Courses API Courses Resource

With the Courses API Courses resource, you can complete the following tasks.

Get a List of Courses

The endpoint to get a list of courses is /api/courses/v1/courses/.

Use Case

Get a list of the courses that are visible to a specific user. If a username is not supplied, an anonymous user is assumed. Users with course staff permissions can specify other users’ usernames.

Request Format

GET /api/courses/v1/courses/

Example:

GET /api/courses/v1/courses/?username=anjali

Query Parameters

• username (optional) - The username of the user for whom the course data is being accessed. If the request is made for an anonymous user, username is not required. Only users with course staff permissions can specify other users’ usernames.
• org (optional) - A code for an organization; case-insensitive. Example: “HarvardX”. If org is specified, the list of courses includes only courses that belong to the specified organization.
• mobile (optional) - If specified, the list of courses includes only courses that are designated as mobile_available.

Response Values

The following fields are returned with a successful response. All date/time fields are in ISO 8601 notation.

• effort: A textual description of the weekly hours of effort expected in the course.
• end: The date and time that the course ends.
• enrollment_end: The date and time that enrollment ends.
• enrollment_start: The date and time that enrollment begins.
• id: A unique identifier of the course; a serialized representation of the opaque key identifying the course.
• media: An object that contains named media items, including the following objects.
  • course_image: An image to show for the course.
    • uri: The location of the image.
  • course_video: A video about the course.
    • uri: The location of the video.
• name: The name of the course.
• number: The catalog number of the course.
• org: The name of the organization that owns the course.
• overview: An HTML textual description of the course.
• short_description: A textual description of the course.
• start: The date and time that the course begins.
• start_display: The start date of the course, formatted for reading.
• start_type: Indicates how start_display was set. Possible values are:
  • “string”: Manually set by the course author.
  • “timestamp”: Generated from the start timestamp.
  • “empty”: No start date is specified.
• pacing: The type of pacing for this course. Possible values are instructor and self.
• course_id: The course key. This field might be returned but is deprecated. You should use id instead.

Example Response Showing The List of Courses Visible to a User

{

 "media": {
    "course_image": {
        "uri": "/c4x/edX/example/asset/just_a_test.jpg",
        "name": "Course Image"
    }
  },
  "description": "An example course.",
  "end": "2015-09-19T18:00:00Z",
  "enrollment_end": "2015-07-15T00:00:00Z",
  "enrollment_start": "2015-06-15T00:00:00Z",
  "id": "edX/example/2012_Fall",
  "name": "Example Course",
  "number": "example",
  "org": "edX",
  "start": "2015-07-17T12:00:00Z",
  "start_display": "July 17, 2015",
  "start_type": "timestamp"
}

Get Details for a Course

The endpoint to get the details for a course is /api/courses/v1/courses/{course_key}/.

Use Case

Get the details for a course that you specify using a course key.

Request Format

GET /api/courses/v1/courses/{course_key}

Example: GET /api/courses/v1/courses/edX%2FDemoX%2FDemo_Course

Query Parameters

• username (optional) - The username of the user for whom the course data is being accessed. If the request is made for an anonymous user, username is not required. Only users with course staff permissions can specify other users’ usernames.

Response Values

Response values for this endpoint are the same as those for Get a List of Courses.

Example Response Showing Details of a Specified Course

The following example response is returned from this request:

GET /api/courses/v1/courses/edX%2FDemoX%2FDemo_Course

{

  "effort": null,
  "end": "2015-08-08T00:00:00Z",
  "enrollment_start": "2015-01-01T00:00:00Z",
  "enrollment_end": "2015-05-01T00:00:00Z",
  "id": "edX/DemoX/Demo_Course",
  "media": {
      "course_image":   {
          "uri": "/c4x/edX/DemoX/asset/images_course_image.jpg"
          },
      "course_video": {
          "uri": null
          },
   },
   "name": "edX Demonstration Course",
   "number": "DemoX",
   "org": "edX",
   "short_description": null,
   "start": "2015-02-05T05:00:00Z",
   "start_display": "Feb. 5, 2015",
   "start_type": "timestamp",
   "pacing": "instructor",
   "course_id": "edX/DemoX/Demo_Course",
   "overview": "<p>Include your long course description here.</p>"
}