Classrooms, cohorts and assignments

The Classroom is where you teach and learn diagramming together. An instructor starts a cohort (a class), shares its six-character join code, and posts assignments: instructions plus a starter diagram for students to complete. Students join with the code, work on each assignment, save drafts and submit; the instructor reviews every submission in one place and leaves a grade and feedback. The flowss Teams Agent's lesson studio drafts a partial starter diagram with gaps for students to fill, so a lesson can go from a one-line topic to a posted assignment in a few clicks. This page documents every control on the Classroom page at /cohorts, the rules a submission follows from draft to graded, who can see what, and every message you might meet.

At a glance

Where to find the Classroom

If you are not signed in, /cohorts shows an introduction to classrooms ("A free account gets you started") with Start your classroom and Open your classroom (both sign you in and bring you back here) and Try a hands-on lesson (opens flowss Academy; see Learn tracks). Its "Working with colleagues?" panel links to Teams. Once you are signed in, the page header shows Classroom with Teams and Back to Studio links.

Who can do what

There are two roles in a cohort. The person who starts it is its instructor; everyone who joins with the code is a student. You can be an instructor in one cohort and a student in another.

The flowss Teams Agent lesson studio itself is open to everyone; only posting its draft to a cohort needs the instructor role.

Plans and AI

Starting a cohort, joining one, posting assignments by hand, submitting and grading all work on every plan, including Free, so a class of students on Free can take part fully.

The flowss Teams Agent · Lesson studio is the one part that uses AI. Each draft is one standard AI call: one AI point from your monthly allowance on Plus and above (Plus includes 200 points a month, Ultra and Enterprise 600), or free of points with your own AI key (available from Starter). Points are charged only when the call succeeds. On Free there is no AI, so drafting returns an explanation instead of a lesson; use Manual entry instead. See AI points and limits and Bring your own AI key.

The Classroom page, section by section

When you are signed in, the page is laid out as follows. Your first cohort is selected automatically when the page loads.

Messages

Confirmations (green) and errors (red) appear in a box at the top of the page, under the page title. One message shows at a time, and an error takes precedence over a confirmation. An error stays on screen until you create or join a cohort, draft or post a lesson, or post an assignment; saving work or feedback does not clear it, so after a failed save a later successful one can leave the old red message showing. Check the result itself (the status badge, the grade box) or reload the page. The Troubleshooting table explains each error.

flowss Teams Agent · Lesson studio

A purple card titled flowss Teams Agent · Lesson studio with a "Works without setup" badge, meaning you do not need a cohort to try it. It contains:

When a draft is ready, the card shows:

When posting is not possible, a short note says why: "Create a cohort below to post it as an assignment." when you have no cohorts, or "Posting is available to instructors." when the selected cohort is one you joined as a student.

Your cohorts

The left-hand column, headed Your cohorts, lists every cohort you belong to with a role badge (instructor or student). Click a cohort to open it. With none, it reads "No cohorts yet. Create one to teach, or join with a code." and the right-hand side shows "Start your first cohort".

Under the list is a panel with two parts:

Press Enter in either field instead of clicking the button. Both buttons are greyed out until the field has text.

Cohort header

The cohort's name and either "You teach this cohort" or "You're enrolled as a student". Instructors also see the join code on a button (tooltip "Copy the join code"); clicking it copies the code and shows a tick.

Roster

A collapsible panel headed Roster with a head count. It starts closed; click it (the right-hand side reads Show or Hide) to open and close it. Each person appears by name; when they have no name, instructors see their email address and students see "Member". Each has an instructor or student badge. People are listed in the order they joined. An empty roster reads "No one here yet."

Assignments

Headed Assignments. Instructors also see a Manual entry button and a tip: "Tip: the fastest way to post is the flowss Teams Agent lesson studio above — draft, then “Post to …”." (with your cohort's name). Assignments are shown as cards, newest first. With none, instructors see "No assignments yet — draft one with the flowss Teams Agent above, then post it." and students see "No assignments yet."

Assignment cards

For instructors

Start a cohort

1. Open /cohorts and sign in if asked.
2. Under Start a cohort, type a name, for example "CS101 — Spring".
3. Press Enter or click Create.
4. You see a message such as "Created “CS101 — Spring”. Share code ABC123 with your students." The cohort is selected and you are its instructor.

