Lw Lms Backend Extend

LW LMS: backend extension contract

For companion plugins or themes extending LW LMS from PHP: enrollment automation, certificates, progress writes, access checks, custom settings tabs, analytics, admin tooling, and integrations with WooCommerce, WooCommerce Subscriptions, or WooCommerce Memberships.

BETA NOTICE. The plugin README says the plugin is under active development and not recommended for production use. Pin a tested version and review CHANGELOG.md before upgrading. This skill is verified against local lw-lms v1.6.0.

Version deltas that matter

• v1.6.0: lw_lms_has_course_access is reachable again as the final logged-in paid-course decision after all built-in checks. AccessRepository::revoke_by_source() adds source-scoped stored-access revocation. Minimum PHP is now 8.2.
• v1.5.1: maintenance release, no functional changes.
• v1.5.0: WooCommerce Memberships access. Paid courses can link membership plans through _lw_lms_membership_plan_ids. Active members get access at read time through MembershipChecker; no DB schema change and no access row is written.
• v1.4.0: WP-CLI operational workflow added. Use lw-lms-wp-cli-operations for those commands.
• v1.4.0: lw_lms_settings_tabs filter and SettingsPage::get_settings_group() added for companion settings tabs and shared options.php saving.
• v1.4.0: course REST content is public; only lesson content remains access-gated.
• v1.3.0: enrollment/progress hook contract added or centralized: lw_lms_pre_grant, lw_lms_after_grant, lw_lms_after_revoke, ProgressRepository::mark_course_completed(), read/write splits.

v1.6.0 course-access filter contract

AccessChecker::has_course_access() now reaches lw_lms_has_course_access after the complete built-in paid-course cascade: access rows, parent subscriptions, variation subscriptions, WooCommerce Memberships, then legacy purchases. The callback receives the aggregate built-in result and has final say, so it can grant or deliberately deny logged-in paid-course access.

The filter is not universal:

• open returns true before the filter;
• anonymous free or paid access returns false before the filter;
• free access for a logged-in user lazily grants source='free' and returns true before the filter;
• logged-in paid access reaches the filter after all built-in checks.

Preserve a built-in grant unless the integration intentionally implements a denial policy:

add_filter(
    'lw_lms_has_course_access',
    static function ( bool $has_access, int $course_id, int $user_id ): bool {
        if ( $has_access ) {
            return true;
        }

        return MyMembership::has_course_access( $user_id, $course_id );
    },
    10,
    3
);

This is a runtime decision only: returning true does not create an access row and does not fire grant/revoke actions. Keep the callback deterministic, side-effect-free, and fast. CourseTransformer::transform_full() currently calls has_course_access() directly and again through get_access_info(), so the filter runs twice while producing one full paid-course response. A time-varying result can make access.has_access disagree with lesson/attachment gating.

Use AccessRepository::grant() instead when the entitlement should be durable, auditable, expirable, or should fire enrollment automation.

lw_lms_has_lesson_access is more useful, but it is still not universal: it fires for open-course lessons and the normal course-access branch, but preview lessons return before that filter.

Detailed contract reference

Read references/backend-contract-details.md when the task needs the plugin identity, CPT/taxonomy/table/meta map, exact repository read/write examples, settings-tab implementation, or expanded wrong/right examples. The access-filter, hook, workflow, and safety rules needed for normal extension work remain below.

Hooks

Actions

Filters

Always register callbacks with the right accepted-args value:

add_action( 'lw_lms_after_grant', 'my_enrollment_handler', 10, 5 );
add_action( 'lw_lms_after_revoke', 'my_revoke_handler', 10, 3 );
add_filter( 'lw_lms_pre_grant', 'my_pre_grant_guard', 10, 6 );

Access paths

If downstream automation must react to subscriptions or memberships, hook WooCommerce Subscriptions or WooCommerce Memberships lifecycle events directly, or write an access row yourself through AccessRepository::grant() when your integration decides access should become durable.

Common workflows

React to enrollment

add_action(
    'lw_lms_after_grant',
    static function ( int $user_id, int $course_id, string $source, ?int $source_id, ?string $expires_at ): void {
        MyAnalytics::track( 'lms_enrolled', compact( 'user_id', 'course_id', 'source' ) );
        MyDripScheduler::start( $user_id, $course_id );
    },
    10,
    5
);

This catches Woo completed orders, admin manual grants, free-course lazy grants, and your own AccessRepository::grant() calls. It does not catch live subscription, membership, or legacy purchase access checks.

Abort a grant

add_filter(
    'lw_lms_pre_grant',
    static function ( bool $allow, int $user_id, int $course_id, string $source, ?int $source_id, ?string $expires_at ): bool {
        if ( ! $allow ) {
            return false;
        }

        if ( MySeats::is_full( $course_id ) ) {
            return false;
        }

        return true;
    },
    10,
    6
);

Returning false prevents the DB write and prevents lw_lms_after_grant.

