Modern access control¶

Not yet generally available

This feature is under active development and is not yet available for general use. The documentation here is for internal reference only.

Modern access control lets instructors configure assessment availability, deadlines, credit, time limits, passwords, PrairieTest access, and student-specific exceptions from the assessment Access page.

Note

Students must first have access to the course instance through publishing controls, and then must also have access to the specific assessment through modern access control. See Access control checks for details.

Open the Access page¶

From an assessment, open the Access tab. The page has two sections:

Defaults: settings that apply to all students.
Overrides: settings that apply only to selected student labels or individual students.

Modern access control page showing Defaults and Overrides — The Access page summarizes the active configuration and lists every override that applies to the assessment.

The summary card shows the current access state, the release/due timeline, credit after deadlines, and visibility settings. Click Edit on a card to open the detail panel, make changes, and then click Save and sync to persist the changes.

Configure defaults¶

Click Edit in the Defaults section. Defaults are the baseline settings for every student who does not match a more specific override.

Defaults editor panel for modern access control — Editing the defaults opens a side panel with date control, PrairieTest, before-release, and after-completion settings.

Date control¶

Use Date control to decide when students can open the assessment and how much credit submissions receive over time.

Set a Release option:

Released: students can access the assessment immediately, unless other access settings prevent it.
Scheduled for release: students cannot open the assessment before the release date. If List before release is enabled, they can see the assessment title before release.

Set a Due date option:

No due date: students can submit indefinitely after release.
Due on date: students receive the due-date credit until that date.

By default, the due date is worth 100% credit. Click Change next to the due credit if you need a different on-time credit value. This is uncommon — most courses keep the on-time value at 100% and use an early deadline to reward early submissions or bonus points to let students exceed 100% by doing additional work.

Early and late deadlines¶

Use Early deadlines for bonus-credit windows before the due date, and Late deadlines for reduced-credit windows after the due date.

For each deadline, choose:

a date and time;
the integer credit percentage students receive until that deadline.

Deadlines form one chronological credit timeline. For example, an assessment might be worth 110% until an early deadline, 100% until the due date, 80% until a late deadline, and then 0% or practice credit after that.

Tip

With the default 100% due-date credit, early deadlines must offer more than 100% credit and late deadlines must offer less than 100%. More generally, early credits must exceed the due-date credit, and all credit after the due date must be below 100%.

After deadlines¶

Configure what happens after all deadlines have passed. The setting is labeled After due date when there are no late deadlines, After late deadline when there is one, and After late deadlines when there are several.

No submissions allowed: students can view only what the assessment visibility settings allow, but cannot submit.
Allow practice submissions: students can submit for feedback, but receive 0% credit.
Allow submissions for partial credit: students can submit for the credit percentage you choose.

Time limits and passwords¶

Enable Time limit to give each student a fixed amount of working time after they start the assessment. The timer is independent of deadlines: a student who starts close to a deadline gets the full time limit, but the credit they earn shifts as each deadline passes during the attempt. For example, a student with a 60-minute time limit who starts 1 minute before the due date works for the full 60 minutes — the first minute earns the on-time credit, and the remainder earns the next late-deadline credit.

Enable Password to require a password to start or continue working on the assessment. This is typically used for proctored exams. Students do not need to re-enter the password to review their work once submissions are no longer allowed (for example, in No submissions allowed mode after the last deadline).

Info

Time limits and passwords apply only when a student gains access through date control. They are not enforced inside an active PrairieTest reservation — PrairieTest enforces its own scheduled time limit, and PrairieTest exams do not support a separate password.

PrairieTest¶

Enable PrairieTest to let an active PrairieTest reservation grant access to the assessment. Add the PrairieTest exam UUID from the PrairieTest exam settings.

While a matching reservation is active, PrairieTest controls the scheduled access window and time limit. The top-level date control, before-release behavior, and after-completion visibility apply outside the active reservation.

For each PrairieTest exam, configure what students see after they finish while the reservation is still active:

Show questions and score: students can review questions and see their score.
Show score only: students can see their score, but not the questions.
Hide questions and score: students see neither questions nor score.

These per-exam settings do not support reveal dates. Use the top-level After completion settings for visibility after the active reservation ends.

You can also enable Read-only mode. During a read-only reservation, students can view previous submissions but cannot submit new answers or start the assessment if they have not already started. Questions and scores are always shown during read-only reservations.

When both PrairieTest and date control are configured, an active matching reservation takes precedence: access is granted through PrairieTest using its own scheduling and time limit. Outside the reservation, date control determines access. To restrict an exam to PrairieTest only, leave date control disabled so students cannot open the assessment outside the reservation.