You can run as many cohorts as you like, one per class or term.

Share the join code

1. Select the cohort.
2. Click the join-code button in the cohort header. The code is copied to your clipboard.
3. Give the code to your students in class, on your course page or by email. They join from their own Classroom page (see Join a cohort).

Anyone signed in who types the code joins as a student; there is no approval step. Share it only with your class.

Draft a lesson with the flowss Teams Agent and post it

1. Select the cohort you teach in Your cohorts, so that posting goes to the right class.
2. In the flowss Teams Agent · Lesson studio, type a topic or click one of the suggestions.
3. Press Enter or click Draft a lesson.
4. The flowss Teams Agent is asked for a partial starter diagram: the overall structure, with two to four clearly labelled gaps (placeholders such as TODO: … or <add …>) for students to complete, in whichever diagram engine fits the topic best. It is an AI draft, so check that the gaps are really there before posting.
5. Check the preview. Edit the instructions box so it reads exactly as you want students to see it. The pre-written text is built from your topic: "Extend the starter diagram to fully" followed by the topic with its first letter lower-cased, then "Replace every placeholder and add any missing steps, entities, or relationships. Keep it clear and well-labelled." The first sentence often reads awkwardly (a topic such as "ER diagram for a library system" becomes "eR diagram for a library system"), so reword it.
6. Click Post to cohort name.
7. You see "Posted to" and the cohort's name, for example "Posted to “CS101 — Spring”." The assignment appears at the top of Assignments, titled with the text in the topic field (or "New assignment" if the field is empty), and the lesson studio clears.

To refine the starter first, click Open in Studio instead. The Studio opens with the diagram; when it is right, copy its source and post it with Manual entry. The draft is not kept on the Classroom page once you leave it.

Post an assignment manually

1. Select the cohort you teach.
2. Click Manual entry next to Assignments. A form opens (click Manual entry again or Cancel to close it).
3. Fill in the fields described in the table below.
4. Click Post. It is greyed out until the title has text.
5. The form closes and the new assignment appears at the top of Assignments; no confirmation message is shown. The title and instructions are cleared; the engine and starter stay as you left them the next time you open Manual entry.

Text beyond a field's limit is cut off when the assignment is saved. If the engine id is not one the previews recognise, check the card's preview after posting; it usually shows a rendering error. A good way to write a starter is to build it in the Studio (see The Studio editor, or start from a template) and paste its source here.

Review submissions and give feedback

1. Select the cohort and find the assignment.
2. Click Submissions on its card. The list loads ("Loading…"), or reads "No submissions yet."
3. Each row shows the student's name (or their email address, or "Student"), their grade if they have one, and a status badge: draft or submitted.
4. Click a row to open it. You see a preview of the student's diagram, a grade field (placeholder "Grade (e.g. A, 9/10)") and a feedback box ("Feedback for the student…").
5. Type a grade, feedback, or both, and click Save feedback.
6. You see "Feedback saved." The student sees the grade and feedback the next time they open the assignment.

The list includes students' saved drafts as well as submitted work, so you can look in on progress. It loads once, when you first open it, and the grade badges on its rows do not change until you reload; reload the page to see new work and updated grades.

Grades make work final

Under the grading form you are reminded: "A grade makes this work final for the student. Clear the grade to reopen it; your feedback stays."

A grade is free text. Use letters, marks, "Pass", or whatever your course uses.

For students

Join a cohort

1. Open /cohorts and sign in, or create a free account.
2. Under Join with a code, type the code your instructor gave you. Capitals are added for you, and spaces or dashes are ignored.
3. Press Enter or click Join.
4. You see "Joined" and the cohort's name, for example "Joined “CS101 — Spring”." The cohort opens with a student badge.

Joining shows your name to everyone in the cohort and your email address to the instructor.

