instructure/canvas-lms · error · GraphQL::ExecutionError

Assignments under moderation cannot be posted before grades…

Error message

Assignments under moderation cannot be posted before grades are published

What it means

PostAssignmentGrades refuses to post when assignment.grades_published? is false, i.e. the assignment is a moderated grading assignment whose grades have not yet been published by the moderator. Posting is only allowed after publication.

Solutions

  1. Wait for grades to be published: have the moderator publish provisional grades in SpeedGrader/moderation page.
  2. Check assignment.grades_published? before calling the mutation and defer the post.
  3. If moderation is not intended, remove the final grader / moderated grading setting on the assignment.

Example fix

// before
await postAssignmentGrades({assignmentId, ...});
// after
if (!assignment.gradesPublished) {
  throw new Error("Publish provisional grades before posting");
}
await postAssignmentGrades({assignmentId, ...});
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (!assignment.gradesPublished) { queueForLater(assignmentId); return; }

Try / catch

try { await post(); } catch (e) { if (/grades are published/.test(e.message)) scheduleRetryAfterPublication(); }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling postAssignmentGrades on a moderated assignment before the moderator clicks 'Release Grades'/publishes provisional grades.

Common situations: Automations or SIS integrations posting grades during a moderation window; teachers attempting to post before the moderation workflow completes.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ca5aaaf354609f36. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at app/graphql/mutations/post_assignment_grades.rb:46

  argument :skip_student_ids, [ID], required: false, prepare: GraphQLHelpers.relay_or_legacy_ids_prepare_func("User")

  field :assignment, Types::AssignmentType, null: true
  field :progress, Types::ProgressType, null: true
  field :sections, [Types::SectionType], null: true

  def resolve(input:)
    begin
      assignment = AbstractAssignment.find_assignment_or_peer_review(input[:assignment_id])
      course = assignment.context
      sections = input[:section_ids] ? course.course_sections.where(id: input[:section_ids]) : nil
    rescue ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
      raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "not found"
    end

    verify_authorized_action!(assignment, :grade)

    unless assignment.grades_published?
      raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "Assignments under moderation cannot be posted before grades are published"
    end
    raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "Anonymous assignments cannot be posted by section" if sections && assignment.anonymous_grading?

    if input[:graded_only] && assignment.anonymous_grading
      raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "Anonymous assignments cannot be posted by graded only"
    end

    if input[:only_student_ids] && input[:skip_student_ids]
      raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, I18n.t("{a} and {b} cannot be used together", a: "only_student_ids", b: "skip_student_ids")
    end

    visible_enrollments = course.apply_enrollment_visibility(course.student_enrollments, current_user, sections)
    visible_enrollments = visible_enrollments.where(user_id: input[:only_student_ids]) if input[:only_student_ids]
    visible_enrollments = visible_enrollments.where.not(user_id: input[:skip_student_ids]) if input[:skip_student_ids]

    submissions_scope = input[:graded_only] ? assignment.submissions.postable : assignment.submissions
    submissions_scope = submissions_scope.joins(user: :enrollments).merge(visible_enrollments)
    submission_ids = submissions_scope.pluck(:id)

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