> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://skillrisedocs.pushkarverma.online/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Course

> Add a new course to the platform

<api-endpoint method="POST" path="/api/educator/add-course" />

Create a new course with content, pricing, and thumbnail image. The system automatically calculates total lectures and duration based on the course content structure.

### Authentication

<api-auth>
  <api-auth-item type="bearer" description="Clerk authentication token required" />

  <api-auth-item type="role" description="Educator role required (enforced by protectEducator middleware)" />
</api-auth>

### Request Format

**Content-Type**: `multipart/form-data`

This endpoint requires a multipart form submission with:

* A JSON string field `courseData` containing the course details
* An image file field `image` for the course thumbnail

### Request Fields

<api-request>
  <api-request-item name="courseData" type="string (JSON)" required>
    JSON-stringified object containing all course details (see schema below)
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="image" type="file" required>
    Course thumbnail image file. Uploaded to Cloudinary.
  </api-request-item>
</api-request>

### Course Data Schema

The `courseData` field must be a JSON string containing:

<api-request>
  <api-request-item name="courseTitle" type="string" required>
    Title of the course
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="courseDescription" type="string" required>
    Detailed description of the course
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="coursePrice" type="number" required>
    Base price of the course in the platform's currency
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="discount" type="number" required>
    Discount percentage (0-100)
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="courseContent" type="array" required>
    Array of chapter objects defining the course structure
  </api-request-item>

  <api-request-item name="isPublished" type="boolean" required>
    Whether the course should be published immediately
  </api-request-item>
</api-request>

### Course Content Structure

Each chapter in `courseContent` should have:

```typescript theme={null}
{
  chapterTitle: string,
  chapterContent: [
    {
      lectureTitle: string,
      lectureDuration: number, // Duration in minutes
      lectureUrl: string,      // Video URL or resource link
      // ... other lecture properties
    }
  ]
}
```

### Request Example

```javascript theme={null}
const formData = new FormData();

const courseData = {
  "courseTitle": "Complete React Development Course",
  "courseDescription": "Master React from basics to advanced concepts including hooks, context, and performance optimization.",
  "coursePrice": 99.99,
  "discount": 20,
  "courseContent": [
    {
      "chapterTitle": "Introduction to React",
      "chapterContent": [
        {
          "lectureTitle": "What is React?",
          "lectureDuration": 15,
          "lectureUrl": "https://example.com/lecture1.mp4"
        },
        {
          "lectureTitle": "Setting up your environment",
          "lectureDuration": 25,
          "lectureUrl": "https://example.com/lecture2.mp4"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "chapterTitle": "React Hooks",
      "chapterContent": [
        {
          "lectureTitle": "Understanding useState",
          "lectureDuration": 30,
          "lectureUrl": "https://example.com/lecture3.mp4"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "isPublished": true
};

formData.append('courseData', JSON.stringify(courseData));
formData.append('image', thumbnailFile); // File object

fetch('/api/educator/add-course', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`
  },
  body: formData
});
```

### Automatic Calculations

The system automatically computes:

* **totalLectures**: Count of all lectures across all chapters
* **totalDurationMinutes**: Sum of all lecture durations

For the example above:

* `totalLectures`: 3
* `totalDurationMinutes`: 70 (15 + 25 + 30)

### Response

<api-response status="200">
  <api-response-item name="success" type="boolean">
    Indicates if the course was created successfully
  </api-response-item>

  <api-response-item name="message" type="string">
    Status message
  </api-response-item>
</api-response>

### Response Examples

<CodeGroup>
  ```json Success theme={null}
  {
    "success": true,
    "message": "Course Added Succesfully"
  }
  ```

  ```json Missing Thumbnail theme={null}
  {
    "success": false,
    "message": "Thumbnail Not Attached"
  }
  ```

  ```json Error theme={null}
  {
    "success": false,
    "message": "An unexpected error occurred"
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

### Process Flow

1. Validates that a thumbnail image is provided
2. Parses the JSON courseData string
3. Iterates through all chapters and lectures to calculate:
   * Total number of lectures
   * Total duration in minutes
4. Creates the course document in the database
5. Uploads the thumbnail to Cloudinary
6. Updates the course with the Cloudinary URL
7. Saves the final course document

### Error Handling

* **Missing thumbnail**: Returns `success: false` with specific message
* **Invalid JSON**: Returns 500 error
* **Database errors**: Returns 500 error with generic message
* **Cloudinary upload failure**: Returns 500 error

### Notes

* Only users with the educator role can access this endpoint (enforced by `protectEducator` middleware)
* The educator's user ID is automatically extracted from the authentication token
* Course thumbnails are stored in Cloudinary
* Courses can be created as drafts (`isPublished: false`) or published immediately