Work on an assignment

1. Select the cohort and find the assignment card.
2. Read the instructions. Click Preview to see the starter diagram full-size.
3. Click Work on this. Your editor opens, briefly showing "Loading your work…". Click Work on this again to fold it away.
4. The first time, the editor holds the starter diagram source. If you have saved before, it holds your saved work.
5. Edit the source in the text box. The preview above it updates as you type, showing your version.
6. Click Save draft to keep your progress. You see "Draft saved."
7. When you are finished, click Submit. You see "Submitted."

Reset to starter replaces the text box with the original starter source; it does not save anything until you press Save draft or Submit. Your work is saved only when you press one of those two buttons, so save before leaving the page.

Drafts, submitting and resubmitting

Once you have submitted, you can still improve your work and Submit again until your instructor grades it; your instructor grades whatever you submitted last. If your instructor clears the grade, your work reopens.

See your grade and feedback

Open the assignment with Work on this. When your instructor has left a grade or feedback, a box under the editor shows "Grade:" and "Feedback:". Feedback can arrive on a draft before you submit; feedback alone does not lock your work.

Your work, grade and feedback are read the first time you open the editor on a page visit. Folding the editor away and opening it again does not fetch them again, so reload the page to check for a new grade or feedback.

Working in the full Studio

The assignment editor is a plain source editor with a live preview. For the Studio's full tools, copy the source from the text box, paste it into the Studio in the same engine, work there, then copy the finished source back into the assignment editor and press Save draft or Submit. Your submission always uses the assignment's engine.

Join codes

Who sees what

Your account data export includes the cohorts you belong to and the ones you created, the coursework you set for a cohort, and the coursework you submitted with any grade and feedback. See Account settings and your data and Privacy and your data.

When an account is deleted

Tips

• Select the right cohort before drafting with AI: the Post to button posts to whichever cohort is selected.
• Edit the pre-written instructions before posting; they are filled in from your topic by a fixed sentence pattern, not written for your class, and usually need a tidy-up.
• Leave the engine field in Manual entry filled in; an empty engine stops students saving their work.
• Use feedback without a grade for comments on drafts, and add the grade only when the work is final.
• To build a richer starter, start from a template in the Studio, then paste its source into Manual entry.
• Put any deadline in the instructions text, since the Classroom page has no due-date field.
• Students: press Save draft regularly. Nothing is saved automatically.
• Pair the Classroom with the self-paced Learn tracks: an assignment can be a flowss Academy level or mission, and its status comes from each student's verified progress — you see steps done, how many were assisted, the level's exam result and last activity, never their answers or practice documents.

Limits and known constraints

• A cohort has one instructor: the person who created it. There is no way to add a co-instructor or promote a student.
• Cohorts cannot be renamed or deleted, and a join code cannot be changed, from the Classroom page.
• Assignments cannot be edited or deleted after posting. Post a corrected one if needed.
• There is no due-date field when posting, and no reminders are sent.
• Students cannot leave a cohort, and instructors cannot remove a student.
• Anyone with the join code can join; there is no approval step.
• Students work in a source editor on the card, not in the full Studio, and cannot change the assignment's engine.
• Submissions are saved only when the student presses Save draft or Submit.
• The instructor's submissions list, and the grade badges on it, do not refresh by themselves; reload the page.
• No emails are sent when an assignment is posted, a submission arrives or work is graded.
• Limits on saved text: title 200 characters, instructions 20,000, engine id 40, starter and submission source 100,000. Longer text is cut off. A single request larger than about 250 KB is refused.
• An assignment posted with an empty engine field cannot be previewed, and students cannot save or submit work on it. Post a corrected assignment with an engine id.
• Students see a new grade or feedback only after reloading the page.
• The flowss Teams Agent lesson studio needs AI points or your own key; Free has no AI.
• An instructor of a class that still has students cannot delete their account until the class is moved or closed, which is done on request (contact us).
• For team-style collaboration on shared projects (roles, invitations, live editing), use Teams rather than a cohort.

Troubleshooting

For anything not covered here, see Troubleshooting and FAQ or Reliability, status and support. To plan a school or department rollout, use the Teams, education and everything else option on the contact page.

Related pages

• Learn tracks
• Teams and organisations
• Study
• The Studio editor
• Choosing an engine
• Engine reference
• The template gallery
• AI points and limits
• Use cases by role
• Core concepts and glossary