Are your users using Classroom with Google Meet? Check out the Apps Script quickstart covering how to check student attendance in Google Meet courses.

Manage Courses

A Course resource represents a class, such as "M. Smith's 4th period math," and its assigned teachers, student roster, and metadata.

Each course is identified by a unique ID assigned by the server. Additionally, names may be associated with a course and used in place of the unique ID. Each name, called an Alias, exists in a namespace that restricts who can create and view it.

Two namespaces are supported:

  • Domain: The domain namespace is useful for creating aliases that all users need access to, but that are not specific to any one program. For example, alternate listings for a course, such as MATH 127 and COMSCI 127, should be created in the domain namespace. Aliases in the domain namespace may only be created by domain administrators but are visible to all users in a domain.
  • Developer project: The developer project namespace is useful for managing aliases specific to an application. For example, an application that uses alternate identifiers for courses can create aliases to map its identifier to Classroom courses. Aliases created in this namespace are tied to a specific Google API Console project. Any user of an application can create and view aliases in the namespace for that application's developer project.

Create a course

You can add a course using the courses.create() method, as shown in the following sample:

.NET

            var course = new Course
            {
                Name = "10th Grade Biology",
                Section = "Period 2",
                DescriptionHeading = "Welcome to 10th Grade Biology",
                Description = "We'll be learning about about the structure of living creatures "
                    + "from a combination of textbooks, guest lectures, and lab work. Expect "
                    + "to be excited!",
                Room = "301",
                OwnerId = "me",
                CourseState = "PROVISIONED"
            };

            course = service.Courses.Create(course).Execute();
            Console.WriteLine("Course created: {0} ({1})", course.Name, course.Id);

Apps Script

classroom/snippets/createCourse.gs
/**
 * Creates 10th Grade Biology Course.
 */
function createCourse() {
  var course = {
    name: '10th Grade Biology',
    section: 'Period 2',
    descriptionHeading: 'Welcome to 10th Grade Biology',
    description: "We'll be learning about about the structure of living creatures from a combination of textbooks, guest lectures, and lab work. Expect to be excited!",
    room: '301',
    ownerId: 'me',
    courseState: 'PROVISIONED'
  };
  var course = Classroom.Courses.create(course);
  Logger.log('Course created: %s (%s)', course.name, course.id)
}

Go

classroom/snippets/createCourse.go
c := &classroom.Course{
	Name:               "10th Grade Biology",
	Section:            "Period 2",
	DescriptionHeading: "Welcome to 10th Grade Biology",
	Description:        "We'll be learning about about the structure of living creatures from a combination of textbooks, guest lectures, and lab work. Expect to be excited!",
	Room:               "301",
	OwnerId:            "me",
	CourseState:        "PROVISIONED",
}
course, err := srv.Courses.Create(c).Do()
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Course unable to be created %v", err)
}

Java

Course course = new Course()
        .setName("10th Grade Biology")
        .setSection("Period 2")
        .setDescriptionHeading("Welcome to 10th Grade Biology")
        .setDescription("We'll be learning about about the structure of living creatures "
                + "from a combination of textbooks, guest lectures, and lab work. Expect "
                + "to be excited!")
        .setRoom("301")
        .setOwnerId("me")
        .setCourseState("PROVISIONED");
course = service.courses().create(course).execute();
System.out.printf("Course created: %s (%s)\n", course.getName(), course.getId());

PHP

$course = new Google_Service_Classroom_Course(array(
  'name' => '10th Grade Biology',
  'section' => 'Period 2',
  'descriptionHeading' => 'Welcome to 10th Grade Biology',
  'description' => 'We\'ll be learning about about the structure of living ' .
                   'creatures from a combination of textbooks, guest ' .
                   'lectures, and lab work. Expect to be excited!',
  'room' => '301',
  'ownerId' => 'me',
  'courseState' => 'PROVISIONED'
));
$course = $service->courses->create($course);
printf("Course created: %s (%s)\n", $course->name, $course->id);

Python

classroom/snippets/classroom_snippets.py
course = {
    'name': '10th Grade Biology',
    'section': 'Period 2',
    'descriptionHeading': 'Welcome to 10th Grade Biology',
    'description': """We'll be learning about about the
                 structure of living creatures from a
                 combination of textbooks, guest lectures,
                 and lab work. Expect to be excited!""",
    'room': '301',
    'ownerId': 'me',
    'courseState': 'PROVISIONED'
}
course = service.courses().create(body=course).execute()
print('Course created: %s %s' % (course.get('name'), course.get('id')))

When you create a course, you can optionally add metadata such as the course description, time, or location.

