An AI-powered daily dashboard for families, running on a Raspberry Pi.

Website: dinkydash.co

Every morning at 6am, DinkyDash calls the Claude API to generate a fresh, personalized dashboard — with calendar events, chore rotations, countdowns, fun facts, and daily challenges — then displays it on a small screen at home.

• AI-generated daily greeting and headline
• Person cards for each family member
• Chore rotation badges (automatically rotated daily)
• Countdowns to birthdays, holidays, and special dates
• Calendar events pulled from Google Calendar
• Fun facts, daily challenges, and a pet corner

[cron @ 6am] → generate.py → fetches Google Calendar
                            → builds prompt with family context
                            → calls Claude API
                            → saves dashboard_data.json

[browser]    → app.py       → reads dashboard_data.json
                            → renders dashboard on screen

• Python 3.11+
• An Anthropic API key
• A Google Calendar iCal URL (Google Calendar → Settings → Integrate calendar → Public address in iCal format)

git clone https://github.com/caspii/dinkydash.git
cd dinkydash
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

cp config.example.yaml config.yaml

Edit config.yaml with your family's details:

location: "Berlin, Germany"

calendar_url: "https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/your-email/basic.ics"

calendar_filter_emails:
  - "spouse@example.com"

people:
  - name: "Alice"
    date_of_birth: "2015-03-15"
    sex: "female"
    image: "alice.jpg"
    email: "alice@example.com"
    interests: "drawing, dinosaurs"
  - name: "Bob"
    date_of_birth: "2017-06-20"
    sex: "male"
    image: "bob.jpg"
    interests: "legos, soccer"

pets:
  - name: "Buddy"
    type: "dog"
    image: "pet.jpg"

recurring:
  - title: "Set Table"
    emoji: "🍽"
    choices: ["Alice", "Bob"]
  - title: "Feed Pet"
    emoji: "🐕"
    choices: ["Bob", "Alice"]

special_dates:
  - title: "Christmas"
    emoji: "🎄"
    date: "12/25"
  - title: "Summer Vacation"
    emoji: "☀️"
    date: "07/01"

claude_model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"
max_tokens: 2048
data_file: "dashboard_data.json"
anthropic_api_key_env: "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"

Create a .env file:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Copy photos to the static/ directory. Filenames must match the image field in your config.

python generate.py        # Generate today's dashboard
flask run --host=0.0.0.0  # Start the server

Open http://localhost:5000 to see your dashboard. Use http://localhost:5000/preview for an 800x480 preview matching the Pi display.

This section covers setting up DinkyDash on a Raspberry Pi with a small display so it runs as a permanent family dashboard.

• Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB+ RAM)
• MicroSD card (16GB+)
• DSI touchscreen display or HDMI monitor (800x480 recommended)
• Power supply
• Wi-Fi connection

Install Raspberry Pi OS (Debian Bookworm) using the Raspberry Pi Imager. Enable SSH and configure Wi-Fi during setup.

After first boot:

ssh pi@raspberrypi
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install fonts-noto-color-emoji unclutter -y

The emoji font package is required for the dashboard to render emoji correctly.

ssh pi@raspberrypi
mkdir -p /home/pi/dinkydash

From your local machine, copy the files:

rsync -az --exclude='venv' --exclude='.git' --exclude='__pycache__' \
  ./ pi@raspberrypi:/home/pi/dinkydash/

Or use the deploy script:

./deploy_to_pi.sh

Then on the Pi:

cd /home/pi/dinkydash
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Create the .env file on the Pi:

echo "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-..." > /home/pi/dinkydash/.env

Test it:

python generate.py
flask run --host=0.0.0.0

Create /etc/systemd/system/dinkydash.service:

[Unit]
Description=DinkyDash Family Dashboard
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/pi/dinkydash/run_app.sh
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/dinkydash
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Create /home/pi/dinkydash/run_app.sh:

#!/bin/bash
cd /home/pi/dinkydash
source venv/bin/activate
export FLASK_APP=app.py
flask run --host=0.0.0.0

Enable and start:

chmod +x /home/pi/dinkydash/run_app.sh
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable dinkydash.service
sudo systemctl start dinkydash.service

crontab -e

Add this line to generate a fresh dashboard every morning at 6am:

0 6 * * * cd /home/pi/dinkydash && source venv/bin/activate && python generate.py >> generate.log 2>&1

This makes Chromium launch fullscreen on boot, showing the dashboard.

Create /home/pi/run.sh:

#!/bin/sh
# Wait for Flask to be ready (max 60 seconds)
echo 'Waiting for DinkyDash...'
i=0
while [ $i -lt 60 ]; do
    if curl -s -o /dev/null -w '' http://localhost:5000/ 2>/dev/null; then
        echo 'Ready!'
        break
    fi
    i=$((i + 1))
    sleep 1
done

/usr/bin/chromium-browser \
  --kiosk \
  --password-store=basic \
  --disable-infobars \
  --enable-features=OverlayScrollbar \
  --disable-restore-session-state \
  --noerrdialogs \
  http://localhost:5000/

chmod +x /home/pi/run.sh

Edit /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart:

@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
@unclutter
@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@/home/pi/run.sh

This disables the screensaver, hides the mouse cursor, and launches the dashboard in kiosk mode.

If your display is mounted upside down, add to /boot/firmware/config.txt:

[all]
lcd_rotate=2
display_rotate=2

Note: On Bookworm, the boot config is at /boot/firmware/config.txt, not /boot/config.txt.

Save power by turning the display off at night.

Create /home/pi/screen_control.sh:

#!/bin/bash
if [ "$1" = "off" ]; then
    vcgencmd display_power 0
elif [ "$1" = "on" ]; then
    vcgencmd display_power 1
fi

chmod +x /home/pi/screen_control.sh

Add to crontab:

0 22 * * * /home/pi/screen_control.sh off
0 7 * * * /home/pi/screen_control.sh on

"localhost refused to connect" on boot — Race condition where Chromium starts before Flask is ready. The run.sh script above handles this by waiting up to 60 seconds.

GNOME Keyring password dialog — Chromium tries to use GNOME keyring on auto-login. The --password-store=basic flag prevents this.

Emoji not displaying — Install the emoji font: sudo apt install fonts-noto-color-emoji && fc-cache -fv

Wayland switch dialog on boot — Bookworm may prompt to switch from X11 to Wayland. Fix with: sudo raspi-config nonint do_wayland W1

Wi-Fi blocked — Fresh Bookworm installs may have Wi-Fi soft-blocked: sudo raspi-config nonint do_wifi_country DE && sudo rfkill unblock wifi

# Local development
source venv/bin/activate
python generate.py
flask run --host=0.0.0.0

# On the Pi
sudo systemctl status dinkydash      # Check service
sudo systemctl restart dinkydash     # Restart
journalctl -u dinkydash -f           # View logs
/home/pi/screen_control.sh on        # Screen on
/home/pi/screen_control.sh off       # Screen off

MIT