

Problem

As an MBA student with 7 courses, a family, and job recruiting:

• 50+ assignments across Canvas
• Recruiter emails piling up
• Calendar conflicts between classes and interviews
• Spending more time managing work than doing work

Solution

An autonomous agent that:

1. Monitors Canvas — Checks for new assignments, due dates, announcements
2. Triages Gmail — Flags recruiter emails, filters newsletters
3. Manages Calendar — Blocks study time, alerts on conflicts
4. Sends Notifications — Telegram alerts for urgent items

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Life-Ops System                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  ┌──────────┐   ┌──────────┐   ┌──────────┐                │
│  │  Canvas  │   │  Gmail   │   │ Calendar │                │
│  └────┬─────┘   └────┬─────┘   └────┬─────┘                │
│       │              │              │                       │
│       └──────────────┼──────────────┘                       │
│                      │                                      │
│              ┌───────▼───────┐                              │
│              │   OpenClaw    │                              │
│              │    Agent      │                              │
│              └───────┬───────┘                              │
│                      │                                      │
│              ┌───────▼───────┐                              │
│              │   Telegram    │                              │
│              │  (alerts)     │                              │
│              └───────────────┘                              │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Cost
Agent Framework	OpenClaw	Free (self-hosted)
Canvas API	REST API	Free (BYU account)
Gmail API	Google Cloud	Free tier
Calendar	Google Calendar	Free
Notifications	Telegram Bot	Free
Hosting	Mac Mini	$0 (existing)

Total Monthly Cost: ~$0-20 (API calls only)

Timeline

Phase	Duration	Deliverable
API Integration	4 hours	Canvas + Gmail connected
Agent Logic	6 hours	Heartbeat, filtering, alerting
Testing	2 hours	End-to-end working system
Polish	4 hours	Error handling, edge cases
Total	16 hours	Production system

Key Features

1. Canvas Monitoring

Every 30 minutes:
- Check for new assignments
- Parse due dates
- Alert on upcoming deadlines (24h, 48h, 7d)
- Sync to Google Calendar

2. Gmail Triage

Every 15 minutes:
- Filter unread emails
- Categorize: URGENT, IMPORTANT, LOW
- URGENT: Interview invites, deadlines
- IMPORTANT: Networking, opportunities
- LOW: Newsletters, automated updates

3. Calendar Intelligence

Daily at 8 AM:
- Scan for conflicts
- Block study time around classes
- Alert on double-booking
- Suggest optimal meeting times

Results

Before: 2-3 hours/day managing tasks, emails, calendar After: 15 min/day reviewing agent summaries

Time Saved: ~10 hours/week

Code Sample

heartbeat/canvas-check.yaml

cron:
  - schedule: "*/30 * * * *"
    action: check_canvas

actions:
  check_canvas:
    - fetch:
        url: "https://byu.instructure.com/api/v1/courses"
        headers:
          Authorization: "Bearer ${CANVAS_TOKEN}"
    - parse:
        assignments: ".[] | select(.assignments != null) | .assignments[]"
    - filter:
        upcoming: ".due_at > now() and .due_at < (now() + 7d)"
    - notify:
        channel: telegram
        message: "📚 ${count} assignments due this week"

Lessons Learned

What Worked

• Heartbeat pattern (check then act)
• Telegram for mobile notifications
• Canvas API is well-documented
• Google APIs are reliable

What Didn’t

• Over-engineering early (too many features)
• Not handling rate limits initially
• Too verbose notifications (fixed with digest mode)

GitHub Repo

Private repo — contact for access

Next Steps

This system became the foundation for:

• MBA Recruiter Agent — Autonomous job applications
• Social Growth Agents — LinkedIn + X automation

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Questions? Check the Self-Serve Guide for prompts you can use today.