PortIgniter | course.json

course.json describes the course and its outline. The content of each item lives in that item’s own file.

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "id": "git-first-steps",
  "title": "Git First Steps",
  "summary": "One or two sentences shown on the catalog card.",
  "description_md": "Longer Markdown description for the course page.",
  "level": "beginner",
  "track": "Developer Tools",
  "tags": ["git", "version-control"],
  "estimated_minutes": 45,
  "prerequisites": "What learners should know or have installed.",
  "cover": "assets/cover.png",
  "access": { "visibility": "public", "enrollment": "open" },
  "objectives": [ { "id": "o1", "text": "Explain what version control is for" } ],
  "progression": { "mode": "sequential" },
  "completion": { "require_quizzes": true, "certificate": false },
  "modules": [ ]
}

Fields

Field	Required	Rules
`schema_version`	Yes	Exactly `1`.
`id`	Yes	An ID.
`title`	Yes	1 to 120 characters.
`slug`	No	Leave it out, and the ID is used.
`summary`	No	Plain text, up to 500 characters.
`description_md`	No	Markdown, up to 100,000 characters.
`level`	No	`beginner`, `intermediate`, `advanced`, or `null`.
`track`	No	Up to 100 characters, or `null`. Groups courses in the catalog filter, so reuse exact spellings.
`tags`	No	Up to 20 unique strings of 1 to 40 characters.
`estimated_minutes`	No	0 to 100,000, or `null` to add up the lessons’ `duration_min`.
`prerequisites`	No	Plain text, up to 1,000 characters.
`cover`	No	An `assets/` path that exists in the zip, or `null`.
`access`	No	See Access.
`objectives`	No	Up to 30 of `{ "id", "text" }`, with text up to 300 characters.
`progression`	No	See Progression.
`completion`	No	`require_quizzes`: quizzes must be passed to complete the course. `certificate`: issue a certificate on completion.
`modules`	Yes	Up to 100 modules. See Modules and items.

No other top-level keys are allowed.

Access

"access": { "visibility": "public", "enrollment": "open", "price_minor": 2500, "currency": "usd", "duration_days": 365 }

Key	Values	Meaning
`visibility`	`public`, `unlisted`, `private`	Listed in the catalog, reachable by link only, or with no public course page at all.
`enrollment`	`closed` (default), `open`	`closed` means people join with an invitation link or key. `open` allows self-enrollment in a free course, or purchase of a paid one.
`price_minor`	Integer, or `null`	The price in minor units, such as cents: `2500` is 25.00. Absent, `null`, or `0` means free.
`currency`	Three letters, such as `"usd"`	Only used with a price. Defaults to the site currency.
`duration_days`	1 to 3,650, or `null`	Paid courses only: days of access per purchase. Absent or `null` means lifetime access.

To offer a free and a paid copy of the same course, make two zips that differ only in access.

Progression

"progression": { "mode": "sequential" }

free: learners can open any item in any order.
sequential: an item unlocks only when every required item before it, in course order, is complete. Items with "required": false never block anyone.

A module can override the course with "mode": "inherit", "free", or "sequential".

Modules and items

{
  "id": "start-here",
  "title": "Start here",
  "summary": "Optional short text.",
  "mode": "inherit",
  "requires": [ ],
  "items": [
    { "id": "what-is-git", "type": "lesson", "title": "What is Git?", "required": true },
    { "id": "knowledge-check", "type": "quiz", "title": "Knowledge check", "required": true,
      "requires": [ { "type": "complete", "item": "what-is-git" } ] }
  ]
}

A module needs id, title, and items, and can have a summary (up to 500 characters), a mode, and requires. Up to 200 items per module.
An item needs id, type (lesson, quiz, or assignment), and title, and can have required (default true) and requires. No other keys are allowed.

Unlock rules

requires is a list of up to 20 conditions, and all of them must be met:

Condition	Shape
An item is complete	`{ "type": "complete", "item": "<item-id>" }`
Every required item of a module is complete	`{ "type": "module_complete", "module": "<module-id>" }`
A quiz score reaches a minimum	`{ "type": "quiz_score", "item": "<quiz-id>", "min_percent": 70 }`

Rules must point at items and modules that exist, and quiz_score must point at a quiz. An item can’t require itself or wait on its own module, and rules can’t wait on each other in a circle, including through sequential order. Make sure a learner can always reach every item.

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