Canvas is only as right as what your professor typed into it, and when a professor updates the syllabus or posts an announcement but doesn't fix Canvas, every calendar fed from Canvas is wrong too. Secretariat treats the syllabus as the source of truth: when Canvas and the syllabus give the same work different days, the to-do goes on the syllabus's day and tells you what Canvas says, with a Move option to put it on Canvas's day instead.
How Canvas dates end up wrong
- The professor sets up Canvas from last year's course and the dates never get updated.
- The syllabus says the paper is due Friday, but Canvas says Wednesday.
- An announcement pushes a deadline back, and the Canvas assignment keeps the old date.
- An exam is in the syllabus but was never set up in Canvas at all, so it has no Canvas date to be wrong.
What Secretariat does, step by step
- It reads each class's syllabus and finds every dated item in it. Each date has to be written in the syllabus or it's dropped.
- It matches syllabus items to Canvas assignments. Only a confident match counts: the same kind of work (an exam never matches homework), the same number (Problem Set 3 matches HW 3, not HW 4), the same stage (a draft never matches the final), and one syllabus item for one Canvas assignment. Anything less and Canvas's date stands.
- When a match has different days, the to-do goes on the syllabus's day. It says what Canvas has, for example "Canvas says Wed, Oct 21. Going by the syllabus, which says Fri, Oct 23.", with a See where link to the syllabus it went by.
- Canvas's time of day is kept unless the syllabus gives its own time.
- Tap the Move to button under that note if you'd rather go by Canvas's day.
- When a syllabus is read for the first time, or read again because it changed, upcoming Canvas assignments already on your list move to the syllabus's days right away. Ones you've finished and ones already past are left alone.
- If you'd already moved a to-do to another day to work on it, it stays on your day. Only its due date changes.
- Dates the syllabus has and Canvas never had go on your list too, and step aside once Canvas posts the real assignment.
The exceptions, so it never makes you late
Going by the syllabus could make you late if it were applied blindly, so there are two cases where Canvas's date wins.
- The syllabus is exactly one day later than Canvas. That's usually the class meeting the work is due at, and Canvas closes the night before. Canvas's earlier day stands.
- The two dates are more than three weeks apart. That's more likely two different things with the same name than one wrong date, so Canvas's date stands.
- If the syllabus is earlier than Canvas, the earlier syllabus day is used, so you see it in time.
- If the syllabus lists the same item twice on different days, or one syllabus item could match two Canvas assignments, nothing moves.
When Canvas or an announcement moves a date
Nothing on your list moves by itself. When Canvas changes a due date, the to-do waits on its day with Move or Keep, and you choose. A new Canvas assignment asks Keep or Remove.
On Student Pro, when a class announcement changes a due date ("Extended deadline, Essay 2: Oct 26"), Secretariat finds the to-do it's about instead of adding a new one, gives it the new due date, and waits for Move or Keep the same way.
The matching step uses plain rules, no AI. Reading the dates out of a syllabus uses a small AI model once per version of the syllabus. Free reads each syllabus once a semester, and Student Pro reads it again every time it's updated.
What it won't do
- It never changes the date in Canvas. It only reads Canvas, so your professor's Canvas stays exactly as it is.
- It can't fix a wrong date nobody wrote down correctly anywhere it reads. If the right date was only said out loud in class, add it yourself.
- It needs the syllabus. With only the Canvas calendar link connected there's no syllabus from Canvas, but you can upload one in Settings, Your classes.
Common questions
- Why does Canvas win when the syllabus is one day later?
- Because a syllabus usually lists work under the class it's due at, while Canvas closes the night before. Going by the syllabus there would make you a day late, so Canvas's earlier day stands.
- How do I see which to-dos were moved by the syllabus?
- A moved to-do says what Canvas has and what the syllabus says, with a See where link to the syllabus. Tap the Move to button under the note if you'd rather use Canvas's day.
- Will it ever move something without telling me?
- A syllabus date only moves a to-do when the match is confident and outside the two exceptions, and the to-do always shows what Canvas says. A date Canvas or an announcement changes later always waits for you to pick Move or Keep.
- Does this cost anything?
- Syllabus due dates are on Free, read once a semester. Student Pro reads each syllabus again whenever it's updated. See pricing.