Knowledge Base
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Running a class with Code Sessions

A session lets a whole class use MicroChat without anyone creating accounts. You set it up once, share a join code, and every student gets their own private chat.

Everything below also applies to Arcade Sessions — the only difference is that students make games instead of micro:bit programs.

Creating a session

  1. From the Dashboard, click Code Sessions (or Arcade Sessions), then the + button next to the page title.
  2. Fill in:
    • Name – students will see this when they join, e.g. "Grade 6 Weather Station".
    • # of Seats – how many students can join. Each seat comes from your plan.
    • Message Limit – how many messages each student can send.
    • Expiry date – after this date, nobody can send messages.
    • Starter prompt (optional) – text that appears in each student's chat box when they join, e.g. "Make the micro:bit show the temperature." Great for guiding a lesson.
  3. Click Create.

Sharing the join code

On the session page, click Share Code Session. Students need two things:

  • The join code (8 letters and numbers, shown as XXXX-XXXX).
  • An alias — a friendly animal name they pick from a list. No real names, no accounts.

See Joining a session as a student for what students do.

Watching the class

The session page shows who has joined and each student's latest message. Click a student to open their chat and see their work.

While a session is running, a green Live Sessions panel appears in the left-hand menu on every page — with the session name, how many students have joined, and how long it's been running. Click it to jump straight back to the session.

Pausing, editing, and archiving

  • Pause stops students from sending messages; Resume lets them continue.
  • Edit changes the name, seats, message limit, expiry, or starter prompt.
  • Archive ends the session for good and frees its seats. Archived sessions can't be restarted, but you can still read the chats.

Seats

Seats are the number of students who can be in your sessions at the same time. A session reserves its seats while it's running and gives them back when archived. Check Code Sessions for your available seats, and Upgrade Plan if you need more.