Every question, answered.

No. Course Compass reads your coursework through the Canvas session you're already logged into in your browser. We never ask for, store, or transmit your Canvas credentials. You stay signed in the normal way — the extension just reads what's already on screen.

On your device by default, in your browser's local storage. Your notes, uploaded PDFs, and the search index never leave your computer unless you explicitly opt in. On paid plans you can enable encrypted cloud sync so your library follows you across devices — but it's off unless you turn it on, and you can export everything at any time.

No. Course Compass is a read-only browser extension that operates entirely on your device. It reads assignment data from the Canvas pages you already have open in your browser — it doesn't send any requests to Canvas on your behalf, create any records visible to Canvas administrators, or leave any footprint on your school's servers. Your professor and institution have no way to see that you've installed it.

Course Compass is a browser extension that runs locally on your computer. We don't receive your educational records, and we don't have a direct relationship with your school — so a formal FERPA relationship doesn't apply to us the way it does to institutions. All AI features are opt-in and process only content you voluntarily submit. We still recommend reviewing your institution's own policies before running AI on graded work.

No — full stop. Course Compass has no ads, no data brokering, and no third-party analytics or tracking scripts in the extension. We make money through subscription plans, not by monetizing your information.

Your local data (notes, files, game progress) stays on your device — unsubscribing doesn't touch it. If you had cloud sync enabled on a paid plan, you can export a full copy or request deletion by emailing hello@chartededutech.com. You're never locked in.

The extension is in final pre-launch. The Chrome Web Store listing will be up very soon — get notified the moment it's live by signing up on the account page. Once published, you'll install it from the Chrome Web Store in one click. All free features are available immediately after install, no account required.

Install Course Compass from the Chrome Web Store, then open any Canvas page at your school. The extension will prompt you to paste your Canvas URL and (optionally) a Canvas access token for richer data. That's it — the priority list appears automatically on your Canvas dashboard. You can fine-tune settings like Clipper's talkativeness from the Options page anytime.

Not for the free features. Smart prioritization, the treasure hunt, dubloons, streaks, and the focus timer all work locally without any login. You'll need a Charted Edu Tech account and a Campus AI token only if you want to unlock the paid AI features like quiz generation, OCR, or pre-grading.

Yes — Chrome and Chromebooks are our primary target. Course Compass is built for school hardware and keeps the heavy lifting server-side on paid plans, so it runs smoothly even on modest Chromebooks. Just install it from the Chrome Web Store like any other extension.

Any institution running Canvas LMS by Instructure — which covers thousands of colleges and K–12 schools worldwide. If your school's learning management system is Canvas, Course Compass will work. It is not compatible with Blackboard, Moodle, Google Classroom, or other LMS platforms at this time.

Quite a lot. The free plan includes smart assignment prioritization, the full treasure hunt and dubloon economy, streaks, a built-in focus timer, and your local notes library. You also get a one-time taste of AI features so you can see how they feel before deciding to upgrade. All of this is free forever — no trial expiry.

Each assignment gets a score from 0–100 based on three factors: urgency (how soon it's due — items due today score higher than items due next week), point value (a 200-point exam outweighs a 5-point discussion post), and grade leverage (assignments in courses where your current grade has more room to improve carry extra weight). The top of your compass list is always the single most worthwhile thing to tackle next, given where you actually stand.

Paid plans give you access to the full AI layer: notes indexing and intelligent search, quiz generation from your notes, a pre-grade tool to review drafts before submitting, OCR for scanned PDFs and handwritten notes, page summaries, and automatic syllabus schedule extraction. These features consume credits from your monthly allowance.

Credits are our metered unit for AI compute — each AI action (indexing a note, generating a quiz, running OCR on a page) uses a small number of credits. Free accounts get 75 one-time credits to try things out. Paid plans get 1,000–2,000 credits per month depending on your tier, which is plenty for regular student use. Your credit balance is visible in the extension's dashboard.

