BlackBoard(BB) VSCode Extension

An unofficial Visual Studio Code extension for viewing CUHK(SZ) BlackBoard courses natively.

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Motivation & Purpose

As a student or developer, constantly switching between your code editor and a slow, bloated web browser to check course materials, assignments, or lecture slides is a massive drain on productivity. BlackBoard Explorer bridges this gap.

The primary purpose of this extension is to eliminate context switching. By integrating your university's BlackBoard system directly into VSCode's Activity Bar, you can smoothly browse course structures, check resources, and open specific documents in your browser with a single click—all without leaving your coding environment.

How It Works (Technical Principles)

BlackBoard utilizes complex Single-Sign-On (SSO) and CAS authentication mechanisms which often prevent automated headless logins or standard OAuth flows.

To overcome this securely and natively, this extension relies on Session Hijacking (Consensual):

1. Authentication: Instead of asking for your school username and password, the extension politely asks for your active s_session_id cookie from your browser. This cookie is securely stored in VSCode's local encrypted SecretStorage.
2. API Interaction: The extension makes standard REST calls to Blackboard's internal, public-facing APIs (e.g., /learn/api/public/v1/users/me/courses and /learn/api/public/v1/courses/{courseId}/contents).
3. UI Integration: JSON API Responses are parsed and mapped to VSCode's native TreeDataProvider API. This builds the dynamic, collapsible, folder-like structure you see in the sidebar. Click events (vscode.commands) are dynamically bound to leaf nodes to quickly delegate specific URLs to your default browser.

Features

• Course Navigation: View a list of all your currently enrolled courses.
• Content Browsing: Expand courses to recursively explore folders, documents, and nested course materials dynamically.
• Native Look & Feel: Built perfectly into the VSCode UI using native ThemeIcon sets (folders, files, books).
• One-Click Viewing: Clicking on any document/file item natively delegates it to your default web browser where you are already logged in, allowing for instant viewing or downloading.
• Secure Authentication: Your cookie is secured in VSCode's vault. No passwords ever touch the extension.

Detailed Usage Instructions

To use this extension, you need to provide your active Blackboard session cookie (s_session_id).

Step 1: Obtain Your Session Cookie

1. Open your web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc.).
2. Navigate to CUHK(SZ) BlackBoard and log in with your credentials.
3. Once logged in, open the Developer Tools (Press F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I / Mac: Cmd+Option+I).
4. Go to the Application tab (Chrome/Edge) or Storage tab (Firefox).
5. On the left sidebar, expand Cookies and select https://bb.cuhk.edu.cn.
6. Find the cookie named s_session_id.
7. Double-click its Value and copy it (it is a long alphanumeric string).

Step 2: Login in VSCode

1. Open Visual Studio Code.
2. Press F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) to open the Command Palette.
3. Type and select BB: Login.
4. An input box will appear. Paste the s_session_id cookie value you copied earlier and press Enter.
5. You should see a success notification: "Blackboard session cookie saved successfully!"

Step 3: Browse & Interact

1. Click the BlackBoard icon in the far-left Activity Bar of VSCode.
2. Your courses will automatically load under the "My Courses" view.
3. Expand any course to view its folders. Expand those folders to dive deeper into nested subfolders.
4. Click on any file or document leaf node. It will instantly open the exact BlackBoard content page in your default browser for preview or download.
5. Refresh: If your courses sync out of date, simply click the Refresh icon at the top right of the view pane, or run BB: Refresh Courses from the Command Palette.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code version 1.85.0 or higher.
• An active CUHK(SZ) BlackBoard account and a valid session cookie.

Contributing

If you want to modify or debug this extension locally, please refer to the Development & Local Debugging Guide.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial extension and is not affiliated with, maintained, authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by Blackboard Inc. or CUHK(SZ). Please use it at your own risk.