Plays and limits
A play is one start of a lab. Sharing counts plays per end user per share, and refuses a start once the end user’s plays are spent or their access window has closed.
What counts as a play
Section titled “What counts as a play”A play is counted when an end user clicks Start lab and Instruqt creates a session for them. Nothing before that counts.
- Opening the link does not count. Admission records the end user and fixes their terms, but spends no play.
- Reading the lab’s title, description and outline does not count.
- A refused start does not count. If the end user is out of plays or out of their window, nothing is spent.
- A failed start does not count. If the lab cannot start, for example because its sandbox cannot be created, Instruqt gives the play back.
- A preview from the embed’s Share tab does not count against the embed. It counts as a normal play by you.
When an existing session is resumed
Section titled “When an existing session is resumed”An end user has at most one running session per lab. If they open the share link while their session is still running, the player shows Resume lab instead of Start lab, and clicking it resumes the session without counting a play.
This holds even when their plays are spent or their access window has closed. A running session is theirs until it stops. The window and the play count decide whether they can start, not whether they can continue.
Once the session stops, the next click on Start lab is a new play.
Messages an end user can see
Section titled “Messages an end user can see”When Instruqt refuses an end user, the player shows one of these messages. The title is bold. Ask the end user which one they see.
| Message | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| This link is no longer active | The embed was revoked, its link was rotated, or the link is malformed. | Send a current link. Check the embed is in the Active group and the page uses the current snippet. |
| This link has expired | The embed’s expiry date has passed. | Edit the embed’s Embed expires setting. |
| This lab cannot be embedded here | The page holding the iframe is not on one of the embed’s Allowed sites, or the end user opened the bare link while the embed has an allow-list. | Add the site’s origin to Allowed sites, or open the lab from the allowed page. |
| This link was already used | A play token was opened by someone else first. The first person to open a play token is the only one it admits. | An LMS learner launches from the LMS again to get their own token. For a token from the API, mint a new one for this person. |
| Your access has ended | The end user’s access window has closed, or you removed them. | Use Extend access on their row in the end users table. |
| You have used all your plays | The end user has started the lab as many times as their cap allows. | Use Give more plays on their row, or raise Plays per end user for future end users. |
| Something went wrong | Instruqt could not check the end user’s access. | Try again in a moment. If it persists, contact support with the lab and the time. |
Limits
Section titled “Limits”- Team session limits apply. Every play through a share counts toward your team’s session limits. A share with unlimited plays is capped only by those limits.
- Embed access windows are fixed choices. An embed’s access window is
1 hour,24 hours,7 daysor30 days. Extending one end user offers1 hour,24 hoursor7 days. A play token from the API takes any window, in seconds. - An embed end user is a browser. Clearing browser data, a private window or a different device makes a new end user with a fresh window and play count. There is no way to merge them.
- Allowed sites depend on the browser’s referrer. The check uses the origin the browser reports for the page that holds the iframe. A browser or extension that hides the referrer is refused when an allow-list is set.
- One lab per share. An embed or play token covers one lab. Share several labs with several embeds.
Known gaps
Section titled “Known gaps”- Play tokens have no page in the Instruqt UI. See Play tokens.
- The end user’s splash does not show how many plays or how much time they have left.
- Removing an end user or revoking an embed does not stop a session that is already running.
- A lab in an embed cannot send the end user back to your page when they leave it. See Leaving a lab in an embed.