DinkyDash

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

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.

What the dashboard shows

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

How it works

[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

Getting started

Prerequisites

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

1. Clone and install

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

2. Create your config

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"

3. Add your API key

Create a .env file:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

4. Add family photos

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

5. Generate and run

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.

Configuration reference

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | location | Your city/country, used for context in AI content | | calendar_url | Google Calendar public iCal URL | | calendar_filter_emails | Only show events where these emails are attendees | | people[] | Family members: name, date_of_birth (YYYY-MM-DD), sex, image, email, interests | | pets[] | Pets: name, type, image | | recurring[] | Rotating chores: title, emoji, choices (list of names, rotated daily) | | special_dates[] | Countdowns: title, emoji, date (MM/DD) | | claude_model | Which Claude model to use | | max_tokens | Max response length | | data_file | Path for generated JSON (default: dashboard_data.json) | | anthropic_api_key_env | Name of the env var holding your API key |

Raspberry Pi deployment

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

What you need

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

Step 1: Set up the Pi

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.

Step 2: Install DinkyDash

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

Step 3: Create the systemd service

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

Step 4: Set up daily generation

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

Step 5: Set up kiosk mode

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.

Step 6: Display rotation (optional)

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.

Step 7: Screen power schedule (optional)

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

Troubleshooting

"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

Quick reference

# 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

Key files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | generate.py | Daily content generation (calendar, Claude API, JSON output) | | app.py | Flask server that renders the dashboard | | config.yaml | All configuration (people, calendar, chores, dates) | | config.example.yaml | Template config to copy and customize | | templates/index.html | Dashboard template (Bootstrap 5, optimized for 800x480) | | deploy_to_pi.sh | Deployment script (rsync + service restart) | | .env | API key (not in git) | | dashboard_data.json | Generated daily content (not in git) |

License

MIT

Dinkydash

Install / Use

README