In order to create a course, the user making the request must have the appropriate permissions in their user profile.

Courses are created with the courseState set to PROVISIONED by default; however, this can be overridden to ACTIVE. If the course is created in the PROVISIONED state, the teacher identified in the ownerId must accept the class in the Classroom UI or the course must be updated through the API to change the courseState to ACTIVE and make it available to their students.

Retrieve course details

You can retrieve a single course's metadata with the courses.get() method, as shown in the following sample:

.NET

string courseId = "123456";
Course course = null;
try
{
    course = service.Courses.Get(courseId).Execute();
    Console.WriteLine("Course '{0}' found\n.", course.Name);
}
catch (GoogleApiException e)
{
    if (e.HttpStatusCode == HttpStatusCode.NotFound)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Course with ID '{0}' not found.\n", courseId);
    }
    else
    {
        throw e;
    }
}

Apps Script

classroom/snippets/getCourse.gs
/**
 * Retrieves course by id. 
 */
function getCourse() {
  var courseId = '123456';
  try {
    var course = Classroom.Courses.get(courseId);
    Logger.log('Course "%s" found. ', course.name);
  } catch (err) {
    Logger.log("Course with id "%s" not found", courseId);
  }
}

Go

classroom/snippets/getCourse.go
ctx := context.Background()
srv, err := classroom.NewService(ctx, option.WithHTTPClient(client))
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Unable to create classroom Client %v", err)
}
id := "123456"
course, err := srv.Courses.Get(id).Do()
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Course unable to be retrieved %v", err)
}

Java

String courseId = "123456";
Course course = null;
try {
    course = service.courses().get(courseId).execute();
    System.out.printf("Course '%s' found.\n", course.getName());
} catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
    GoogleJsonError error = e.getDetails();
    if (error.getCode() == 404) {
        System.out.printf("Course with ID '%s' not found.\n", courseId);
    } else {
        throw e;
    }
}

PHP

$courseId = '123456';
try {
  $course = $service->courses->get($courseId);
  printf("Course '%s' found.\n", $course->name);
} catch (Google_Service_Exception $e) {
  if ($e->getCode() == 404) {
    printf("Course with ID '%s' not found.\n", $courseId);
  } else {
    throw $e;
  }
}

Python

classroom/snippets/classroom_snippets.py
try:
    course = service.courses().get(id=course_id).execute()
    print('Course "{%s}" found.' % course.get('name'))
except errors.HttpError as error:
    print('Course with ID "{%s}" not found.' % course_id)

For a list of courses, use the courses.list(), as shown in the following sample:

.NET

            string pageToken = null;
            var courses = new List<Course>();

            do
            {
                var request = service.Courses.List();
                request.PageSize = 100;
                request.PageToken = pageToken;
                var response = request.Execute();
                courses.AddRange(response.Courses);
                pageToken = response.NextPageToken;
            } while (pageToken != null);

            if (courses.Count == 0)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("No courses found.");
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Courses:");
                foreach (var course in courses)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} ({1})\n", course.Name, course.Id);
                }
            }

Apps Script

classroom/snippets/listCourses.gs
/**
 * Lists all course names and ids. 
 */
function listCourses() {
  var courses = [];
  var pageToken = null;
  var optionalArgs = {
    pageToken: pageToken,
    pageSize: 100
  };
  while (true) {
    var response = Classroom.Courses.list(optionalArgs);
    var courses = response.courses;
    if (!pageToken) {
       break;
    }
  }
  if (courses.length === 0) {
    Logger.log("No courses found.");
  } else {
    Logger.log("Courses:");
    for (course in courses) {
      Logger.log('%s (%s)', courses[course].name, courses[course].id);
    }
  }
}

Java

String pageToken = null;
List<Course> courses = new ArrayList<Course>();

do {
    ListCoursesResponse response = service.courses().list()
            .setPageSize(100)
            .setPageToken(pageToken)
            .execute();
    courses.addAll(response.getCourses());
    pageToken = response.getNextPageToken();
} while (pageToken != null);

if (courses.isEmpty()) {
    System.out.println("No courses found.");
} else {
    System.out.println("Courses:");
    for (Course course : courses) {
        System.out.printf("%s (%s)\n", course.getName(), course.getId());
    }
}

