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Introduction

The Kolibri Studio REST API provides programmatic access to create, manage, and publish educational content channels. The API is built with Django REST Framework and supports both session-based and token-based authentication.

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Base URL Structure

All API endpoints are prefixed with /api/: 
https://studio.learningequality.org/api/
For local development: 
http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/

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API Versioning

Most Studio API endpoints are unversioned and use the /api/ prefix directly. Public endpoints for Kolibri integration include version numbers:
  • /api/public/v1/channels - Public channel listing
  • /api/public/v1/channels/lookup/{identifier} - Channel lookup by ID or token

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Self-Documenting API

Studio provides a browsable, self-documenting API interface. When running the application, navigate to the API root to explore all available endpoints: 
http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/
The browsable API provides:
  • Interactive endpoint exploration
  • Request/response examples
  • Available methods for each endpoint
  • Input field documentation

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Core API Resources

The Studio API provides access to the following main resources:

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Content Management

  • Channel (/api/channel/) - Channel creation and management
  • ContentNode (/api/contentnode/) - Content nodes and tree structure
  • File (/api/file/) - File uploads and management
  • AssessmentItem (/api/assessmentitem/) - Assessment questions and exercises

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User & Collaboration

  • User (/api/user/) - User accounts and profiles
  • Invitation (/api/invitation/) - Channel collaboration invitations
  • Bookmark (/api/bookmark/) - User bookmarks

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Organization

  • ChannelSet (/api/channelset/) - Collections of related channels
  • Clipboard (/api/clipboard/) - User clipboard operations

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Search & Discovery

  • Catalog (/api/catalog/) - Public channel catalog
  • Search (/api/search/) - Content search functionality

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Internal Endpoints

The API includes internal endpoints primarily used by ricecooker (the content integration tool):
  • /api/internal/authenticate_user_internal - Token validation
  • /api/internal/create_channel - Programmatic channel creation
  • /api/internal/add_nodes - Add content nodes to tree
  • /api/internal/finish_channel - Commit channel changes
  • /api/internal/publish_channel - Publish channel for Kolibri export
  • /api/internal/file_upload - Upload content files
  • /api/internal/file_diff - Check which files exist on server

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Response Formats

The API returns JSON responses with the following structure:

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Success Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { ... }
}

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List Response

Paginated list endpoints return: 
{
  "count": 100,
  "next": "https://studio.learningequality.org/api/channel/?page=2",
  "previous": null,
  "results": [ ... ]
}

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Error Response

{
  "error": "Error message",
  "detail": "Detailed error description"
}

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Error Handling

The API uses standard HTTP status codes:
CodeMeaning
200Success
201Created - Resource successfully created
204No Content - Success with no response body
400Bad Request - Invalid parameters or request body
401Unauthorized - Missing or invalid authentication
403Forbidden - Authenticated but lacking permissions
404Not Found - Resource does not exist
405Method Not Allowed - HTTP method not supported
500Internal Server Error - Server-side error

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Common Error Scenarios

Invalid Token 
HTTP 401 Unauthorized
{
  "detail": "Invalid token."
}
Insufficient Permissions 
HTTP 403 Forbidden
{
  "detail": "You do not have permission to perform this action."
}
Validation Error 
HTTP 400 Bad Request
{
  "field_name": ["This field is required."]
}

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Rate Limits

Currently, Studio does not enforce API rate limits. However, consider implementing client-side throttling for bulk operations to avoid overwhelming the server.

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Pagination

List endpoints support pagination with query parameters:
  • page - Page number (starts at 1)
  • page_size - Results per page (max 1000)
GET /api/channel/?page=2&page_size=50

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Next Steps

Authentication

Learn how to authenticate your API requests with tokens

API Reference

Explore detailed endpoint documentation

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