Anytime, in a couple of clicks — no questions asked. Billing is handled by our merchant of record (Paddle); you can cancel from the billing portal linked in your Charted Edu Tech account or by emailing hello@chartededutech.com. Your local data — notes, files, and game progress — stays on your device after you cancel. You're never locked in.

A gamified study layer built right into the extension — completely free and local, forever. You earn dubloons (our in-game currency) by completing assignments on time, keeping streaks, reading your notes, and hitting focus-timer milestones. Spend them in the cosmetics shop on purse skins and Clipper accessories. The hunt gives you a daily quest to chase, and bonus multipliers kick in during finals week.

Clipper is your study parrot mascot who lives in the Course Compass panel. He reacts when you read notes, cheers you on during finals week, and drops crackers (in-game rewards) for good study habits. You can dial his personality to quiet, normal, or chatty in Settings — so he stays helpful without being annoying when you're heads-down.

A special boost mode you activate by entering your finals dates in Settings. While Finals Week is active, all dubloon earnings are doubled, Clipper shows extra encouragement, and a gold badge appears in the panel so you always know it's live. Set your dates once per semester and it kicks in automatically.

Course Compass works in Chrome and any Chromium-based browser — including Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi. Firefox and Safari are not supported yet, as they use a different extension platform. We recommend Chrome for the best experience, especially on Chromebooks.

No. The priority engine that ranks your assignments runs locally and is essentially instant — it doesn't make extra network calls on every page load. The heavier AI features (OCR, quiz generation, notes indexing) only run server-side on paid plans when you explicitly trigger them, so they don't affect your day-to-day Canvas browsing speed.

Yes. The free plan syncs your settings (Canvas URL, preferences, and game progress) through Chrome Sync so your setup follows you between devices automatically. Paid plans go further — they sync your full notes library and streak across all your signed-in devices, so your study materials are always with you.

Open the extension's Options page (click the Course Compass icon → Settings), then head to the Import tab. You can drag and drop files directly, select them from your computer, or connect your Google Drive account to import notes you've already stored there. PDF and .pptx files are both supported. Once imported, files are indexed locally so the relevancy engine can surface them while you're on related Canvas pages.

No. Chrome extensions are disabled in incognito windows by default. You can optionally enable Course Compass in incognito from your browser's extension settings (chrome://extensions), but we don't recommend it — Chrome Sync, which carries your settings and streak, doesn't run in incognito. For the best experience, use a normal browsing window.

Yes. Course Compass auto-detects your Canvas domain from any open Canvas tab. If it doesn't find one automatically, just paste your school's full Canvas URL (it usually looks like yourschool.instructure.com or canvas.yourschool.edu) into the Settings page once. After that, Course Compass remembers it and runs on every Canvas page at that domain.

Not yet — Course Compass is a Chrome desktop extension and doesn't run on Chrome for Android/iOS or Safari on iPad. For mobile study, the extension works great on Chromebook, which is the most common school device it's designed for. A mobile companion is something we're exploring for the future.

Billing is handled by Paddle, our merchant of record. Paddle accepts all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), PayPal, and many local payment methods depending on your country. You never enter payment details on chartededutech.com — all transactions go through Paddle's secure checkout.

No — monthly credits reset at the start of each billing cycle. They're designed to be generous enough for a full month of regular student use (1,000 credits for Plus, 2,000 for Pro). If you need more, top-up packs (500 credits for $3.49) are available anytime and do not expire until you cancel.

Yes. Upgrading takes effect immediately — you get the higher credit limit right away, and Paddle applies a prorated charge for the rest of your billing period. Downgrading takes effect at the end of your current billing period, so you keep your current tier until your renewal date. No action is required beyond choosing the new plan in the billing portal.

First-time subscribers can request a full refund within 14 days of their first charge — no questions asked. After 14 days, refunds are handled case by case. Email hello@chartededutech.com or use the Paddle billing portal to request one. Credit top-up packs are non-refundable once credits have been used.

Semester and annual plans already discount significantly over monthly billing (semester saves ~15%, annual saves ~33%). We're working on .edu-verified pricing — email hello@chartededutech.com with your school email to get on the early-access list. Schools interested in group licensing should also reach out.