Content
# Open Campus Advisor
> Open source AI advisor for any university. Students get live course info, faculty research, and academic guidance through natural conversation with Claude or ChatGPT.
**Website:** [opencampusadvisor.org](https://opencampusadvisor.org)
**npm:** [open-campus-advisor](https://www.npmjs.com/package/open-campus-advisor)
**Live providers:** Wesleyan University · Columbia University · MIT
---
## The Vision
Every university should have an AI advisor. A student talks to Claude or ChatGPT and gets:
- Live course catalog — prerequisites, enrollment, gen-ed requirements
- Faculty research profiles with active NIH grants
- First-year seminars, freshman-appropriate courses, distribution requirements
- The path from coursework → research in a single conversation
**The key insight:** Claude and ChatGPT handle the advising layer. Universities only need to expose their data. The tool interface is school-agnostic — a student switching schools gets the same experience.
This starts with academics and research. Career services, financial aid, and housing follow the same pattern.
---
## Architecture
```
src/
types.ts ← CatalogProvider interface — the universal contract
cache.ts ← 60-min TTL cache
transports/
mcp.ts ← MCP server factory (Claude Desktop / Claude Code)
rest.ts ← REST API factory (ChatGPT / any AI)
providers/
wesleyan.ts ← Wesleyan: WesMaps + profile API + NIH grants
index.ts ← MCP entry point
api.ts ← REST API entry point
```
**Two providers already built** — Wesleyan and Columbia. Adding a new university: implement `CatalogProvider` in `src/providers/yourschool.ts`, add one line to `api.ts`. All tools, error handling, and caching come free.
**Multi-AI support:** the same `CatalogProvider` powers both transports:
- Claude users → MCP server (runs locally via `npx open-campus-advisor`)
- ChatGPT users → REST API (`api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/*`)
---
## Tools (9 total)
### Academics
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| `list_departments` | All departments and programs with subject codes |
| `search_courses` | Keyword + department search — sections, instructors, schedules |
| `get_course_details` | Full course: description, prerequisites, gen-ed, live enrollment per section |
| `list_first_year_seminars` | All FYS seminars grouped by department |
| `list_courses_for_freshmen` | Courses appropriate for first-years in a given department |
| `list_gen_ed_courses` | Courses fulfilling distribution requirements |
| `search_by_instructor` | All courses by an instructor — accepts names, not just internal IDs |
### Research
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| `search_faculty_research` | Find faculty by research keyword within a department |
| `get_faculty_profile` | Full profile: bio, research, publications, courses, contact, active NIH grants |
---
## Data Sources (all public, no auth required)
| Data | Source |
|---|---|
| Course catalog, enrollment | WesMaps (`owaprod-pub.wesleyan.edu`) |
| Faculty profiles, research, publications | `wesleyan.edu/about/directory/profile.php` |
| Active NIH grants | NIH Reporter v2 API (`api.reporter.nih.gov`) |
---
## What Students Can Ask
**Academics:**
> *"What CS courses can I take as a freshman this fall?"*
> *"What are the prerequisites for COMP312?"*
> *"Show me all first-year seminars related to climate or the environment."*
**Research:**
> *"Which COMP professors do machine learning research?"*
> *"Tell me about Professor Manfredi's research and active grants."*
**Connected:**
> *"I want to study computational biology — what courses should I take and which professors should I approach for research?"*
---
## Live Schools
| School | API | Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Wesleyan University | `api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/*` | `src/providers/wesleyan.ts` |
| Columbia University | `api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/columbia/*` | `src/providers/columbia.ts` |
| MIT | `api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/mit/*` | `src/providers/mit.ts` |
## Infrastructure
| Layer | Service | URL | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page | Vercel | [opencampusadvisor.org](https://opencampusadvisor.org) | ✓ Live |
| REST API | Railway | [api.opencampusadvisor.org](https://api.opencampusadvisor.org) | ✓ Live |
| Analytics | PostHog | — | ✓ Wired |
| npm package | npmjs.com | [open-campus-advisor](https://www.npmjs.com/package/open-campus-advisor) | ✓ Published |
| Landing repo | GitHub | [open-campus-advisor/landing](https://github.com/open-campus-advisor/landing) | ✓ Public |
---
## Analytics & Public Dashboard
Every API call logs anonymized events to PostHog — school, tool used, keyword searched. This powers a public dashboard on the landing page showing:
- Trending courses per campus this week
- Most-searched research topics
- Popular departments by student interest
- Cross-campus comparisons as more schools are added
Useful for students discovering what peers are exploring. Useful for universities understanding what their students actually care about.
---
## Setup for Claude Desktop
Edit `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"open-campus-advisor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["open-campus-advisor"]
}
}
}
```
Fully quit and relaunch Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q). Click **`+`** → **Connectors** to confirm connected.
---
## Setup for Claude Code
```bash
claude mcp add open-campus-advisor -- npx open-campus-advisor
claude mcp list # confirm ✓ Connected
```
---
## Setup for ChatGPT
**Wesleyan Academic Advisor GPT:**
[chatgpt.com/g/g-6a2583a8a7cc819198378184eaf9b15f-wesleyan-academic-advisor](https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6a2583a8a7cc819198378184eaf9b15f-wesleyan-academic-advisor)
Open the link, start chatting. Works on ChatGPT mobile and desktop.
Columbia GPT coming soon — the REST API is already live at `api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/columbia/*`.
**REST API endpoints (Wesleyan):**
```
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/departments
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/courses?query=...&department=...&term=...
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/courses/:courseId
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/seminars
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/freshmen-courses/:department
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/gen-ed/:department
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/instructor?name=...
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/faculty/search?query=...&department=...
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/api/v1/wesleyan/faculty/:facultyId
GET api.opencampusadvisor.org/health
```
---
## Self-host / Development
```bash
git clone https://github.com/open-campus-advisor/open-campus-advisor.git
cd open-campus-advisor
npm install
npm run dev # MCP server via tsx
```
---
## Testing
**Browser UI:**
```bash
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx tsx index.ts
# opens at http://localhost:5173
```
**Raw stdin:**
```bash
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_faculty_research","arguments":{"query":"machine learning","department":"COMP"}}}' \
| npx tsx index.ts
```
---
## Porting to Another University
1. Create `src/providers/yourschool.ts` implementing `CatalogProvider`
2. Set `schoolName`, `defaultTerm`, and `terms`
3. Implement each method by scraping or querying your school's public catalog
4. Add one line each to `index.ts` (MCP) and `api.ts` (REST)
```typescript
// api.ts — adding MIT takes one line
app.use('/api/v1/wesleyan', createRestRouter(new WesleyanProvider()));
app.use('/api/v1/mit', createRestRouter(new MITProvider())); // ← add this
```
---
## Tech Stack
- [`@modelcontextprotocol/sdk`](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk) — MCP server
- [`cheerio`](https://cheerio.js.org/) — HTML parsing
- [`zod`](https://zod.dev/) — input validation
- [`tsx`](https://github.com/privatenumber/tsx) — TypeScript execution
- [NIH Reporter API](https://api.reporter.nih.gov) — public grant data
- [PostHog](https://posthog.com) — analytics and public dashboard data
---
## Contributing
PRs welcome — especially new university providers. Build one for your school, open a PR. The goal is a library of providers that any student can use.
