Getting started

The cs30 tool is a single Java program you run from a terminal to manage your courses.

What you need

  • Java 21. Check with java -version.
  • The cs30 jar. Get it from the project’s releases, or build it from source: 
    ./gradlew :cli:bootJar
# produces cli/build/libs/cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
  • Access to the CS30 database. The tool writes courses, students, and labs into the same database the server uses. Either run the tool on the server (where that connection is already configured) or pass the connection on the command line — see below. The Canvas commands (course2canvas, submissions2canvas) are the exception: they go through the server over HTTPS and need a server URL and CLI token instead — see the command reference.
  • Your problem ZIP files — only if you’re adding problems with addproblem. The command uploads the ZIP to the server over HTTP; Docker runs on the server, not on your machine. addproblems (batch add) still requires Docker and direct repo access on the machine running the command.

Running a command 

java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar <command> [options]

Every command has --help:

java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar --help
java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar addcourse --help

Connecting to the database

Most commands read or write the database. If you run the tool on the server, the connection is already set in the server’s config — you don’t pass anything. If you run it anywhere else, give it the connection with three options:

--db-url   jdbc:postgresql://<host>:5432/cs30db
--db-user  <user>
--db-pass  <password>

For example:

java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar findstudent --email=jane@sjsu.edu \
  --db-url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/cs30db --db-user=cs30 --db-pass=secret

These three apply to every command that touches the database. The rest of the docs leave them out so the examples stay readable — add them if you’re not on the server. The Canvas commands don’t take them; they talk to the server instead (--server and --token).

A safe first command

findstudent and findcourse only read; they change nothing. Use one to confirm your connection works:

java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar findstudent --email=you@sjsu.edu

If that runs without a connection error, you’re set. Next: set up a course.

java -jar cs30-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar serve ... starts the web server instead of running a command. That’s for whoever operates the server, not for course setup — you won’t use serve.