Before release¶

Enable List before release when students should see the assessment title before they can open it. With date control, this is the period before the release date. With PrairieTest only (no date control), the assessment is listed any time the student is not in an active reservation. If neither date control nor PrairieTest is enabled, the assessment is listed but students cannot start it.

Disable it when the assessment should be completely hidden until release.

After completion¶

Use Question visibility and Score visibility to decide what students can see after the assessment is complete.

An assessment is complete when students can no longer answer questions, usually after the last late deadline, after a timed assessment closes, or after an instructor closes it.

Question visibility options:

Hide questions permanently: questions are never visible after completion.
Show questions after completion: students can review questions and answers immediately after completing the assessment.
Show questions after date: questions are hidden after completion and become visible on the chosen date.
Show questions between dates: questions are visible only between the chosen dates.

Score visibility options:

Hide score permanently: the score is never visible after completion.
Show score after completion: students can see their score immediately.
Show score after date: the score is hidden after completion and becomes visible on the chosen date.

For PrairieTest exams, top-level after-completion settings apply outside an active reservation. Use the per-exam PrairieTest visibility setting to control what students see while their reservation is still active.

Visibility dates are only valid when the corresponding item is hidden first. Hiding the score also requires hiding questions, because PrairieLearn does not support showing question submissions while hiding their resulting score.

Add an override¶

Overrides customize access for selected students while inheriting anything they do not explicitly change from the defaults.

Click Add override in the Overrides section.

Choose who the override applies to:

Specific students: select individual enrolled students.
Students by label: select one or more student labels, such as "Section A" or "Extra time". The override applies to students with any of the selected labels (not all of them).

Student labels are managed on the course instance Students page. They are the recommended way to handle repeated accommodations, sections, or cohort-specific deadlines.

After choosing the target, click Override next to each field you want to customize. Fields that you do not override continue to inherit from the defaults.

Common override uses include:

extending the due date for a student label;
adding extra time for students with an accommodation label;
giving one student a password or different access window;
hiding or revealing completed exam content differently for one group.

Edit an existing override¶

Existing overrides appear as cards under Overrides for student labels or Overrides for specific students. Click Edit to change the target or overridden fields.

Student-specific override editor with an overridden release date — Each override starts with every field inherited from the defaults; click **Override** next to a field to set a different value just for the targeted students.

When an override field is active, the detail panel shows Remove override for that field. Removing the override does not clear the default value; it makes the rule inherit that field again.

Override priority¶

If a student matches more than one override, PrairieLearn resolves the rules in this order:

Start with the defaults.
Apply matching student-label overrides.
Apply matching specific-student overrides.

Specific-student overrides take priority over student-label overrides. Within each section, overrides lower in the list take priority over overrides higher in the list. Use the drag handle to reorder overrides when priority matters.

For example, suppose a student has both the "Section A" and "Extended time" labels:

The Section A override sets a later due date (Feb 20).
The Extended time override sets a longer time limit (90 minutes) and an earlier release date (Jan 14).

The student inherits both overrides on top of the defaults: due date Feb 20, time limit 90 minutes, release date Jan 14. If both overrides set the same field — say, both set the due date — the override lower in the list wins.

Save changes¶

The page tracks unsaved changes at the bottom of the screen. Click Save and sync to write file-backed access control to infoAssessment.json, store individual-student overrides in the database, and sync the course.

Click Cancel to discard unsaved UI changes.

Click Clear on the Defaults card to remove the default access-control configuration. Click Remove on an override card to delete the entire override.

Migration from legacy access control¶

Legacy access control uses allowAccess rules. Modern access control uses accessControl rules.

Migration from legacy allowAccess can be done in two ways:

On an assessment's Access tab, click Migrate to modern format. PrairieLearn shows the migrated changes and any warnings before you confirm.
When copying a course instance, PrairieLearn migrates compatible assessment-level rules and reports any caveats before you confirm the copy.

Note

UID-based rules from the legacy system do not have a direct JSON equivalent in modern access control. After migration, use the Access page to configure overrides for student labels or individual enrolled students.

For JSON-level before-and-after examples, see Legacy migration examples in the advanced JSON reference.

Common scenarios¶

Simple homework with a due date¶

Students can access the homework from Jan 15 to Feb 15 for 100% credit. After Feb 15, students can no longer start or submit unless afterLastDeadline.allowSubmissions is enabled.

In the UI:

Edit Defaults.
Enable Date control.
Set Release to Scheduled for release and enter Jan 15.
Set Due date to Due on date and enter Feb 15.
Leave due-date credit at the default 100%.
Set After due date to No submissions allowed.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59" }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Always-open practice assessment¶

Students can access a practice assessment indefinitely after release with full credit. There is no due date, so deadlines and after-deadline behavior do not apply.

