Accessing Course and Event Files Through the Elentra API

API file access lets your school share files from Elentra courses and learning events with other systems, such as an AI study tool, a data warehouse or another learning platform. Your technical team sets up the connection using your school's API credentials, then schedules updates to keep those systems current.

What's included

File type	What's shared	What isn't shared
Learning event files	Files attached to published learning events, along with event, course and curriculum period details	Draft files, files on draft events and attachments that have been removed
Course files	All files uploaded at the course level, along with course details. This includes files whose availability window has not opened yet or has already closed.	Files on courses that no longer exist
Assignment (Dropbox) files	Not currently available. We're exploring support for these files as a next step.	Assignment (Dropbox) files are not included.

Links, embedded media and other non-file resources are not included.

How it works

Your system requests a list of files. It can request all available files or filter the list by course, learning event, curriculum period or a date range for file changes.
Your system downloads the files it needs. Each list entry includes a download address. When your system requests a file, Elentra checks its credentials and provides a secure link to download that file directly from storage.
Your system checks for updates on a schedule. We recommend a weekly or monthly job that requests files changed since the previous run.

How your files stay secure

Every request uses your school's API credentials. No Elentra user account or storage password is required.
Your credentials provide access only to your school's files. Requests for files outside your school are refused.
Each secure download link is valid for one file and expires after five minutes. A new link is generated each time a file is requested.

Getting started

Elentra sets up API file access for each school. To get started, submit a ticket through the Member Support Portal requesting API file access. Our team will issue your credentials and share the Setting Up API File Access guide with your technical contact.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a developer to use this?

Yes. API file access is designed for systems that connect to Elentra automatically, so someone comfortable working with APIs will need to set it up. The setup guide includes sample code in Python, PHP and C#.

What about files already in Elentra?

Elentra provides your existing files through a separate process coordinated with your technical contact. After that, your system uses the API to retrieve new and changed files.

Will the list show files that were removed from Elentra?

Not directly. The list contains files that are currently available, rather than a separate record of removed files. A file that no longer appears in the same list should be treated as removed. For example, it may have been removed from a learning event, or the event may have been unpublished.