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BytesAgain β€Ί Skills β€Ί EdStem
πŸ¦€ ClawHub

EdStem

by @axel5o5

Fetch, sync, and organize EdStem discussion threads for any course or institution. Use when checking for new EdStem posts, syncing course discussion forums,...

Versionv1.1.0
Downloads1,417
#social-media#legal#education#productivity
TERMINAL
clawhub install edstem

πŸ“– About This Skill

name: edstem description: Fetch, sync, and organize EdStem discussion threads for any course or institution. Use when checking for new EdStem posts, syncing course discussion forums, reviewing student/staff questions and answers, or when the user asks to check EdStem, review course discussions, or stay updated on class forums.

EdStem

Fetch and organize EdStem discussion threads from any course or institution with automatic staff/student differentiation.

Quick Start

Fetch recent threads for any course:

cd /home/axel/.openclaw/workspace/skills/edstem/scripts
python3 fetch-edstem.py  [output_dir] [--course-name "Course Name"]

Examples: 

# Fetch to default directory (./edstem-)
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041
Fetch to specific directory

python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ./machine-learning
Specify course name for clearer output

python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 --course-name "Machine Learning"
Combine directory and course name

python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ./ml-course --course-name "Machine Learning"
Fetch more threads (default is 10)

python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 --limit 25

Finding Your Course ID

To find your EdStem course ID:

1. Log into EdStem and navigate to your course 2. Look at the URL: https://edstem.org/us/courses// 3. The number in the URL is your course ID

Alternatively, use the API to list your courses: 

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" https://us.edstem.org/api/user | jq '.courses[] | {id: .course.id, name: .course.name}'

What Gets Fetched

For each course:

  • threads.json - Full thread list with metadata
  • thread-XXX.md - Individual threads formatted as markdown
    • - Thread title, category, timestamps - Original post content - All answers and comments - [STAFF] or [STUDENT] tags on every post

    Features

  • Institution-agnostic: Works with any school using EdStem
  • Staff differentiation: Clearly marks instructor/TA posts vs student posts
  • Structured output: Markdown format for easy reading and searching
  • API-based: Uses EdStem's official API (no scraping)
  • Flexible output: Choose your own output directory and organization scheme

    • Authentication

    The skill uses a bearer token stored in the Python script. To use with your own account:

    1. Log into EdStem in your browser 2. Open Developer Tools β†’ Network tab 3. Reload any EdStem page 4. Find an API request and copy the Authorization: Bearer ... token 5. Update ED_TOKEN in scripts/fetch-edstem.py

    Current token location: Line 20 in scripts/fetch-edstem.py

    If API calls fail (401 Unauthorized), your token likely expired and needs refresh.

    Scripts

    fetch-edstem.py (recommended)

    Full-featured Python script with markdown formatting and staff/student differentiation.

    Usage: 

    python3 scripts/fetch-edstem.py  [output_dir] [options]

    Options:

  • output_dir - Where to save threads (default: ./edstem-)
  • --course-name NAME - Display name for the course
  • --limit N - Number of threads to fetch (default: 10)

    • Features:

  • Fetches thread metadata and full details
  • Full markdown formatting with answers and comments
  • Automatic staff role detection
  • JSON cache of thread list
  • Auto-creates output directory

    • fetch-edstem.sh (lightweight alternative)

    Bash/curl version for raw JSON fetching without dependencies.

    Usage: 

    bash scripts/fetch-edstem.sh  [output_dir]

    Outputs:

  • Raw JSON files for each thread
  • Requires manual formatting or post-processing

    • Common Workflows

    Check for new posts

    python3 scripts/fetch-edstem.py 92041 ~/courses/ml-spring-2025

    Sync multiple courses

    # Create a simple sync script
for course in "92041:machine-learning" "94832:advanced-rl"; do
    IFS=':' read -r id name <<< "$course"
    python3 scripts/fetch-edstem.py $id ~/courses/$name --course-name "$name"
done

    Review recent activity

    After fetching, check the markdown files: 
    ls -lt ./edstem-92041/*.md | head
cat ./edstem-92041/thread-001.md

    Search across threads

    grep -r "gradient descent" ./edstem-92041/*.md

    Output Structure

    /
β”œβ”€β”€ threads.json              # Thread metadata
β”œβ”€β”€ thread-001.md             # Individual threads
β”œβ”€β”€ thread-002.md
└── ...

    Each markdown file contains:

  • Thread metadata (number, title, category, timestamps)
  • Original post with author role
  • All answers (sorted, with role tags)
  • All comments (with role tags)

    • Integration Examples

    With LLM agents

    # Fetch threads and analyze with your agent
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ./course-data

    Then: "Summarize the most common questions in ./course-data/"

    Automated monitoring

    # Add to cron for daily sync
0 9 * * * cd /path/to/skills/edstem/scripts && python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ~/courses/ml

    Custom organization

    # Organize by semester and institution
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ~/school/stanford/2025-spring/cs229
python3 fetch-edstem.py 94832 ~/school/mit/2025-spring/6.7920

    Troubleshooting

    401 Unauthorized: Token expired. Re-authenticate and update ED_TOKEN in the script.

    Course not found: Verify the course ID and that your account has access.

    Empty threads: Check that the course has discussion posts and you're enrolled.

    Rate limiting: EdStem may rate-limit API requests. Add delays between fetches if needed.

    Contributing

    This skill is open-source and institution-agnostic by design. Improvements welcome:

  • Better content parsing (EdStem uses XML-based document format)
  • Support for filtering by category or date range
  • Incremental sync (only fetch new threads)
  • Export to other formats (JSON, HTML, etc.)

    • Version History

  • 1.1.0 - Made institution-agnostic with flexible parameters
  • 1.0.0 - Initial release

    • πŸ’‘ Examples

    Fetch recent threads for any course:

    cd /home/axel/.openclaw/workspace/skills/edstem/scripts
python3 fetch-edstem.py  [output_dir] [--course-name "Course Name"]

    Examples: 

    # Fetch to default directory (./edstem-)
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041
    Fetch to specific directory
    
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ./machine-learning
    Specify course name for clearer output
    
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 --course-name "Machine Learning"
    Combine directory and course name
    
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 ./ml-course --course-name "Machine Learning"
    Fetch more threads (default is 10)
    
python3 fetch-edstem.py 92041 --limit 25

    πŸ“‹ Tips & Best Practices

    401 Unauthorized: Token expired. Re-authenticate and update ED_TOKEN in the script.

    Course not found: Verify the course ID and that your account has access.

    Empty threads: Check that the course has discussion posts and you're enrolled.

    Rate limiting: EdStem may rate-limit API requests. Add delays between fetches if needed.