ClassDock

Automation for GitHub-based courses, from a modern Python CLI

ClassDock is a command-line tool for computer science instructors who run assignments as template repositories in a GitHub organization. Instead of manually clicking through dozens of student repositories, ClassDock automates the repetitive work — discovering repos, distributing secrets, tracking roster acceptance — so you can focus on teaching.

Perfect for: Instructors managing assignments on GitHub for classes of any size.

Installation

pip install classdock

Requirements: Python 3.10+ and Git

Quick Start

# 1. Set up your GitHub token (one-time)
classdock token

# 2. Create a new assignment
classdock setup

# 3. Discover all student repositories
classdock fetch

# 4. Add secrets to every student repo at once
classdock secrets add

# 5. Run the full workflow end-to-end
classdock run

Shortcut Commands

These shortcuts cover the most common operations without navigating command groups:

Command Groups

For full control, every feature is available through organized command groups:

See the Full Command Reference for every subcommand and option.

Configuration

ClassDock reads an assignment.conf file from your assignment directory:

# Minimal configuration
GITHUB_ORGANIZATION="your-github-org"
ASSIGNMENT_NAME="homework-1"
TEMPLATE_REPO_URL="https://github.com/your-github-org/homework-1-template"

# Optional: secrets to distribute to every student repo
secrets_list="API_KEY,DATABASE_URL"

# Optional: enable roster sync during orchestration
step_sync_roster=true

Run classdock setup to generate this file interactively.

Roster Management

Track which students accepted an assignment and link their GitHub repos to your class roster:

# Initialize (one-time, stores data in ~/.config/classdock/roster.db)
classdock roster init

# Import your student list from a Google Forms CSV export
classdock roster import students.csv --org=cs101-fall2025

# After fetching repos, link them to roster entries
classdock roster sync --assignment=homework-1 --org=cs101-fall2025

# See who has and hasn't accepted
classdock roster status --org=cs101-fall2025

See Roster Sync Guide for detailed setup.

Documentation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read the Contributing Guide before opening a pull request.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Made with care for computer science educators.