Learn to code without getting the answers handed to you.

Socratic is a VS Code extension that helps you learn programming through the Socratic method — guiding you with questions and hints instead of giving you direct solutions.

Built for ConUHacks 2026 🎉

Traditional coding assistants give you the answer immediately. You copy-paste, it works, but did you actually learn anything?

Socratic acts as your personal coding mentor. Instead of solving your problems, it asks the right questions to help you solve them yourself — building real understanding and problem-solving skills.

• Automatic code analysis as you type
• Contextual popups with hints and suggestions
• Quick action buttons: Explain, Debug, Improve, Stuck

Pick your teaching style from a variety of AI personalities:

• Socrates — Classic questioning approach
• Gangsta — Street-smart coding wisdom
• Ninja — Stealthy problem-solving
• Army General — Disciplined, structured learning
• ASMR Girl — Gentle, calming guidance

Each teacher has unique:

• Voice (powered by ElevenLabs)
• Personality and teaching style
• Custom encouragement phrases

Visual radar chart showing your proficiency across skill categories:

• Track progress across Python fundamentals, data structures, OOP, and more
• Unlock skill packs from the marketplace
• Download sponsored skill paths (AWS, MongoDB, course-specific)

Text-to-Speech Encouragement

• Get voice feedback when you're doing well
• Teacher-specific voices via ElevenLabs
• Dynamic encouragement every 10 lines of code

Speech-to-Text Input

• Click the mic icon to speak your questions
• Powered by ElevenLabs STT API

Upload documents to give your AI teacher context about your project:

• Drag & drop files into the chat
• Supports: .txt, .py, .js, .ts, .json, .md, .pdf, and more
• Uses MongoDB Atlas Vector Search for semantic retrieval
• Teacher uses your files as reference material

Choose your level of assistance based on how much you want to learn vs. how much you need help:

npm install

Create a .env file in the project root:

GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your_elevenlabs_api_key
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string

Get your keys:

• Gemini: Google AI Studio
• ElevenLabs: elevenlabs.io → Profile → API Keys
• MongoDB: MongoDB Atlas → Connect → Get connection string

# Development
npm run watch   # Start TypeScript compiler in watch mode
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

# Package for distribution
npm run package   # Creates socratic-x.x.x.vsix

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P → "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
3. Select the .vsix file from the project root
4. Reload VS Code

Socratic/
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts        # Entry point
│   ├── views/
│   │   ├── SocraticSidebarProvider.ts
│   │   ├── MarketplacePanel.ts
│   │   ├── SkillAtlasPanel.ts
│   │   ├── templates/      # HTML templates for tabs
│   │   └── components/     # Popup components
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── DataService.ts       # Hybrid MongoDB/local data
│   │   ├── GeminiService.ts     # AI chat
│   │   ├── ElevenLabsService.ts # Voice TTS/STT
│   │   ├── RAGService.ts        # Vector search
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── db/                 # MongoDB operations
│   └── types/              # TypeScript interfaces
├── data/
│   ├── config.json
│   ├── teachers/           # Teacher JSON profiles
│   └── users/              # User profiles
├── docs/
│   └── index.html          # Landing page website
└── package.json

Socratic uses MongoDB Atlas for:

1. User Profiles — Cloud-synced stats, progress, preferences
2. Skill Atlas Data — Proficiency tracking with nested updates
3. Marketplace Teachers — Shareable teacher configurations
4. RAG Vector Storage — Document chunks with embeddings for semantic search

• Nested atomic updates with $set dot notation
• $inc for stat increments
• Flexible schema for different skill packs
• Atlas Vector Search with $vectorSearch aggregation

• TTS API — Generate teacher voice audio
• STT API — Transcribe student voice input
• Multiple Voices — Each teacher can have a unique voice

• Chat Completions — Socratic dialogue generation
• Embedding API — Vector embeddings for RAG (text-embedding-004)
• Batch Processing — Efficient embedding of large documents

• Check console for errors (Help > Toggle Developer Tools)
• Verify .env file has valid API keys
• Try without MongoDB (it gracefully falls back to local data)

• Ensure ELEVENLABS_API_KEY is set
• Check that the teacher has a valid voice ID
• Look for errors in the Developer Console

• Ensure GEMINI_API_KEY is set
• Check file size (max 10MB)
• MongoDB must be connected for vector storage

Built with ❤️ at ConUHacks 2026

"I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think." — Socrates