Canvas shows due dates class by class, so you end up opening five courses to figure out what's due tomorrow. Secretariat reads your Canvas and puts every assignment on one list by day, with a link back to where it came from, and you just check things off.
Why Canvas alone doesn't work as a to-do list
Canvas is organized by class. Its To Do sidebar and calendar help, but there's no single list you can check off that also holds the things Canvas doesn't know about: a quiz that's only in the syllabus, a club meeting, or a reminder to email your TA.
Checking something off in your head isn't the same as checking it off on a list. When the week gets busy, things slip.
How Secretariat builds the list
- Connect Canvas with the Chrome extension in one tap, or paste a Canvas access token. If your school turned tokens off, the Canvas calendar link still brings in due dates.
- Every assignment lands on one list by day, under its class, and links back to its Canvas page.
- Catch up checks things off for you when Canvas says you turned them in.
- Each class also gets its own view with its work, due dates and files.
- It syncs every time you open the app. On Student Pro and Pro it also checks in the background: every 15 minutes if you opened it today, hourly within 3 days, and every 3 hours for the rest of the week.
- When Canvas moves a due date or adds a new assignment, nothing changes until you choose. You pick Move or Keep for a moved date, and Keep or Remove for a new assignment.
What it won't do
- It only reads Canvas. It never submits work, posts in a class or changes anything there. Checking something off in Secretariat stays in Secretariat.
- The Canvas calendar link carries due dates and class events only. Files, announcements and what you've turned in need the extension or a token.
- It can't fix a date Canvas has wrong on its own unless it can read the syllabus or an announcement that says otherwise. See when Canvas has the wrong date.
Getting started
Make an account, connect Canvas, and your list fills in. The list, your calendar and Canvas are free for good. New accounts also get 14 days of Student Pro free, no card needed. See pricing for what Student Pro adds.
Common questions
- Do I need my school's permission to connect Canvas?
- No. The Chrome extension and a pasted token both use your own Canvas sign-in, and the Canvas calendar link is something every student can copy from Canvas.
- Will checking something off in Secretariat mark it done in Canvas?
- No. Secretariat never changes anything in Canvas. It goes the other way: when Canvas says you turned something in, Catch up checks it off on your list.
- Can I add my own to-dos to the same list?
- Yes. Type one the way you'd jot it down, like "Read ch 4 tomorrow" or "Pset 3 fri 11:59pm", and it reads the day and time for you. You can also say it to the voice assistant.
- What if I'm in classes on two Canvas schools?
- You can connect more than one Canvas sign-in, and every one is read on every sync.