Manipulating grade lines

tip

Make sure you've read about authenticating API requests before proceeding to the guide below.

info

The Line items endpoint accepts both the ltik based and service key based API authentication methods.

The LTI protocol allows you to manipulate grade lines in the LMS grade book through the Assignment and Grades - Line Items service. In the context of LTI, these grade lines are called line items. LTIAAS gives you access to this service through the /api/lineitems API endpoint.

Accessing line items API

The line item object

info

This guide focuses on the most common and/or relevant fields of the line item object, a detailed description of available fields can be found in the IMS Line Item Service documentation:

Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Assignment and Grade Services Specification, IMS Final Release Spec Version 2.0, 1EdTech Consortium, April 2019, 3.2 Line item service scope and allowed http methods, https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-ags/v2p0/#line-item-service-scope-and-allowed-http-methods.

The line item is the LTI representation of a grade line in the LMS grade book. Each line item contains information about the grade line it represents.

{
  "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1",
  "scoreMaximum" : 100,
  "label" : "Activity 1",
  "tag" : "activity",
  "resourceLinkId" : "1g3k4dlk49fk",
  "resourceId" : "my-tool-activity-1"
}

id

The id field is the identifier for the line item and it's a URL that points to a specific grade line in the LMS grade book. This field is automatically populated by the LMS when the line item is created.

scoreMaximum [required]

The scoreMaximum field is the maximum score that can be assigned to the line item. MUST be a numeric non-null value, strictly greater than 0.

label [required]

The label field is the name of the grade line represented by the line item.

tag

The tag field is a string that can be used to further identify grade lines and group them together.

resourceLinkId

The resourceLinkId field is the identifier of the resource link (activity) this grade line is associated with in the LMS.

resourceId

The resourceId field is a tool provided identifier of the resource that this grade line is associated with inside the LTI tool.

Creating a grade line

To create grade lines, you need to make a POST request to the /api/lineitems endpoint of your LTIAAS' account subdomain. The created line item will be associated with the context that originated the LTI launch.

tip

For a description of all accepted fields, as well as possible response bodies and statuses, check the [POST] Line Items endpoint API Reference.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems POST request
const body = {
  label: 'Activity 1',
  scoreMaximum: 100
}
const response = requests.post('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems', body, { headers })

info

When creating a new grade line, the label and scoreMaximum fields are required.

A successful response will contain the newly created line item object with the id field populated and any other additional accepted fields you may have provided.

{
  "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1",
  "scoreMaximum" : 100,
  "label" : "Activity 1"
}

Binding a grade line to an activity

If you want to bind a new grade line to a specific activity in the LMS, you can populate the resourceLinkId field in the request body.

tip

The resource link ID for an activity can be retrieved from the idtoken.launch.resourceLink.id field of the ID Token generated by launching the LTI tool from that activity.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/idtoken GET request
const idtoken = requests.get('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/idtoken', { headers })
const resourceLinkId = response['launch']['resourceLink']['id']
// Making /api/lineitems POST request
const body = {
  label: 'Activity 1',
  scoreMaximum: 100,
  resourceLinkId: resourceLinkId
}
const response = requests.post('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems', body, { headers })

tip

Adding a resourceLinkId allows you to later search for grade lines associated a specific activity.

Binding a grade line to a tool resource

If you want to bind a new grade line to a specific resource inside your LTI tool, you can populate the resourceId field in the request body with an identifier for your internal resource.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems POST request
const body = {
  label: 'Activity 1',
  scoreMaximum: 100,
  resourceId: 'my-tool-activity-1'
}
const response = requests.post('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems', body, { headers })

tip

Adding a resourceId allows you to later search for grade lines associated a specific resource inside your LTI tool.

Retrieving grade lines for an LTI context

To retrieve grade lines from an LTI context you need to make a GET request to the /api/lineitems endpoint of your LTIAAS' account subdomain.

tip

For a description of all accepted query parameters, as well as possible response bodies and statuses, check the [GET] Line Items endpoint API Reference.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems GET request
const response = requests.get('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems', { headers })
const lineItems = response['lineItems']

A successful response will be an object with a lineItems field containing an array of line item objects tied to that LTI context.

{
  "lineItems": [
    {
      "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1",
      "scoreMaximum" : 100,
      "label" : "Activity 1"
    },
    {
      "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/2",
      "scoreMaximum" : 100,
      "label" : "Activity 2"
    }
  ]
}

Response pagination fields

caution

This functionality might not be supported by every LMS.

The next, prev, first and last fields will only be present if there are more line items to be retrieved from the context. You can read more about this in the Handling pagination guide.

