Learner Experiences

Credentials & Certificates

Scaffold

Overview

Credentials & Certificates covers the issuance, display, and verification of course completion certificates and program credentials. When a learner completes a course (meeting grade thresholds), the platform generates a certificate; completing a program of courses generates a program credential.

The `credentials` service is a standalone Django microservice extracted from `edx-platform` to handle certificate generation, storage, and verification. Certificates are publicly shareable and verifiable via URL.

Current State (2026)

• Certificate generation: Triggered by grade thresholds; generated as signed HTML pages (not PDFs) with unique shareable URLs

• Program credentials: Issued by the `credentials` service when all program courses are completed

• Learner record: `frontend-app-learner-record` MFE shows all earned credentials and allows sharing

• Themes: `credentials-themes` provides customizable certificate templates per organization

• Verification: Public certificate URLs are verifiable; certificates contain learner name, course, date, grade

• Legacy PDF: Historical PDF certificate generation deprecated in favor of HTML certificates

Architecture

• `credentials` service: Standalone Django app; receives signals from `edx-platform` when courses are completed; manages credential issuance and sharing

• `edx-platform` integration: LMS sends completion/grade signals; `credentials` listens and issues certificates

• Certificate rendering: HTML templates rendered server-side with learner data; not PDF (PDF generation was dropped)

• Sharing: Each certificate has a unique URL; learner can share on LinkedIn, email, etc.

• Program logic: Program completion tracked by `credentials`; checks all required course certificates

History

Origin

• Year introduced: ~2013 (certificates launched early in edX history)

• Initial implementation: Certificates generated directly in `edx-platform`; PDF rendered via background Celery task

• Context: Certificates were a key value proposition for MOOCs — social proof of completion that learners could share with employers

Key Milestones

~2013

Course completion certificates launched

~2015–2016

Program credentials introduced

~2017–2018

`credentials` service extracted from monolith

~2019–2020

PDF certificates deprecated; HTML certificates become standard

Open Questions

?When were certificates first introduced and what form did they take?
?Why was the `credentials` service extracted from `edx-platform` vs. kept in the monolith?
?What drove the decision to abandon PDF certificates in favor of HTML?
?How does certificate verification work technically — what prevents forgery?
?When were program credentials introduced and what was the product reasoning?
?How are certificate templates customized per institution/organization?