In the UI:

Edit Defaults.
Enable Date control.
Set Release to Released (or Scheduled for release with a release date).
Set Due date to No due date.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": null }
      }
    }
  ]
}

With due.date: null, due.credit (default 100%) applies indefinitely after release and any afterLastDeadline configuration is ignored.

Homework with early bonus and late penalty¶

Period	Credit
Before Jan 15	Not open
Jan 15-Feb 1	110%
Feb 1-Feb 15	100%
Feb 15-Feb 22	80%
Feb 22-Mar 1	50%
After Mar 1	0%, with submissions allowed for feedback

In the UI:

Edit Defaults.
Enable Date control and set the release date to Jan 15.
Add an Early deadline on Feb 1 with 110% credit.
Set the Due date to Feb 15 and leave credit at 100%.
Add Late deadlines on Feb 22 with 80% credit and Mar 1 with 50% credit.
Set After late deadlines to Allow practice submissions.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59" },
        "earlyDeadlines": [{ "date": "2025-02-01T23:59:59", "credit": 110 }],
        "lateDeadlines": [
          { "date": "2025-02-22T23:59:59", "credit": 80 },
          { "date": "2025-03-01T23:59:59", "credit": 50 }
        ],
        "afterLastDeadline": {
          "allowSubmissions": true,
          "credit": 0
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Timed exam with password¶

Students have a 90-minute time limit within the two-hour exam window. A password is required to start. Questions and scores are hidden after completion, with scores revealed on Mar 12.

In the UI:

Edit Defaults.
Enable Date control.
Set the release date to Mar 10 at 9:00am and the due date to Mar 10 at 11:00am.
Enable Time limit and enter 90 minutes.
Enable Password and enter the password.
Under After completion, set Question visibility to Hide questions permanently.
Set Score visibility to Show score after date and enter Mar 12.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-03-10T09:00:00" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-03-10T11:00:00" },
        "durationMinutes": 90,
        "password": "exam2025"
      },
      "afterComplete": {
        "questions": { "hidden": true },
        "score": { "hidden": true, "visibleFromDate": "2025-03-12T00:00:01" }
      }
    }
  ]
}

PrairieTest exam¶

Students access the assessment through an active PrairieTest reservation; time limits and scheduling are managed by PrairieTest.

In the UI:

Edit Defaults.
Enable PrairieTest under Integrations.
Enter the PrairieTest exam UUID.
For After completion, choose what students can see after they finish, while their reservation is still active.
Use the top-level After completion settings for what students can see after the reservation ends.
Do not configure an ordinary date-control access window unless students should also be able to access the assessment outside PrairieTest.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "integrations": {
        "prairieTest": {
          "exams": [
            {
              "examUuid": "5719ebfe-ad20-42b1-b0dc-c47f0f714871"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Extended due date for a student label¶

Students with the "Extended time" label get a later due date and more time. All other settings inherit from the defaults.

In the UI:

Create or confirm a student label such as "Extended time" on the course instance Students page.
On the assessment Access page, click Add override.
Choose Students by label and select "Extended time".
Click Override next to Due date and set the later due date.
Click Override next to Time limit and enter the longer duration.
Leave every other field inherited.

JSON

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59" },
        "durationMinutes": 60
      }
    },
    {
      "labels": ["Extended time"],
      "dateControl": {
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-22T23:59:59" },
        "durationMinutes": 90
      }
    }
  ]
}

Extended access for individual students¶

Use individual-student overrides for one-off accommodations or makeup windows that should not become course content.

In the UI:

Click Add override.
Choose Specific students.
Click Select students and choose the enrolled students.
Click Override next to only the fields that should differ, such as Release, Due date, or Time limit.
Save the changes.

Individual-student overrides are stored in the database and are not represented in infoAssessment.json.

Limitations¶

Modern access control models credit as a single contiguous timeline from the release date through deadlines to the final close. It cannot represent non-contiguous credit ranges where credit is available, then unavailable, then available again.

For example, a legacy setup that opens for 100% credit from Jan 15 to Feb 15, closes completely, and then reopens for 100% credit from Mar 1 to Mar 15 cannot be represented as one modern credit timeline.

Assessments with non-contiguous credit ranges are flagged as incompatible during migration. You can clear those rules and reconfigure access manually, or keep the legacy format.

Staff access¶

Course staff with a course role of Previewer or above, or a course instance role of Student Data Viewer or above, always receive full access to all assessments regardless of access control rules. They see 100% credit with a "(Staff override)" indicator.

