How it works

Three groups of people touch the system, and the registry ties them together.

This page describes the open catalog

Everything below — self-service registration, learner reports, moderation — belongs to the shared public catalog. Run the same registry for a single organization or as a provider portal and the moderation half disappears entirely, because nobody is listing platforms you didn't choose. See Three ways to run it.

  LMS owner                Registry (web)                    Learner (mobile app)
 ┌──────────┐   register   ┌───────────────────┐   catalog   ┌──────────────────┐
 │  Wizard  │─────────────▶│  auto-approved     │◀───────────│  search / browse │
 └──────────┘              │  + admin review    │            │  pick an LMS     │
       ▲                   │                    │            │                  │
       │ email + appeal    │  complaints inbox  │◀── report ─│  "report this    │
       └───────────────────│  block / dismiss   │            │   LMS" (Profile) │
                           └───────────────────┘            └──────────────────┘

The pieces

Piece	Who uses it	What it does
Mobile app (iOS + Android)	Learners	Find a platform, sign in, learn, report problems
Registration wizard (web)	LMS owners	Register and theme an Open edX instance
Admin console (web)	Administrators	Review platforms, triage complaints, block/restore
Registry API	The apps	Serves the catalog and takes in complaints

The lifecycle of a platform

1. Registered. An owner completes the wizard. The registry verifies the URL and OAuth client are reachable, then adds the instance to the catalog.
2. Live, unverified. With auto-approve on (the pilot default), the platform is searchable in the app immediately. It's flagged unreviewed so an admin knows to confirm it.
3. Reviewed. An admin checks it and marks it reviewed.
4. Reported. If learners flag it, complaints collect against it.
5. Blocked (if needed). An admin removes it from the catalog. The app stops showing it. The owner is told why.
6. Restored. The owner fixes the issue and requests a re-review; an admin restores it.

A learner's report as the moderator sees it — message, evidence, and one-tap Block / Dismiss

Trust & safety, in one line

Anyone can register a platform, so anyone can register a bad one. The whole moderation side exists for that: learners report, admins see volume and distinct reporters, and a human always makes the block decision — there is no automatic takedown that a spam campaign could trigger.

Grouping by platform shows distinct reporters — how you tell a real problem from one person filing many reports