course.yaml Reference

course.yaml is the single source of truth for the entire course. The generator reads nothing else to determine what files to create.

Top-level structure

course:      # course-wide metadata
  ...

artifacts:   # course-level artifacts (e.g. syllabus, overview deck)
  - ...

modules:     # ordered list of modules
  - ...

`course` block

course:
  id: my-course                  # used in file paths and URLs
  title: "Logic 101"
  subtitle: "Introduction to Formal Logic"
  semester: "WS 2026"
  language: "en"                 # drives i18n strings; built-ins: en, de
  ects: 3
  instructors:
    - name: "Prof. Jane Smith"
      email: "smith@example.com"
      role: "lecturer"           # lecturer | tutor | coordinator
  organization:
    institution: "Example University"
    department: "Department of Philosophy"
  defaults:                      # applied to every module unless overridden
    status: planned
    visibility: public
    duration: 90                 # minutes
  schedule:
    start_date: 2026-10-01
    end_date:   2027-01-31
    weekly_day: "Monday"
  i18n:                          # optional inline i18n overrides (see Internationalisation)
    nav:
      home: Startseite

Instructors

Instructors are defined at course level and can be overridden per module. If a module omits its own instructors: list, the course-level list is inherited automatically by the generator.

Each entry supports:

Field	Description
`name`	Full name (required)
`email`	Email address (optional)
`role`	`lecturer`, `tutor`, or `coordinator`

`defaults` block

Any field in defaults is merged into every module entry that does not set that field explicitly. Common uses: status, visibility, duration.

Module entries

modules:
  - id: intro                     # unique; used in file names and URLs
    type: lecture                 # lecture | exercise | lab | seminar | …
    title: "Introduction"
    subtitle: "Why logic?"        # optional
    description: |               # optional free-text
      Overview of the course …
    date: 2026-10-01
    duration: 90                  # minutes; overrides defaults.duration
    status: planned               # planned | draft | ready | published
    visibility: public            # public | hidden
    instructors:                  # overrides course-level instructors
      - name: "Dr. Jones"
        role: tutor
    tags: [logic, intro]
    learning_objectives: |
      - Understand the scope of formal logic
      - Distinguish syntax from semantics
    lms:
      release: 2026-09-28
      due: 2026-10-08
    dependencies: []
    artifacts:
      - id: intro-slides
        type: slides
        enabled: true
        output_formats: [revealjs, beamer]
      - id: intro-handout
        type: handout
        enabled: true
        output_formats: [website, pdf]

Module fields

Field	Default	Description
`id`	—	Required. Unique identifier; used in file names and URLs
`type`	—	Module type (metadata only; `lecture`, `exercise`, …)
`title`	—	Display title
`subtitle`	—	Optional subtitle
`description`	—	Optional free-text description
`date`	—	ISO date of the session
`duration`	`defaults.duration`	Duration in minutes
`status`	`defaults.status`	`planned`, `draft`, `ready`, `published`
`visibility`	`defaults.visibility`	`public` or `hidden`
`instructors`	course-level list	List of instructor entries
`tags`	—	List of tags (metadata only)
`learning_objectives`	—	Multiline string or list
`lms`	—	LMS release/due dates (metadata only)
`dependencies`	`[]`	List of other module IDs this module depends on
`artifacts`	—	List of artifact entries — see Artifacts

Course-level `artifacts`

Artifacts can also be declared at the top level for course-wide documents such as a syllabus or a course overview slide deck:

artifacts:
  - id: syllabus
    type: syllabus
    enabled: true
    file: "content/syllabus.qmd"

These follow the same schema as module-level artifacts. See Artifacts for all artifact fields and options.