About the Program Steps API

The Program Steps API manages the individual content units inside an online program section. A step can represent article content, video content, or a quiz. Use the API to create and update steps, retrieve and query existing steps, move steps within a section, clone reusable step content, and perform bulk create and bulk update operations.

Steps belong to sections, and sections belong to programs. This means most step workflows start with a program and section that already exist. The API works closely with the Program Sections API for content structure and with the Quiz API for quiz-based steps.

With the Program Steps API, you can:

• Create article, video, and quiz steps inside a section.
• Retrieve and query steps for a program or section.
• Reorder steps within a section or move a step to another section.
• Clone an existing step to reuse its content.
• Create or update multiple steps in a single API call.

Before you begin

It's important to note the following points before starting to code:

• Every step belongs to a section and a program. To create a step, specify a section ID. The parent program is derived automatically.
• A program can contain up to 2,000 steps. A site can contain up to 10,000 quiz steps.
• Quiz steps require a separately created quiz. Create or clone the quiz with the Quiz API first, then specify the returned quiz ID in quizOptions.id.
• For predictable response sizes, we recommend setting paging.limit up to 100.
• To retrieve steps in their section order, query by sectionId and sort by ordering.
• Use MoveStep to reorder steps or move them to another section. Use UpdateStep for content changes.
• Some returned description fields depend on the caller's permissions.
• Deleting a step can also delete the associated quiz if that step is the last step that references it. The public API doesn't provide a restore flow.

Use cases

The Program Steps API supports these primary use cases:

• Create an article step
• Create a quiz step
• Reorder steps in a section
• Update multiple steps in one request

Terminology

• Step: A single content unit inside a section of an online program.
• Section: A container that groups steps within a program.
• Program: The top-level online learning experience that contains sections and steps.
• Quiz step: A step linked to a Quiz resource through quizOptions.id.
• Ordering: The step's position within a section.
• Description field set: The predefined set of description fields to return when retrieving or querying steps.