Issue a certificate once

add_action( 'lw_lms_course_completed', static function ( int $course_id, int $user_id ): void {
    MyCertificateGenerator::issue( $user_id, $course_id );
}, 10, 2 );

The completion snapshot makes this a one-shot event per user/course pair.

Give runtime access from another membership system

add_filter(
    'lw_lms_has_course_access',
    static function ( bool $has_access, int $course_id, int $user_id ): bool {
        return $has_access || MyMembership::has_course_access( $user_id, $course_id );
    },
    10,
    3
);

Use this only for a fast, deterministic live check. It affects logged-in paid access but writes no enrollment row and fires no enrollment lifecycle action.

Persist access from another membership system

if ( MyMembership::user_joined_plan( $user_id, 'pro' ) ) {
    \LightweightPlugins\LMS\Access\AccessRepository::grant(
        $user_id,
        $course_id,
        'my_membership',
        MyMembership::membership_id( $user_id ),
        null
    );
}

When that membership ends, revoke only the row owned by the integration:

\LightweightPlugins\LMS\Access\AccessRepository::revoke_by_source(
    $user_id,
    $course_id,
    'my_membership',
    MyMembership::membership_id( $user_id )
);

Critical rules

• Use AccessRepository::grant() and revoke_by_source() for integration-owned stored access changes. The broad revoke() changes only the first active row regardless of origin. Direct SQL skips hooks.
• Use ProgressRepository::upsert() and mark_course_completed() for progress changes. Direct SQL skips completion hooks and snapshots.
• Do not call old read methods on repositories. Reads live in AccessQueries and ProgressQueries.
• lw_lms_after_grant needs 5 accepted args; lw_lms_pre_grant needs 6; lw_lms_after_revoke needs 3.
• Subscriptions, subscription variations, memberships, and legacy purchases are live checks unless your integration writes an access row.
• The access table unique key and grant() lookup ignore source; use a stable, collision-resistant non-null source_id for external grants.
• expires_at is enforced on read by AccessQueries::has_active_access(). No expiry cron fires lw_lms_after_revoke.
• ProgressRepository::delete() does not delete completion snapshots. If an admin reset must also undo completion, call ProgressSnapshotRepository::delete() deliberately.
• lw_lms_has_course_access is the final logged-in paid-course decision in v1.6.0, but open/free/anonymous paths bypass it. Keep it deterministic, side-effect-free, and cheap.
• revoke_by_source( ..., $source, null ) revokes every active row for that source, not only null-source-ID rows.
• Add companion settings through lw_lms_settings_tabs plus SettingsPage::get_settings_group(), not a second unrelated form.

Cross-references

• Use lw-lms-rest-frontend for learner-facing /wp-json/lms/v1 consumers.
• Use lw-lms-abilities for admin/agent lw-lms/* Abilities API calls.
• Use lw-lms-wp-cli-operations for operational CLI commands added in v1.4.0.
• Use lw-lms-learndash-migration for the one-time LearnDash migration.
• Use WooCommerce Subscriptions/Memberships specific skills when reacting to their lifecycle events.

What this skill does NOT cover

• Public frontend rendering. Core lw-lms is headless.
• LearnDash import details.
• Custom REST route registration.
• Replacing the plugin's access calculator or progress calculator.
• Treating WooCommerceChecker, SubscriptionVariationChecker, or MembershipChecker as stable public services. Prefer AccessChecker or a stored grant.

References

• Plugin entry: lw-lms.php.
• Main wiring: includes/Plugin.php.
• DB/tables/caps: includes/Activator.php, includes/Access/AccessTable.php, progress table classes.
• Access cascade and current filter placement: includes/Access/AccessChecker.php.
• Stored access writes: includes/Access/AccessRepository.php.
• Stored access reads: includes/Access/AccessQueries.php.
• Woo order grants: includes/Access/AccessGranter.php.
• Subscriptions and memberships: includes/Access/WooCommerceChecker.php, SubscriptionVariationChecker.php, MembershipChecker.php.
• Progress writes and hooks: includes/Progress/ProgressRepository.php, CompletionTracker.php.
• Settings extension: includes/Admin/SettingsPage.php, includes/Admin/Settings/TabInterface.php.
• Changelog source of version deltas: CHANGELOG.md.
• Official documentation: https://github.com/lwplugins/lw-lms
• Verified source paths:
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Options.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Admin/UserProfile.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Admin/UserProfile/EnrollmentHandler.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Meta/CourseMeta.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Meta/LessonMeta.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Meta/SubscriptionVariationMeta.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Progress/ProgressQueries.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Progress/ProgressCalculator.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Progress/ProgressSnapshotRepository.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Progress/ProgressSnapshotTable.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Progress/ProgressSnapshotMigration.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Api/Controllers/ProgressController.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/Api/Controllers/DownloadController.php
  • wp-content/plugins/lw-lms/includes/SiteManager/Integration.php