Past Paper Downloader

A modern Electron-based desktop application for downloading CAIE (Cambridge Assessment International Education) past papers.

Features

• 📚 Smart Search - Download past papers by subject code, session, year, and paper number
• ⬇️ Automatic Downloads - Downloads both Question Papers and Mark Schemes automatically
• 📂 Organized Storage - Files saved to Downloads/starpapers/ folder
• 🖼️ Full Screen PDF Viewer - Built-in PDF viewer with full screen support
• 🎨 Modern UI - Clean, responsive design based on shadcn/ui principles
• 🔧 Cross-Platform - Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Usage

1. Search: Navigate to the Search page
2. Enter Details:
   • Subject Code (e.g., 9701)
   • Session (May-June or Oct-Nov)
   • Year (e.g., 2025)
   • Paper Number (e.g., 1, 2, 3)
3. Download: Click "Download Paper" to get both Question Paper and Mark Scheme
4. View Files: Navigate to Downloads page to view and organize your papers

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• Bun (recommended) or npm

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd past

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run the application
bun run start

Development

Available Scripts

bun run start    # Build and start the app
bun run build    # Build TypeScript to JavaScript

Project Structure

past/
├── main.ts           # Main Electron process
├── preload.js        # Preload script for secure IPC
├── renderer.js       # Frontend logic
├── index.html        # Main HTML file
├── styles.css        # Application styles
├── package.json      # Dependencies and scripts
└── tsconfig.json     # TypeScript configuration

Features Details

Download System

• Downloads both Question Paper (qp) and Mark Scheme (ms) automatically
• Uses 2-digit year format (e.g., 25 for 2025)
• Session mapping: s for May-June, w for Oct-Nov
• Files saved with format: {subjectCode}_{session}{year}_{type}_{paperNum}.pdf

File Organization

Downloaded files are automatically organized by:

• Subject > Year > Month > Paper Number
• Both Question Papers and Mark Schemes displayed under each paper

PDF Viewer

• Full screen PDF viewing
• Close button and Escape key support
• Clean, distraction-free interface

License

MIT License

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

Support

For issues and feature requests, please create an issue in the repository.# starpapers