Advanced JSON configuration¶

Most instructors should use the Access page. The JSON format is useful when you need to script access-control changes, review diffs, or generate assessments programmatically.

The accessControl field is an array in infoAssessment.json:

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "beforeRelease": { "listed": true },
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2026-04-10T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2026-05-01T23:59:59" },
        "afterLastDeadline": { "allowSubmissions": true }
      },
      "afterComplete": { "questions": { "hidden": false } }
    },
    {
      "labels": ["Section A"],
      "dateControl": {
        "due": { "date": "2026-05-28T20:15:00" }
      }
    }
  ]
}

The first element is the defaults rule. Later elements are overrides. Each override can target student labels with labels; overrides for individual enrolled students are configured through the UI.

Full JSON skeleton¶

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "beforeRelease": { "listed": true },
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59", "credit": 100 },
        "earlyDeadlines": [{ "date": "2025-02-01T23:59:59", "credit": 110 }],
        "lateDeadlines": [{ "date": "2025-02-22T23:59:59", "credit": 80 }],
        "afterLastDeadline": {
          "allowSubmissions": true,
          "credit": 0
        },
        "durationMinutes": 60,
        "password": "mysecret"
      },
      "integrations": {
        "prairieTest": {
          "exams": [
            {
              "examUuid": "5719ebfe-ad20-42b1-b0dc-c47f0f714871",
              "readOnly": false,
              "afterComplete": {
                "questions": { "hidden": true },
                "score": { "hidden": true }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "afterComplete": {
        "questions": {
          "hidden": true,
          "visibleFromDate": "2025-03-01T00:00:01",
          "visibleUntilDate": "2025-06-01T00:00:01"
        },
        "score": {
          "hidden": true,
          "visibleFromDate": "2025-03-01T00:00:01"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "labels": ["Extended time"],
      "dateControl": {
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-22T23:59:59" },
        "durationMinutes": 90
      }
    }
  ]
}

`dateControl`¶

Field	Type	Description
`release`	object	Object with `date` (ISO datetime). The assessment is not open to students before this date.
`due`	object	Object with `date` (ISO datetime, or `null` for no due date) and optional integer `credit` (0-200, default 100).
`earlyDeadlines`	array	Array of `{date, credit}` objects. Deadlines before the due date that offer bonus credit.
`lateDeadlines`	array	Array of `{date, credit}` objects. Deadlines after the due date that offer reduced credit.
`afterLastDeadline`	object	Controls whether submissions are allowed after all deadlines have passed, and how much credit they receive.
`durationMinutes`	integer	Time limit in minutes.
`password`	string	Password required to start the assessment.

due.credit defaults to 100. Deadline credits may use any integer percentage from 0 to 200, but the resolved sequence of early deadlines, due date, late deadlines, and afterLastDeadline.credit must strictly decrease over time. Early deadlines are not allowed when due credit is below 100%. Late deadlines and afterLastDeadline.credit must be below 100%.

When due.date is null, the due credit applies indefinitely after release and afterLastDeadline is ignored.

`afterLastDeadline`¶

Field	Type	Default	Description
`allowSubmissions`	boolean	`false`	Whether students can still submit answers after all deadlines.
`credit`	integer	`0`	Credit percentage after the last deadline, from 0 to 99.

If allowSubmissions is true and credit is omitted, submissions are allowed for practice with 0% credit. If credit is set, it must be below 100% and below the preceding deadline's credit.

`beforeRelease`¶

Field	Type	Default	Description
`listed`	boolean	`false`	Whether students can see the assessment title before release. They still cannot open the assessment.

beforeRelease can only be configured on the defaults rule.

`afterComplete`¶

By default, questions are hidden and scores are shown after completion.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`questions.hidden`	boolean	`true`	Whether questions are hidden after completion.
`questions.visibleFromDate`	string		Date to reveal questions after completion.
`questions.visibleUntilDate`	string		Date to hide questions again after revealing them.
`score.hidden`	boolean	`false`	Whether the score is hidden after completion.
`score.visibleFromDate`	string		Date to reveal the score after completion.

The visibility fields follow a toggle pattern. For example, if questions.hidden is true, questions are hidden after completion. At questions.visibleFromDate, they become visible. At questions.visibleUntilDate, they are hidden again.

