Step 2 — Configure DrillBit credentials in the plugin LMS
With the DrillBit plugin installed, the second step is to wire it up to your DrillBit account. You’ll choose which Moodle activity types DrillBit should run on, enter the DrillBit account credentials and API key, pick the DrillBit region, and test the connection — once the connection check succeeds and you save, the plugin is ready to use across the site.
Before you start: complete Step 1 — Install the DrillBit plugin and have your DrillBit account email, password, and API key ready. The API key is issued by DrillBit support; if you don’t have one, contact sales@drillbitplagiarism.com.
1. Open the DrillBit plugin configuration page
- From Site administration, open the Plugins tab.
- Click Plugins overview.
- Use Ctrl + F to search for Drillbit plagiarism plugin and click on it.
- The Drillbit plagiarism settings page opens. You can also reach it directly from Site administration › Plugins › Plagiarism › Drillbit plagiarism plugin.
2. Enable DrillBit for the activity types you use
Under Drillbit plagiarism plugin configuration, tick the activity types that DrillBit should run on:
- Enable drillbit for Assign – checks files submitted to Moodle Assignments.
- Enable drillbit for Forum – checks posts and attachments in Forums.
- Enable drillbit for Quiz – checks free-text answers in Quizzes.
- Enable drillbit for Workshop – checks submissions in the Workshop activity.
You can tick all four, or only the activity types your institution actually uses for written submissions. Unticked types behave exactly as they did before the plugin was installed.
3. Enter your DrillBit account details
Open the Drillbit account configuration section and fill in:
| Drillbit email ID | Your DrillBit account email (the one that the API key is issued against). |
|---|---|
| Drillbit password | The password for that DrillBit account. |
| Drillbit api key | The API key issued by DrillBit support for your institution. |
| Drillbit api url | Pick the DrillBit region this site should talk to (for example https://s1.drillbitplagiarismcheck.com). If you’re unsure, ask DrillBit support which region your account lives in. |
Use a dedicated DrillBit service account for this configuration — not an individual instructor’s personal login. The credentials sit in Moodle’s database and are used for every submission the plugin processes, so reusing a personal account ties all activity to that one user.
4. Test the connection
- Click Test drillbit connection just below the API URL field.
- If the credentials and API URL are correct, the page reloads with Connection test successfull and prints the access token it received from DrillBit — this confirms Moodle can reach the DrillBit API and authenticate.
If the test fails, the most common causes are:
- Wrong password — verify by logging in to DrillBit directly.
- Wrong API key — copy it again from the welcome email or ask DrillBit support to re-send it.
- Wrong region in Drillbit api url — switch to the correct
s1/s2/etc. endpoint. - Outbound HTTPS blocked — whitelist
*.drillbitplagiarismcheck.comon the Moodle server’s firewall.
5. Save the configuration
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save changes.
- Moodle stores the configuration and returns you to the Plugins overview.
Plugin configured. Instructors can now create an Assignment / Forum / Quiz / Workshop activity, enable DrillBit in the activity’s plagiarism panel, and submissions will be sent to DrillBit for similarity checking automatically.
What happens next
From now on, in any course:
- When an instructor edits an Assignment / Forum / Quiz / Workshop, they’ll see a Drillbit plagiarism plugin panel where they can toggle DrillBit on for that activity and choose per-activity settings (e.g. exclude quotes / references, store in repository).
- When a student submits a file, the plugin uploads it to DrillBit, and the resulting similarity score and a link to the full report appear next to the submission in the gradebook.