Puffle

Puffle is a python application to automatically connect to the Microsoft Teams Meetings according to your timetable.

Getting started 📦

Download the source code from here and navigate to the project directory.

Step 1: Editing the configuration 👨🏻‍💻

config.json has the following values. Fill them up correctly as they are the lifeline of the system.

• email → this is the email with which you will log into MS teams.
• password → this is the password to your account. (Don't worry, the password is safe as it is only kept on your device as long as the application is running)
• email-notification → set this as true to get a mail when Puffle joins your meetings. It is recommended to keep this as true so that you're also informed in case Puffle gets an error and is not able to join the meeting.
• p-email → this is your primary email on which you will receive the alerts from Puffle.
• phone-notification → set this as true to get a text message when Puffle joins your meetings. By default, this is set to false and it is only available to subscribed users. More about this later.
• phone → the phone number you would like to receive the text messages on.

//example config.json

{
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "********",

  "email-notification": true,
  "p-email": "[email protected]",
  "phone-notification": true,
  "phone": "963****503"
}

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Step 2: Editing the timetable 📝

timetable.json has the following structure. Fill it up as accurately as possible.

{
    "Day": [
        {
            "team": "",
            "channel": "",
            "time": "",
            "duration": 100
        }
    ]
  }

• The timetable is divided into days of the week.

• Each day has a list of meetings to join.

• Each meeting has the following properties:

  • team → this is the name of the team from MS Teams. (needs to match exactly)
  • channel → this is the channel which has the meeting. (needs to match exactly)
  • time → this is the time of the day when you want to join the meeting. (follow the 24 hour format i.e 6pm = "18:00", 6am = "06:00". Make sure to put 0 if the hour is less than 10.)
  • duration → this is the duration of the meeting, specified in the number of minutes. leave this as 0 if you do not want the meeting to end after a certain time.

• Few important things to note:

  • Make sure your json is properly formatted. Use an online tool to verify.
  • The team, channel, and time are put in double quotes. The duration is an integer value.

//example timetable.json

{
    "Monday": [
        {
            "team": "EOM 7th sem CSE A and B (Essentials of Management, HUM 4001)",
            "channel": "General",
            "time": "17:00",
            "duration": 100
        }
    ],
    "Tuesday": [
        {
            "team": "PCAP: SEM 6",
            "channel": "General",
            "time": "12:00",
            "duration": 120
        }
    ],
    "Wednesday": [
        {
            "team": "Starship",
            "channel": "V",
            "time": "20:05",
            "duration": 100
        },
        {
            "team": "ADG",
            "channel": "General",
            "time": "22:00",
            "duration": 10
        }
    ],
    "Thursday": [
        {
            "team": "Testing",
            "channel": "General",
            "time": "10:29",
            "duration": 5
        },
        {
            "team": "EEFM",
            "channel": "General",
            "time": "14:00",
            "duration": 100
        }
    ],
    "Friday": [
        {
            "team": "2017 - 2018 MBBS 2nd",
            "channel": "ENT and Head and Neck Surgery",
            "time": "11:30",
            "duration": 60
        }
    ],
    "Saturday": [
        {
            "team": "2017 - 2018 MBBS 2nd",
            "channel": "ENT and Head and Neck Surgery",
            "time": "11:30",
            "duration": 60
        }
    ]
  }

Step 3: Running the Application 🤙🏻

After you have successfully edited and verified the config.json and timetable.json , you can continue to run the application.

Method 1

• Set up a local Python3 virtual environment
• Install the requirements : pip install -r requirements.txt
• Run the application by python app.py

Method 2

For some easy usage, I have compiled the binaries for each operating system.

You can find them in the release folder or download them from here:

• MacOS (Download Here)
• Linux (Download Here)
• Windows (Coming Soon)

After you have downloaded the zip file, unzip and navigate to the directory using the command line. Here you will find two items:

1. The application binary.
2. A configs folder which will contain your information and timetable (like the above steps).

In a unix environment, navigate to the project directory from the command line.

1. Give the execution permission by running chmod +x app.
2. Then run the application by ./app

Voila ✨

Puffle is written in Python3. If you have a python environment installed and know your way around the command line, feel free to check out the source code here and give it a star 🌟.

This project is heavily inspired from Teams-Auto-Joiner by TobiasPankner.

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Text Message Subscription 🤝

If you would like to receive alerts and updates on your phone, please reach out to me and we can set up a subscription for you. I wanted to make this product accessible and free for everyone to use, however bearing the cost of sending so many messages will burn through my savings :p

Alternatively I have set up a system to send a mail to your primary account, which does not have any cost associated to it.

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Troubleshooting 🛠

Meh, I expected you to come here. Even though I tried my best, this is not a perfect product.

Here are some solutions to the common problems you may face.

I was not able to find any teams! If Teams is in grid mode, please change it to list mode.

The very first time you ran the application and it printed this in the console.

By default teams opens in grid mode the first time it is launched. I was unable to find a way around this, so you will have to manually help me out.

• Click on the gear icon near the top right corner of the screen next to the join or create team button.
• Select Switch view.
• Click on the List Layout.
• Restart the application.

Unexpected slowdowns and timeouts

If you are using your laptop while Puffle starts to connect you to a meeting, let it complete its process first, and then you can get back to your work.

Puffle opens a chrome web browser and works by actively reading what is on the screen. Switching windows while its connecting can lead to slowdowns and timeout.

Windows Support

Puffle works on windows just as smooth as any other operating system, However, I do not have a windows machine to test and develop on, and I did not want to push out some broken code without testing.

If you have a strong heart and know your way around python feel free to check out the source code and run it with the steps above.

I am working to get this on windows as fast as possible.

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Important 🚨

This is just a fun weekend project and I do not expect it to work 100%. I built this to ease my life.

I would also like to state that this is just to showcase the extent of some automation capability with Python. I do not condone blowing off your classes and will not be responsible for any repercussions you face.

In case you miss any classes, due to some error in setting up the system or the application not performing as intended, I will not be responsible for it.