PrairieTest JSON¶

Field	Type	Description
`integrations.prairieTest.exams`	array	Array of exam objects.
`integrations.prairieTest.exams[].examUuid`	string	UUID of the associated PrairieTest exam.
`integrations.prairieTest.exams[].readOnly`	boolean	Whether the exam is read-only for students.
`integrations.prairieTest.exams[].afterComplete.questions.hidden`	boolean	If `true`, questions are hidden after the student finishes while the reservation is still active.
`integrations.prairieTest.exams[].afterComplete.score.hidden`	boolean	If `true`, the score is hidden after the student finishes while the reservation is still active.

readOnly: true cannot be combined with exam-level afterComplete settings that hide questions or scores. Also, afterComplete.score.hidden: true requires afterComplete.questions.hidden: true. Exam-level afterComplete only supports the three UI modes above; it does not support visibleFromDate or visibleUntilDate.

JSON override inheritance¶

Overrides only store fields they change. Unset fields inherit from the defaults and from earlier matching overrides. The UI's Override and Remove override buttons are the safest way to control whether a field is explicitly set or inherited.

Field	Defaults to override merge	Override to override cascade
`dateControl.*` sub-fields	Override replaces individual sub-fields; unset sub-fields inherit	Later override replaces; unset fields kept from earlier
`afterComplete.*` sub-fields	Same as `dateControl`	Same as `dateControl`
`beforeRelease`	Cannot be overridden	Not applicable

There are a few important details:

due is one atomic setting. Overriding the due date also overrides the due-date credit choice.
Early and late deadline arrays can be overridden with an empty list, which clears inherited deadlines.
Time limits and passwords can be overridden to no value, which clears an inherited time limit or password.
Individual-student overrides are not written to infoAssessment.json; they are stored in the database.

Legacy migration examples¶

Single deadline¶

Legacy allowAccessModern accessControl

infoAssessment.json

{
  "allowAccess": [
    {
      "startDate": "2025-01-15T00:00:01",
      "endDate": "2025-02-15T23:59:59",
      "credit": 100
    }
  ]
}

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59" }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Declining credit¶

Legacy allowAccessModern accessControl

infoAssessment.json

{
  "allowAccess": [
    {
      "startDate": "2025-01-15T00:00:01",
      "endDate": "2025-02-01T23:59:59",
      "credit": 110
    },
    {
      "startDate": "2025-01-15T00:00:01",
      "endDate": "2025-02-15T23:59:59",
      "credit": 100
    },
    {
      "startDate": "2025-01-15T00:00:01",
      "endDate": "2025-02-22T23:59:59",
      "credit": 80
    }
  ]
}

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-01-15T00:00:01" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-02-15T23:59:59" },
        "earlyDeadlines": [{ "date": "2025-02-01T23:59:59", "credit": 110 }],
        "lateDeadlines": [{ "date": "2025-02-22T23:59:59", "credit": 80 }]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Timed exam¶

Legacy allowAccessModern accessControl

infoAssessment.json

{
  "allowAccess": [
    {
      "startDate": "2025-03-10T09:00:00",
      "endDate": "2025-03-10T11:00:00",
      "timeLimitMin": 90,
      "credit": 100
    }
  ]
}

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-03-10T09:00:00" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-03-10T11:00:00" },
        "durationMinutes": 90
      }
    }
  ]
}

Password-gated exam¶

Legacy allowAccessModern accessControl

infoAssessment.json

{
  "allowAccess": [
    {
      "startDate": "2025-03-10T09:00:00",
      "endDate": "2025-03-10T11:00:00",
      "password": "mysecret",
      "credit": 100
    }
  ]
}

infoAssessment.json

{
  "accessControl": [
    {
      "dateControl": {
        "release": { "date": "2025-03-10T09:00:00" },
        "due": { "date": "2025-03-10T11:00:00" },
        "password": "mysecret"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Modern access control¶

Open the Access page¶

Configure defaults¶

Date control¶

Early and late deadlines¶

After deadlines¶

Time limits and passwords¶

PrairieTest¶

Before release¶

After completion¶

Add an override¶

Edit an existing override¶

Override priority¶

Save changes¶

Migration from legacy access control¶

Common scenarios¶

Simple homework with a due date¶

Always-open practice assessment¶

Homework with early bonus and late penalty¶

Timed exam with password¶

PrairieTest exam¶

Extended due date for a student label¶

Extended access for individual students¶

Limitations¶

Staff access¶

Advanced JSON configuration¶

Full JSON skeleton¶

dateControl¶

afterLastDeadline¶

beforeRelease¶

afterComplete¶

PrairieTest JSON¶

JSON override inheritance¶

Legacy migration examples¶

Single deadline¶

Declining credit¶

Timed exam¶

Password-gated exam¶

`dateControl`¶

`afterLastDeadline`¶

`beforeRelease`¶

`afterComplete`¶