Import Materials

Materials are added by importing a materials repository on GitHub into Exercode.

Overall Flow

1. The material author prepares a materials repository on GitHub and commits the materials to the default branch (usually main).
2. An organization administrator adds the materials repository from the Material Repositories screen in Exercode using the GitHub App.
3. The organization administrator registers the materials repository with the organization.
4. Import the materials.
5. Add the imported courses to the organization or groups.

Prerequisites

• The material author needs a GitHub account and creates the materials repository.
• The organization administrator adding the materials repository must have write permission (Write or higher) on that repository on GitHub.
• If the GitHub App is not yet installed, you also need permission to install the GitHub App on the GitHub account or GitHub organization that hosts the repository. If you are not the owner of the organization, you must request the installation and wait for the owner's approval.
• For the structure of the materials repository, refer to the sample materials repository.

Adding a Materials Repository

1. Click your account name in the upper right and open Material Repositories.
2. Press Add from my GitHub.
3. On the GitHub screen, select the account or organization that hosts the materials repository, choose the repository Exercode should read, and install the GitHub App.
4. On the GitHub screen that follows, allow Exercode to verify your GitHub account. This screen appears only the first time.
5. Return to the Material Repositories screen in Exercode, where the added repository will be displayed.

The repositories displayed are those that the GitHub App can read, on which you have write permission (Write or higher) on GitHub, and that contain course.yaml (or course.yml). If you add course.yaml later, or add or change the repositories the GitHub App can read later, press Sync with my GitHub to reflect the changes.

If the GitHub App is already installed on the organization hosting the materials repository, you do not need to reinstall it. Pressing Sync with my GitHub adds, as your materials repositories, those repositories on which you have write permission (Write or higher) on GitHub and that have not yet been added to Exercode. Materials repositories already added by someone else will not appear on your Material Repositories screen even after syncing. If that repository is registered with an organization, the organization administrators of that organization can handle it.

If a person who is not an owner of the organization requests installation of the GitHub App, returning to Exercode will show that it is awaiting approval. After the owner approves it on GitHub, press Sync with my GitHub.

Registering a Materials Repository with an Organization

Press Register with organization on the materials repository card, then select the organization to register with.

• Only courses imported from a materials repository registered with that organization can be added to organizations or groups.
• You can Register with organization only if you are the organization administrator of the target organization and you were the first person to add the materials repository to Exercode. Even a member of the materials repository cannot register a materials repository added by someone else. A materials repository first added by an instructor who is not an organization administrator cannot be registered with an organization.
• Once registered, other organization administrators of that organization can also import it.

For details, see Sync and Import Materials Repositories.

Tips for Creating Materials

• The import target is the default branch of the materials repository (usually main).
• The course folder name becomes the course ID as is.
• Courses registered with an organization have a validity period and become view-only 15 months after creation. For materials used every year, create them with a new course ID each academic year (Course Validity Period).
• Course IDs must be unique across all of Exercode. To avoid duplicates with courses from other organizations, we recommend including the school name (or an abbreviation identifying the organization) and the academic year in the course ID. This makes duplicates easier to avoid and makes it easier to manage and distinguish courses by year.

Examples:

• java-basic-schoola-2026
• python-intro-collegeb-2026

Settings for AI Chat and Hints

AI Chat and Hints are enabled by default. You can change them with the following parameters in the materials repository's course.yaml (whole course) or in the leading parameters of each material (per material). If both are set, the material setting takes priority.

Parameter	Description
isMaterialChatDisabled	Set to true to disable AI Chat for students
isDebugHintDisabled	Set to true to disable the "error location" hint
isFixHintDisabled	Set to true to disable "additional hints"
isDiffHintDisabled	Set to true to hide "explanation of the corrected code" in additional hints
debugHintWaitingSeconds	Seconds after opening a problem before the "error location" hint becomes available (default 180)
fixHintWaitingSeconds	Seconds after opening a problem before "additional hints" become available (default 300)

For examination-mode materials (isExamination), students cannot use AI Chat on the material screen and problem screen regardless of the submission period, and the content cannot be referenced from AI Chat on other screens. The material name and the reason it cannot be referenced can be checked. Anyone with instructor permission for the course can use AI Chat even on restricted materials (Asking Questions with AI Chat). Hints are not displayed during the examination period. For how to write the parameters, see the sample materials repository description. That same description lists other settings, such as showing the model answer after the deadline (isModelAnswerShownAfterDeadline), code readability review and leaderboard (isVotable; results are finalized at the material's soft deadline, or the hard deadline if there is none, and it is disabled for materials without a deadline or that hide grading results), hiding grading results (isProblemGradingResultHidden), and prohibiting copy and paste (isCopyAndPasteDisabled).

Displaying PDFs such as Slides

If you place a PDF file with the same name as a Markdown material file in the lecture folder (e.g., 01_slides.md and 01_slides.pdf), the PDF is displayed above the body on the material screen and can also be downloaded. The material name and settings are written in the leading parameters of the Markdown material file. In mock examination mode, the PDF is displayed on the problem list and on each problem's screen.

AI Chat does not read PDFs; it references the body of the Markdown material file. If you want content, such as slide scripts, to be given only to AI Chat, write it after the <!-- chat --> line in the body so it is not displayed on the student's material screen.

---
name: Lecture 1 Slides
---

<!-- chat -->

(Slide script)

A PDF without a Markdown material file of the same name is not imported. If you delete a PDF and import again, the PDF is also removed from the material screen.

Caution When Changing IDs (Deletion of Submission Records)

The course ID (folder name), lecture ID (folder name), material ID (file name), and problem ID are the keys that link materials to data in Exercode. If you change these IDs and import, the items with the old IDs are deleted, and the items with the new IDs are treated as newly added.

• If student submission records are linked to deleted items, the submission records are also permanently deleted.
• Deleted submission records cannot be restored even if you revert the ID and import again.

For this reason, do not change IDs after operation has started (after students have begun submitting). If your purpose is only to change the order, use the following methods without changing IDs.

• Lecture (session) order: Reorder the lectures array in course.yaml (no folder rename needed).
• Material order: It is determined by the lexicographic order of material file names, so if you assign spaced numbers such as 10_ and 20_ from the start, you can insert new materials in between without renaming existing files.

In the confirmation dialog before importing, in addition to the items to be deleted, the number of submission records to be deleted is always displayed. Courses whose validity period has ended are neither updated nor deleted, and their names are shown in the confirmation dialog (Course Validity Period).

• If 0 submission records will be deleted: A green display confirms that no submission records will be deleted (safe).
• If 1 or more submission records will be deleted: A red warning shows the number of records and students. Clicking "Show the list of target accounts" in the warning lets you view and copy the list of accounts (email addresses) whose submission records will be deleted. In this case, you cannot run the import unless you check "I understand that submission records will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored."
• If items will be deleted but submission records are not affected: A yellow (caution) display prompts you to check the items to be deleted.

If the deletion of submission records is unintended, cancel the import and restore the material repository's IDs to their previous state.

Import Steps

1. Click your account name in the upper right.
2. Open Material Repositories.
3. Click Import for the target repository.
4. Review the diff and validation results.
5. If there are no problems, run Import.

When an Error Occurs

Imports may fail for reasons such as:

• Duplicate problem IDs
• References to nonexistent lectures or problems
• Invalid YAML format

Check the error message, fix the materials repository contents, commit them to the default branch, and import again.

Related Links

• Create a Course for an Organization or Group
• Add a Course to an Organization or Group