Outputs

Where a tool writes, and what it calls the files. Every tool follows the same two rules, so once you know them for one you know them for all.

Where files go

The output folder is decided before you press Run, in this order, and the line beside the Run button (Writes to …) names it:

1. The folder set in Settings (Settings › Output folder), if you set one. Every tool then writes there.
2. Next to the input file, when the tool has one and it is not inside the resources folder. A marks file on the Desktop gets its CSVs and chart on the Desktop.
3. <sessions folder>/outputs/<tool>/ otherwise: a tool with no input file (Worksheet), pasted code, or an input picked from the resources folder, which is read-only to every tool. The sessions folder is ~/TeachingSessions unless you changed it, so a worksheet lands in ~/TeachingSessions/outputs/worksheet/ and a Parsons sheet made from a library resource in ~/TeachingSessions/outputs/parsons/.

Never the folder the app happened to be started from. Before the first run the result strip offers Open output folder; after a run its Folder button opens where the files went, and each file has a button of its own. The log line at the end of a run (under Details) repeats the folder. From the terminal, --out <folder> on any command that writes files overrides all three.

A second run with the same input and settings overwrites the previous files; change the seed or the input name to keep both. Quiz also says so: when one of its files was already in the folder, the log and the summary name it (replaced question_bank_donow_s1.pdf). It still overwrites rather than numbering a copy, because the same name means the same bank, kind of sheet, date and seed: a regenerated sheet, not a second one.

What files are called

The stem is the input file's name without its extension (program.py → program), or pasted_code for code typed into the panel. Worksheet has no input, so its stem is built from its options.

Tool	Files	Notes
Marks	<stem>_distribution.csv, <stem>_distribution.png, <stem>_questions.csv	aggregates only; the per-script grades on screen are never written
Worksheet	<topic>_<difficulty>_s<seed>.docx / .pdf and …_key.docx / .pdf	binary_medium_s42.pdf; the seed in the name and in the header regenerates the same set. With Level set to A level the stem is <topic>_<difficulty>_alevel_s<seed>, so it never overwrites the GCSE sheet with the same seed
Parsons	<stem>_parsons_s<seed>.docx / .pdf and …_key
Trace	<stem>_trace.docx / .pdf (blank table) and <stem>_trace_key (completed)
Bugs	<stem>_bug1.py … <stem>_bugN.py, then <stem>_bugs.docx / .pdf and <stem>_bugs_key	one .py per variant, so a variant can be opened in Thonny as it is
Fade	<stem>_faded.docx / .pdf and <stem>_faded_key (the complete solution)
Pseudocode	<stem>.ocr.txt, <stem>.aqa.txt or <stem>.py, by target language	the panel writes unless Save output is Don't save; the terminal only with --save
Quiz	export: <bank stem>_<format>_s<seed>, so question_bank_kahoot_s1.xlsx + .csv, question_bank_forms_s1.txt, or question_bank_donow_s1.docx / .pdf + question_bank_donow_s1_key. Retrieval: <bank stem>_retrieval_<date>_<format>_s<seed>, so question_bank_retrieval_2026-10-09_donow_s1.pdf + _key	the date is the As of date the questions were picked for; a do-now and a retrieval starter from one bank never share a name
Classroom	<sessions folder>/<date>/<lesson label>/<original name>; Promote writes <stem>_v2<ext> beside the original (loops_v2.py, then _v3, never overwriting)	lesson copies, not outputs: they follow the sessions folder, not the rules above

Every sheet comes from one document model (house style): the pupil-facing file has the stem alone, the answers go in a separate _key file with the same stem, and Output (--format docx|pdf|both, default both) chooses the formats (Quiz's do-now always writes both). A tool whose document has no answer section writes no key.

What the files hold

• Marks writes counts, percentages and per-question statistics. No row of the input is ever written; see Privacy.
• Worksheet, Parsons, Trace, Bugs, Fade and the do-now carry your header and footer text, the title, the topic and the date. Worksheet, Parsons and Bugs print the seed and settings under the title, so a sheet can be made again; Trace says how many steps it recorded and whether it hit the cap.
• Bugs' .py variants are the input program with one line changed; the key says which line and what the change does.
• Quiz's Kahoot files follow Kahoot's import template; the .csv has the same columns for a look before uploading.

Terms used here (seed, key, distractor, variant, stem) are in the Glossary.