HALO_GC.CRX
Halo Global Calendar
One calendar and one announcement feed for every class in GCU’s Halo LMS, instead of a tab per class.
- Type
- Browser extension for Halo LMS
- Role
- Product, Interface design, Engineering, QA & releases, Store listing & promo
- Platform
- Chrome (Manifest V3), Safari on Mac
- Stack
- JavaScript, Manifest V3, Offscreen documents, Content scripts, CSS design tokens, node:test
- Status
- v0.38 · Chrome, now Safari
- Year
- 2026
Summary
Halo Global Calendar is a Chrome extension (and, since 0.38, a Safari extension) that pulls every class in Halo Learn into one calendar, one announcement feed and one gradebook, then quietly redesigns the rest of Halo to match.
The problem
Too many tabs.
Halo Learn keeps each class in its own world. Deadlines live on each class’s calendar, announcements live in each class’s feed, and grades live in each class’s gradebook. Keeping up means opening every class, every day.
Halo Global Calendar reads all of them in the background and puts them in one place: one calendar, one feed and one gradebook. Then it keeps going and makes the rest of Halo calmer to use.
Key features
Everything in one place
- Calendar
Every deadline, one calendar
Month, week and agenda views across all current classes, with filters, search, your own tasks and calendar export.
- Feed
Unified announcements
Every class’s announcements in one channel-style feed. Acknowledge runs in a hidden page in about a second, without moving your tab.
- Grades
Gradebook and what-if
Grades across classes with an estimated GPA and what-if scenarios, all calculated in the browser.
- Themes
28 themes, light and dark
From Aurora to Vaporwave, applied to the calendar and to Halo itself, with a readability pass that fixes low-contrast text.
- Halo
A calmer Halo
Redesigned home page, Gradebook, Syllabus and Messages that live inside Halo, with one switch back to original Halo.
- Care
Accommodated due dates
Reads both the class deadline and a student’s own accommodated deadline, and puts the right one on the calendar.
- Remind
Reminders and focus
Optional desktop reminders, a planner and focus sessions.
- Onboard
A real welcome
A guided tour, plain-language settings and diagnostics that record timings, never content.
The real extension UI, rendered by its own test fixture with sample data.
Development highlights
Built like a product, not a userscript
Halo is a Next.js app that rewrites itself as you move around, so the extension has to cooperate with its router, its history and its timing, not fight them.
- About 50 automated test files, plus headless-Chrome checks against a fake Halo
- Diagnostic probe extensions to confirm Halo’s real data formats before changing code
- Each release in its own folder, copied from the last, with release notes
- SyncAn offscreen document opens classes in parallel lanes and reads them like a student would
- ReadersCalendar, syllabus, gradebook and announcement readers, each tested against Halo’s real formats
- IntegrationContent scripts in every frame plus a main-world bridge that keeps Halo’s router and Back button in step
- InterfaceCalendar, feed, home and course views, themed through shared design tokens
- PrivacyExtension pages allow no outside connections at all (connect-src none)
Store listing
Promo slides
Release log
Shipping in versions
- v0.33Latest build submitted to the Chrome Web Store.
- v0.34Parallel sync lanes: a full sync on real Halo dropped from 51–56 s to 18–21 s.
- v0.35No more flashes of original Halo between pages; a redesigned Messages page; teachers on every class card.
- v0.36Acknowledge in the background in about a second; accommodated due dates confirmed on real Halo.
- v0.37Theme off means fully original Halo; outside tools open correctly; dark-mode readability pass.
- v0.38The same code now runs in Safari on the Mac.
My part
- Product idea and the features list, release by release
- Interface and theme design, including the redesigned Halo pages
- Engineering, testing and release management across 50+ builds
- Real-world testing on Halo and diagnosing with purpose-built probes
- Store listing, promo slides and thumbnails
Unofficial student tool. Not affiliated with Grand Canyon University or Halo. Screens show sample data.