PHP

$pageToken = NULL;
$courses = array();

do {
  $params = array(
    'pageSize' => 100,
    'pageToken' => $pageToken
  );
  $response = $service->courses->listCourses($params);
  $courses = array_merge($courses, $response->courses);
  $pageToken = $response->nextPageToken;
} while (!empty($pageToken));

if (count($courses) == 0) {
  print "No courses found.\n";
} else {
  print "Courses:\n";
  foreach ($courses as $course) {
    printf("%s (%s)\n", $course->name, $course->id);
  }
}

Python

classroom/snippets/classroom_snippets.py
courses = []
page_token = None

while True:
    response = service.courses().list(pageToken=page_token,
                                      pageSize=100).execute()
    courses.extend(response.get('courses', []))
    page_token = response.get('nextPageToken', None)
    if not page_token:
        break

if not courses:
    print('No courses found.')
else:
    print('Courses:')
    for course in courses:
        print(course.get('name'), course.get('id'))

You can also list only the courses for a specific user. For more information, see Retrieve courses for a user.

Update course information

You can update some course metadata after the course is created. However, some fields such as the ownerId can only be set during course creation. The following fields can be updated any time after the course is created:

  • name
  • section
  • descriptionHeading
  • description
  • room
  • courseState

To update all fields in a course, use the courses.update() method, as shown in the following sample:

.NET

string courseId = "123456";
var course = service.Courses.Get(courseId).Execute();
course.Section = "Period 3";
course.Room = "302";
course = service.Courses.Update(course, courseId).Execute();
Console.WriteLine("Course '{0}' updated.\n", course.Name);

Apps Script

classroom/snippets/courseUpdate.gs
/**
 * Updates the section and room of Google Classroom. 
 */
function courseUpdate() {
  var courseId = '123456';
  var course = Classroom.Courses.get(courseId);
  course.section = 'Period 3';
  course.room = '302';
  var course = Classroom.Courses.update(course, courseId);
  Logger.log('Course "%s" updated.', course.name);
}

Java

String courseId = "123456";
Course course = service.courses().get(courseId).execute();
course.setSection("Period 3");
course.setRoom("302");
course = service.courses().update(courseId, course).execute();
System.out.printf("Course '%s' updated.\n", course.getName());

PHP

$courseId = '123456';
$course = $service->courses->get($courseId);
$course->section = 'Period 3';
$course->room = '302';
$course = $service->courses->update($courseId, $course);
printf("Course '%s' updated.\n", $course->name);

Python

classroom/snippets/classroom_snippets.py
course = service.courses().get(id=course_id).execute()
course['section'] = 'Period 3'
course['room'] = '302'
course = service.courses().update(id=course_id, body=course).execute()
print('Course %s updated.' % course.get('name'))

You can also update specific fields using the courses.patch() method, as shown in the following sample:

.NET

            string courseId = "123456";
            var course = new Course
            {
                Section = "Period 3",
                Room = "302"
            };

            var request = service.Courses.Patch(course, courseId);
            request.UpdateMask = "section,room";
            course = request.Execute();
            Console.WriteLine("Course '{0}' updated.\n", course.Name);

Apps Script

classroom/snippets/patchCourse.gs
/**
 * Updates the section and room of Google Classroom. 
 */
function coursePatch(course_id) {
  var course = {
    'section': 'Period 3',
    'room': '302'
  };
  var mask = { 
    updateMask: 'section,room' 
  };
  var course = Classroom.Courses.patch(body=course, id=course_id, updateMask=mask);
  Logger.log('Course "%s" updated.', course.name);
}

Java

String courseId = "123456";
Course course = new Course()
        .setSection("Period 3")
        .setRoom("302");
course = service.courses().patch(courseId, course)
        .setUpdateMask("section,room")
        .execute();
System.out.printf("Course '%s' updated.\n", course.getName());

PHP

$courseId = '123456';
$course = new Google_Service_Classroom_Course(array(
  'section' => 'Period 3',
  'room' => '302'
));
$params = array(
  'updateMask' => 'section,room'
);
$course = $service->courses->patch($courseId, $course, $params);
printf("Course '%s' updated.\n", $course->name);

Python

classroom/snippets/classroom_snippets.py
course = {
    'section': 'Period 3',
    'room': '302'
}
course = service.courses().patch(id=course_id,
                                 updateMask='section,room',
                                 body=course).execute()
print('Course "%s" updated.' % course.get('name'))