The sudden drop
An assignment posts and your average slips from 89.4% to 86.8%. The portal shows the new number and nothing else — no category, no leverage, no cause.
opacityabout
Why I built einstein.
A grade portal can tell you your average dropped. It can't tell you why, what it cost you, or what you need next. I wanted the opposite of that.
01 — the problem
Grades move. Portals don't explain.
Checking a grade is usually an anxious guess. The number changed, but the reason stayed hidden behind a syllabus PDF and a weighted formula.
Weights are hidden math
Exams at 45%, projects at 25%, quizzes at 15%, homework at 10%, participation at 5% — plus dropped scores and curves. The formula decides your grade, but you never see it work.
complexity“What do I need on the final?”
So you open an ad-ridden calculator, retype your syllabus, and hope it guessed the same rules your teacher did.
guessworkYour data isn't yours
Canvas, PowerSchool, and Blackboard are built for administrators. Your performance lives in their database, on their terms.
ownership02 — why I made it
I wanted the explanation, not the verdict.
Einstein started with a simple frustration: a grade should come with a reason. If a score moved, you should be able to see which assignment moved it, how much the weight amplified it, and what that means for the next one.
I also didn't want another account, another server, or another dashboard that treats a student's data as inventory. So Einstein is file-first: the app is the interface to your data, not the owner of it. Everything is readable JSON and Markdown, stored locally, and it works offline.
03 — what it does
Three ideas, one grade assistant.
The same three tenets that shape every part of the app.
The Delta Engine
Every new score gets an instant autopsy: which category shifted, how much leverage it had, and whether your trajectory is up or down. The math is documented in docs/architecture.md.
delta calculationThe What-If Lab
Enter hypothetical scores, set a target, and see the exact minimum you need across what's left. Drop-lowest rules update in real time. Try the preview.
simulationFile-first sovereignty
Course data, grade history, and simulations live in human-readable files on your device. No proprietary database, no remote server, no telemetry. The schema is in docs/data-schema.md.
local storage04 — who it's for
Anyone whose grade is decided by a formula.
High school, undergraduate, and graduate students with weighted syllabi, dropped scores, curved exams, and finals that carry too much weight. If a portal gives you a number and no explanation, Einstein is the missing second half.
05 — get started
See what changed. Then decide what's next.
Run the lab, read the vision, or clone the repo and keep your data in files you own.