{
  "lineItems": [...],
  "next": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems?page=3",
  "prev": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems?page=1",
  "first": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems?page=1",
  "last": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems?page=4"
}

Filtering grade lines by the associated activity

If you want to retrieve only the grade lines associated to a specific activity, you can populate the resourceLinkId query parameter.

tip

The resource link ID for an activity can be retrieved from the idtoken.launch.resourceLink.id field of the ID Token generated by launching the LTI tool from that activity.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/idtoken GET request
const idtoken = requests.get('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/idtoken', { headers })
const resourceLinkId = response['launch']['resourceLink']['id']
// Making /api/lineitems GET request
const response = requests.get(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems?resourceLinkId=${resourceLinkId}`, { headers })
const lineItems = response['lineItems']

Filtering grade lines by the associated tool resource

If you want to retrieve only the grade lines associated to a specific tool resource, you can populate the resourceId query parameter with an identifier for your internal resource.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems GET request
const resourceId = 'my-tool-activity-1'
const response = requests.get(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems?resourceId=${resourceId}`, { headers })
const lineItems = response['lineItems']

Retrieving a grade line ID from the ID Token

If there is only one grade line associated with a certain LTI context, its ID might be present in the ID Token generated for that context in the idtoken.services.assignmentAndGrades.lineItemId field.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/idtoken GET request
const idtoken = requests.get('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/idtoken', { headers })
const lineItemID = idtoken['services']['assignmentAndGrades']['lineItemId']

Retrieving a grade line by its ID

To retrieve a grade line by its ID you need to make a GET request to the /api/lineitems/:lineItemID endpoint of your LTIAAS' account subdomain.

tip

For a description of possible response bodies and statuses, check the [GET] Line Item endpoint API Reference.

info

Line item IDs are URLs, so their value needs to be URL encoded to be safely sent as a query parameter.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems/:lineItemID GET request
const lineItemId = 'https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1'
const urlSafeLineItemId = encodeURIComponent(lineItemId)
const lineItem = requests.get(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems/${urlSafeLineItemId}`, { headers })

A successful response will contain the requested line item object.

{
  "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1",
  "scoreMaximum" : 95,
  "label" : "Activity 1 - New name"
}

Updating a grade line by its ID

To update a grade line you need to make a PUT request to the /api/lineitems/:lineItemID endpoint of your LTIAAS' account subdomain.

tip

For a description of all accepted fields, as well as possible response bodies and statuses, check the [PUT] Line Item endpoint API Reference.

info

Line item IDs are URLs, so their value needs to be URL encoded to be safely sent as a query parameter.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems/:lineItemID PUT request
const body = {
  label: 'Activity 1 - New name' // Updating the name
  scoreMaximum: 95 // Updating the maximum score
}
const lineItemId = 'https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1'
const urlSafeLineItemId = encodeURIComponent(lineItemId)
const response = requests.put(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems/${urlSafeLineItemId}`, body, { headers })

info

The body you send will replace the information of the existing grade line. For this reason, similar to when creating a new grade line, the label and scoreMaximum fields are required.

caution

Fields present in the previous version of the grade line and missing from the new body will be deleted.

A successful response will contain the updated line item object.

{
  "id": "https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1",
  "scoreMaximum" : 95,
  "label" : "Activity 1 - New name"
}

Deleting a grade line by its ID

To delete a grade line related to the context that originated an LTI launch, you need to make a DELETE request to the /api/lineitems/:lineItemID endpoint of your LTIAAS' account subdomain.

tip

For a description of possible response statuses, check the [DELETE] Line Item endpoint API Reference.

info

Line item IDs are URLs, so their value needs to be URL encoded to be safely sent as a query parameter.

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/lineitems/:lineItemID DELETE request
const lineItemId = 'https://lms.example.com/course/1/lineitems/1'
const urlSafeLineItemId = encodeURIComponent(lineItemId)
requests.delete(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitems/${urlSafeLineItemId}`, { headers })

Checking service availability

The Assignment and Grades service might not be available for every LTI launch context. Before attempting to manipulate grade lines you can make a call to the ID Token endpoint and check the services section to know if the service is available.

You can know if the service is available based on the value of the idtoken.services.assignmentAndGrades.available boolean field:

// Building Ltik based API authentication header
const authenticationHeader = `LTIK-AUTH-V2 ${API_KEY}:${LTIK}`
const headers = { Authorization: authorizationHeader }
// Making /api/idtoken GET request
const idtoken = requests.get('https://your.ltiaas.com/api/idtoken', { headers })
const isServiceAvailable = idtoken['services']['assignmentAndGrades']['available']

if (isServiceAvailable) {
  // Making /api/lineitems GET request
  const response = requests.get(`https://your.ltiaas.com/api/lineitenms`, { headers })
  const members = response['lineItems']
}