The latest articles on DEV Community by Farhan Ahmad (@farhan989800). https://dev.to/farhan989800 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4153692%2F1ae310c2-66fc-4e70-b9c8-2222512612be.jpg https://dev.to/farhan989800 en Farhan Ahmad Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:45:39 +0000 https://dev.to/farhan989800/studyloop-an-ai-powered-productivity-planner-built-for-my-friend-1plg https://dev.to/farhan989800/studyloop-an-ai-powered-productivity-planner-built-for-my-friend-1plg <p><em>This is a submission for the <a href="https://dev.to/challenges/hacktoberfest-weekend-2026-10-01">Hacktoberfest Weekend Challenge: Build for a Friend</a></em></p> <h2> What I Built </h2> <p>I built StudyLoop, a locally hosted, open-weight-model-powered productivity and planning web app designed to help my friend stay consistent with his work and goals, while also boosting his motivation with AI-generated reports and charts.</p> <h2> Demo </h2> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/fMiWJQoABIM" rel="noopener noreferrer">Watch the demo on YouTube</a></p> <h2> Code </h2> <p><a href="https://github.com/KevinForsgren/StudyLoop" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub Repository</a></p> <h2> How I Built It </h2> <p>StudyLoop uses a locally hosted open-weight LLM (Gemma 3 4B) for AI-powered planning, report generation, and conversational features. The core logic of the app is separated into two parts: the frontend and backend.</p> <p>The backend is built with Python and FastAPI and handles AI interactions, task management, persistence, and user authentication. The frontend manages the UI and user interactions.</p> <p>Both parts can be run using a single shell script, making it easier for users to locally host and run the web app.</p> <h2> Why Does Open Innovation Matter? </h2> <p>Open source has been a big part of my life for a long time. Even before getting into tech, I was using GitHub and open-source projects to tinker with games and experiment with different things.</p> <p>When I transitioned from a commerce background into tech, open source became even more important to me. A huge part of what I know today came from exploring projects made by people who were willing to share their work with the world. It gave me a way to learn, experiment, and build things that I probably wouldn't have been able to otherwise.</p> <p>So open source isn't just a technology philosophy to me; it has genuinely influenced my journey into tech and has had a positive impact on my life.</p> <p>For StudyLoop, open innovation made it possible for me to use an open-weight model like Gemma 3 4B locally and build an AI-powered planner around it without relying on a proprietary AI service. I built it to help my friend stay consistent with his goals, keep track of his work, and hopefully become a better version of himself along the way.</p> <p>In a small way, I'm using the same open ecosystem that helped me get into tech to build something that can help someone else.</p> <h2> My Agent Session </h2> <p>I wasn't able to generate a shareable DevRelay session link, but the project was built with the help of an backboard CLI coding agent during development.</p> <h2> Prize Categories </h2> <ul> <li>Gemma (Used Gemma 3 4B as a local LLM for my project)</li> </ul> devchallenge weekendchallenge hf26challenge