This article is designed to be a technical specification for LTI integration with the Concourse platform. If you haven't learned the basics about Integration with Concourse and your external systems, consider reading the following:

1. Integration Options
   
2. LMS Integration
   
3. Integrating Concourse
   

Apidapter

1. handle all mapping and formatting of launch parameters and values prior to reaching Concourse
2.  log transactions for easy debugging
   
3. allow for the mixing of system end-point protocols 
   

Identifier Selection

Passing user and course identifiers is the most important step in working with LTI. As of May 2015 Concourse now only accepts the standard Learning Information Services (LIS) user and course identifiers in favor of utilizing integration middleware such as Apidapter. Concourse then provides the following options for identification:

User Identification

• lis_person_sourcedid (matches Concourse external user IDs)
• None

Course Identification

• lis_course_offering_sourcedid (matches Concourse external course IDs)
  
• lis_course_section_sourcedid (matches Concourse external section IDs)
• None

Note: If you choose a user identifier and leave the course identifier at None, users will be logged in and directed to the homepage. Conversely, if you choose a course identifier and set user identifier to None, the user will be brought to the public view for the course and not logged in.

To determine what parameters are available from your LMS you can set a custom parameter of debug=1. Alternatively, you can use Apidapter to log and review launches and uncover the data available to you. This platform will also be beneficial should you need to modify or add any data during the launch.

Ultimately you should try to pick an identification scheme that is consistent with other campus systems, such as your central authentication server and SIS.

Role Mapping

If your Concourse LTI consumer is configured with both user and course ID's, a user will automatically be enrolled within the course according to this chart upon each LTI launch. That also means if the role of the user changes within the LMS course, their next launch will update their Concourse registration to utilize the new role.

If more than one context role is included the highest role is assumed. In order of descending priority this includes: Managers, Developers, Instructors, Assistants, Students, Guests, Public.

In cases where this is no equivalent group for the given context role, no enrollment will occur and the user will instead be shown the guest view.

Auto-Creation

The auto generation of user accounts is relatively straightforward, requiring only the user ID and their email. Concourse will also process the first and last names if available. However automatic course creation is more complex as LTI launches do not always include all the data parameters required for a new course.

There are other considerations regarding automatic creation. First and foremost you need to be sure that your configuration will lead to a lasting situation. It would be easy to pass the IDs (e.g. user_id and context_id) used by the LMS but should you ever be interested in tighter integration using feed processing your existing data will unfortunately not line up.

Further you may not have direct control over who is able to provision an account or course. Access will be determined by who can enter the LMS, what courses they are a part of, and with what role.

To get started with auto creation refer to the Creating Courses and Users Automatically via LTI article.

Custom Parameters

Non-Standard Parameters and Partial Values

Troubleshooting

Configuration issues

• Are the key and secret identical between Concourse and your other system? Remember these are case-sensitive.
  
• Is the endpoint URL correct? Is should be of the form https://yourdomain.campusconcourse.com/.
• Is the right data being passed? You can set debug=1 as a custom parameter on the LMS side to view an array of all the parameters and values your system is able to provide to help with discovery.
• Is the page "breaking out" when you want it to load within the LMS window? Adjust the embed mode toggle to keep Concourse "inside."
  

User issues

• If selected, does the launch contain lis_person_sourcedid?
  
• Does the user exist in Concourse and does the identifier match what the launch is providing?
• Is the user set utilize external authentication? Adjust this on the Admin > User page or through a feed.
• If using auto create, is the email also provided? If so does this email conflict with another user already in the system?
  

Course issues

• If selected, does the launch contain either lis_course_offering_sourcedid or lis_course_section_sourcedid respectively?
  
• Does the course exist in Concourse and does the identifier match what the launch is providing?
  

For a detailed guide to LTI errors and resolutions see the attached file. If after trying the suggestions in this guide you are still having trouble getting your LTI integration to work, don't hesitate to reach out.