Blender GitHub Classroom Add-on

A Blender 4.5 LTS add-on that integrates GitHub Classroom directly into Blender, making it easy for students to pull assignment .blend files, work on them, and push their changes back — all without leaving the 3D environment. Teachers can also use the add-on to pull student files for review and grading.

Overview

This add-on is designed for animation and 3D art courses that use Blender. It connects to GitHub Classroom using a simple Personal Access Token — no complex setup or cloud admin access required.

The add-on features a Simple/Advanced mode toggle:

• Simple mode (default): A clean, student-focused interface with auto-push on save
• Advanced mode: Additional options for power users — role switching, custom commit messages, auto-push mode selection, and manual repository URL entry

For Students

• 📥 Pull your assignment .blend file from your GitHub Classroom repository
• 🎨 Work on your project in Blender as usual
• 📤 Auto-push your changes to GitHub every time you save (or push manually)
• ✏️ Custom commit messages (advanced mode) — describe your changes
• 🔗 Pull from URL (advanced mode) — open any repo by pasting its GitHub URL
• No programming knowledge required — just enter your token and go!

For Teachers

• 📂 Browse all student repositories in your GitHub Classroom organization
• 📁 Assignment grouping — repos sorted by assignment name with collapsible folders
• 📥 Pull any student's .blend file to review their progress
• Grade work by opening student files directly in Blender
• Monitor student progress throughout projects

Quick Start

Students

1. Install the add-on in Blender (Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install)
2. Open the Classroom sidebar panel (press N in the 3D Viewport → Classroom tab)
3. Create a GitHub Personal Access Token with the repo scope
4. Enter your token and click Sign In
5. Enter your classroom organization name and click Load My Assignments
6. Select a repository and click Open Assignment to download and open your .blend file
7. Work on your project — your changes are automatically pushed to GitHub when you save!

Teachers

1. Install the add-on in Blender (Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install)
2. Open the Classroom sidebar panel (press N in the 3D Viewport → Classroom tab)
3. Enable Show Advanced Options and select Teacher as your role
4. Sign in with your GitHub Personal Access Token
5. Enter your classroom organization name and click Load Student Repos
6. Expand an assignment folder and select a student's repository
7. Click Open for Review to download and open the student's .blend file

Requirements

• Blender 4.5 LTS or later
• Internet connection
• A GitHub account and Personal Access Token with the repo scope
• No external Python dependencies required — uses only Python standard library

Documentation

• INSTALL_GUIDE.md — Detailed installation instructions
• TEACHER_GUIDE.md — Teacher setup and grading workflow
• QUICK_REFERENCE.md — Daily usage quick reference
• TROUBLESHOOTING.md — Common issues and solutions

Project Structure

github_classroom_addon/
├── __init__.py          # Add-on entry point and registration
├── properties.py        # Blender property definitions
├── operators.py         # User action handlers and save handler
├── ui.py                # UI panel definitions
├── github_client.py     # GitHub API client (stdlib only)
└── config/
    └── README.md        # Configuration guide

How It Works

1. Authentication: Students and teachers sign in with a GitHub Personal Access Token
2. Repository Listing: Students see their own assignment repos; teachers see all repos in the organization grouped by assignment
3. File Operations: .blend files are downloaded from GitHub and opened in Blender
4. Auto-Push: When students save their work (Ctrl+S), changes are automatically pushed back to their GitHub repository (default behavior; can be changed to manual or on-quit in advanced mode)
5. Teacher Review: Teachers can pull any student's file to review progress and grade work

Advanced Mode

Enable Show Advanced Options to access additional features:

Feature	Description
Role Selector	Switch between Student and Teacher modes
Commit Message	Write a custom message describing your changes
Auto-Push Mode	Choose: On Save (default), Manual, or On Quit
Repository URL	Enter a GitHub repo URL to pull from directly
Pull from URL	Download a .blend file from any GitHub repository

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.

License

This project is provided as-is for educational purposes. Please ensure compliance with your institution's policies and GitHub's Terms of Service.