| name | conference-scheduler |
| description | Generate optimized conference schedules using Google OR-Tools CP-SAT solver. Use when the user needs to create conference schedules from CSV data with constraints like speaker conflicts, track distribution, room assignments, educational flow, and speaker availability. Supports both single-day and multi-day conferences. Handles inputs from Google Sheets CSV exports with talks (ID, title, summary, track, level, speakers, availability) and schedule slots (day, times, rooms). Outputs CSV and Markdown schedules. |
Conference Scheduler Skill
Generate optimized conference schedules using Google OR-Tools CP-SAT constraint solver. Supports single-day and multi-day conferences.
Quick Start
pip install ortools --break-system-packages
python assets/scheduler.py schedule.csv talks.csv output.csv --time-limit 30
Input Formats
Single-Day Schedule CSV
"from hour";"to hour";"session type";"room name"
"10:35";"11:20";Conference;Room 2
"10:35";"11:20";Conference;Room 8
"11:30";"12:15";Conference;Room 3
Multi-Day Schedule CSV
Add a "day" column as the first column:
"day";"from hour";"to hour";"session type";"room name"
"Wednesday";"09:30";"10:15";Conference;Room 1
"Wednesday";"10:35";"11:20";Conference;Room 2
"Thursday";"09:30";"10:15";Conference;Room 1
Day values can be: day names (Monday, Tuesday), dates (2024-03-15), or labels (Day 1, Day 2).
Talks CSV
"Talk ID";"Talk Title";"Audience Level";"Talk Summary";"Track Name";"Speaker Availability days";"Available from";"Available to";"Speaker names"
1411;Unit Test Your Architecture;BEGINNER;ArchUnit is...;Development Practices;Wednesday,Thursday;;;Roland Weisleder
3872;Full-stack development;INTERMEDIATE;Java developers...;UI & UX;;;;Simon Martinelli
Speaker Availability formats (column 6):
- Day names:
Wednesday,Thursday
- Day numbers:
1,2,3
- Empty = available all days
Constraints
Hard Constraints (Must satisfy)
| Constraint | Description |
|---|
| Speaker conflict | Same speaker can't be in two rooms at same time |
| Room conflict | Two talks can't be in same room at same time |
| Track conflict | Same track can't have talks in different rooms simultaneously |
| Speaker availability | Speaker must be available on scheduled day |
Soft Constraints (Optimization)
| Constraint | Description |
|---|
| Educational flow | Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced within track |
Output
CSV Output
Single-day:
"Talk ID";"From";"To";"Room";"Title";"Speakers";"Level";"Track"
Multi-day:
"Day";"Talk ID";"From";"To";"Room";"Title";"Speakers";"Level";"Track"
Markdown Output
Generated alongside CSV with .md extension, includes tables grouped by timeslot (and day for multi-day).
Programmatic Usage
from pathlib import Path
from scheduler import (
read_schedule_csv, read_talks_csv, solve_schedule,
write_csv_output, write_markdown_output, print_schedule
)
timeslots, rooms, day_names = read_schedule_csv(Path("schedule.csv"))
talks = read_talks_csv(Path("talks.csv"), day_names)
talks, status = solve_schedule(timeslots, rooms, talks, time_limit_seconds=30)
print_schedule(talks, multi_day=len(day_names) > 1)
write_csv_output(talks, Path("output.csv"), multi_day=len(day_names) > 1)
Time Limits
- Small conferences (< 30 talks): 10-30 seconds
- Medium conferences (30-100 talks): 30-120 seconds
- Large conferences (100+ talks): 2-10 minutes
Troubleshooting
INFEASIBLE status
The constraints cannot all be satisfied. Check for:
- More talks than available slots
- Speaker with more talks than available timeslots
- Too many talks in same track for parallel slots
Missing ortools
pip install ortools --break-system-packages
