AI Mentor

Overview

Hephaestus AI Mentor is a tool that supports students during software engineering projects. It’s designed to make self-reflection easier, help track development progress, and keep developers focused on their goals. Many students run into issues like poor planning or feeling rushed - AI Mentor helps by guiding regular check-ins and keeping things organized throughout the project.

Chat Flow

Getting Started

You can open the AI Mentor from the top bar of the Hephaestus platform. Click the button to open the chat interface.

AI Mentor Button

Click Start Session Button to begin your first session — AI Mentor will start the conversation automatically.

Start Session Interface

Your past sessions are listed in the session history on the left bar. Click any of them to revisit and review.

Session History Interface

Note

You can start a new session at any time by clicking New Session Button. Keep in mind that if the previous session isn’t complete, AI Mentor will not have full context of your progress and may not be as supportive.

For a visual walkthrough of how start your first chat with the AI Mentor, check out this demonstration video:

Goal Setting and Alignment

During your first session, AI Mentor will help you define your goals and outline your current project objectives. In later sessions, the mentor will return to these goals, offering helpful insights, suggesting possible adjustments, and asking questions that support self-reflection. The goal of the mentor is to help you reflect on your objectives, stay aligned with them, and reduce stress throughout the project.

PR Overview

AI Mentor uses information from the GitHub repositories you’ve been working on. It reviews all pull requests (PRs) that were active in the last week and displays them in an interactive interface linked directly to GitHub.

You can mark which PRs are relevant for the current week’s progress summary. AI Mentor will use this information in later parts of the session to support your reflection.

Overview of the Last Week's PRs

Status Updates

Throughout the reflective session, AI Mentor will guide you through a review of your past week — what you worked on, challenges you faced, and plans for the next week.

Session Summary

After the status update, AI Mentor will generate a summary of your stand-up. You can revise this summary if anything was misunderstood and suggest changes.

Summary of the Progress

To see the AI Mentor in action, watch this video tutorial: