⚠️ Note: Moodle automation works differently from most Certifier automations.
Rather than a trigger → action automation, Certifier connects to Moodle through a native plugin installed directly in your Moodle instance. You add a Certifier activity to any course, and when a learner completes the course, Certifier automatically issues their credential.
How Moodle Automation Works
A Moodle admin installs the Certifier plugin from the Moodle Plugin Directory.
The admin configures the plugin with a Certifier API key.
An instructor adds a Certifier activity to a course and maps it to a Credential Template.
The instructor sets up course completion requirements.
A learner completes the required course activities.
Moodle marks the course as complete.
Certifier automatically issues the credential and sends it to the learner by email.
Before You Begin
Make sure you have the following ready:
Moodle admin access to install plugins at the site level.
A Moodle course where you can add activities.
A Certifier account with access to:
A Certifier API key — you'll generate this in Certifier before configuring the plugin.
A published Credential Template in Certifier, ready to issue.
Step 1: Install the Certifier Plugin
Log in to Moodle as an admin.
Go to Site Administration in the top menu.
Navigate to Plugins → Install plugins.
Click Install plugins from the Moodle plugins directory.
Search for Certifier and open the plugin listing.
Click Install now.
Follow the on-screen prompts. On the last step, Plugins Check, click Upgrade Moodle database now to finish the installation.
💡 After the database upgrade, Moodle will show the Certifier plugin configuration screen. Keep this tab open — you'll fill it in during the next step.
Step 2: Generate API Access Key in Certifier
Open Certifier in a new tab and log in to your account.
Go to Settings → Developers → Access Tokens and click the Generate Access Token button.
Give it a name (e.g., Moodle), continue, and Copy Token once it's generated.
⚠️ Note: Please keep in mind that for security reasons, Certifier shows your access token just once. Copy and paste it straight after it is generated. Consider storing your access token in a secure place to set up other integrations.
Step 3: Configure the Plugin
Go back to the plugin configuration screen. It has three settings:
API URL: Keep this unchanged.
API Key (required): Paste the API Token generated in the previous step.
Custom Issuer Portal Domain (optional): If your Certifier workspace uses a custom domain, enter it here so credential links point to your branded URL.
If you don't use a custom domain, leave this blank — credentials will link to the default Certifier credential page.
Once you enter the token and (optionally) your custom domain, click Save changes.
✅ That's it — the plugin is now installed and connected to your Certifier workspace.
Step 4: Prepare Your Credential Template
Before adding the Certifier activity to your course, confirm your Credential Template is ready.
Open the Credential Template you want to issue in Certifier.
Make sure it's published, and the design includes the recipient's name and email.
Confirm that email delivery is configured if learners should receive a credential email.
📓 Need to set up a template first? Check out How to Create and Manage Credential Templates.
Step 5: Add the Certifier Activity to Your Course
Open the Moodle course you want to add certification to.
Toggle Edit mode on (top right corner).
In the section where you want to place the Certifier activity, click Add an activity or resource.
Select Certifier from the activity list.
Fill in the activity settings:
Activity name: Give it a clear name learners will recognise, e.g., Leadership Accelerator Certificate or Certifier credential for Leadership Accelerator Bootcamp
Certifier credential:
Credential template: Select the template you want to issue from the dropdown.
Delivery mode: For a fully automated flow, leave this option set to Create + issue + send. This way, the credentials will be automatically issued and sent to your recipients when the automation is triggered.
Issuance trigger: Select Course completion.
Custom attribute mapping (optional) — Map additional fields if needed, such as the course ID number.
Scroll down to Completion Conditions and set it to None.
Click Save and return to course.
⚠️ Important: Setting the activity Completion conditions to None is intentional. Since the credential is triggered by course completion — not by the learner opening this activity — the Certifier activity itself doesn't need a completion state.
Step 6: Enable Course Completion Tracking
For Certifier to know when to issue a credential, Moodle needs to track when the course is complete. If you haven't already enabled this, here's how:
In the course, go to the Settings section.
Find Completion tracking, and make sure that both values are set to Yes.
Click Save and display.
Then define what counts as course completion:
Go to the More → Course completion.
Under Condition: Activity completion, check the activities that must be completed (e.g., the learner must view a page, pass a quiz, or submit an assignment).
Click Save changes.
💡 Tip: Each required activity also needs its own completion condition configured. Open each activity → Edit settings → Activity completion and choose the appropriate condition (e.g., "Student must manually mark activity as complete" or "Require grade").
Step 7: Enroll Learners
In the course, navigate to the Participants section in the top menu.
Click Enroll users.
Search for and select the learners you want to enroll.
Set their role to Student.
Click Enroll users to confirm.
Step 8: Test the Setup
Always test with a real learner account before your course goes live.
Log in with a test learner account (not your admin or teacher account).
Open the course and complete the required activities — view pages, submit assignments, pass quizzes, whatever you set as completion conditions.
Once all conditions are met, Moodle marks the course as complete.
Certifier automatically issues the credential. ✅
The learner receives a Moodle notification with a link to view their credential. They can also visit the Certifier Activity to view their credential.
The learner also receives a credential email from Certifier (only if the chosen delivery mode includes sending).
In Certifier, confirm the issued credential appears in the selected Credential Template.
What Learners Experience
When a learner completes all required course activities, everything happens automatically:
Moodle triggers course completion.
Certifier issues the credential instantly — no extra steps needed from the learner.
A notification appears inside Moodle with a link to the credential page.
A credential email arrives from Certifier.
Learners don't need to do anything special to claim their credential — it's issued the moment their course is marked complete.
Troubleshooting
The Certifier activity doesn't appear in the activity picker
The plugin may not have been fully installed. Go to Site Administration → Plugins → Plugins overview and confirm Certifier is listed. If not, repeat the installation and make sure you complete the database upgrade step.
Credentials are not being issued after course completion
Check three things: (1) the Certifier activity's Issuance trigger is set to Course completion, (2) Completion tracking is enabled in the course settings, and (3) the required activities each have their own Activity completion conditions configured.
"Invalid API key" error during configuration
The key may have been copied incorrectly or has expired. Go to Certifier Settings → API Keys, generate a new key, and re-enter it in Moodle's plugin settings under Site Administration → Plugins → Certifier.
No Credential Templates appear in the activity settings
Make sure you have at least one published Credential Template in Certifier. Then reload the Certifier activity settings page in Moodle.
Learner completes the course but receives no credential email
Check that email delivery is enabled in the Credential Template settings in Certifier, and confirm the learner's email address is correctly stored in their Moodle profile.
Need more help?
If you still have questions, reach out via the chat icon in the lower right corner, or email us directly: [email protected]