diff --git a/kolibri/core/assets/src/api_resource.js b/kolibri/core/assets/src/api_resource.js
index e063330cd16..d6df4a43c6d 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/assets/src/api_resource.js
+++ b/kolibri/core/assets/src/api_resource.js
@@ -27,12 +27,31 @@ class Model {
     this.synced = false;
 
     // force IDs to always be strings - this should be changed on the server-side too
-    this.attributes[this.resource.idKey] = String(this.attributes[this.resource.idKey]);
+    if ('id' in data) {
+      this.attributes[this.resource.idKey] = String(this.attributes[this.resource.idKey]);
+    }
 
     // Keep track of any unresolved promises that have been generated by async methods of the Model
     this.promises = [];
   }
 
+  getCookie(name) {
+    let cookieValue = null;
+    if (document.cookie && document.cookie !== '') {
+      const cookies = document.cookie.split(';');
+      for (let i = 0; i < cookies.length; i++) {
+        const cookie = cookies[i].trim();
+        // Does this cookie string begin with the name we want?
+        if (cookie.substring(0, name.length + 1) === (name.concat('='))) {
+          cookieValue = decodeURIComponent(cookie.substring(name.length + 1));
+          break;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return cookieValue;
+  }
+
+
   /**
    * Method to fetch data from the server for this particular model.
    * @param {object} params - an object of parameters to be parsed into GET parameters on the
@@ -100,18 +119,21 @@ class Model {
         } else {
           this.synced = false;
           let url;
-          let method;
+          let clientObj;
           if (this.id) {
             // If this Model has an id, then can do a PATCH against the Model
             url = this.url;
-            method = 'PATCH';
+            clientObj = { path: url, method: 'PATCH' };
           } else {
             // Otherwise, must POST to the Collection endpoint to create the Model
             url = this.resource.collectionUrl();
-            method = 'POST';
+            const csrftoken = this.getCookie('csrftoken');
+            clientObj = { path: url, entity: payload,
+              headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+                'X-CSRFToken': csrftoken } };
           }
           // Do a save on the URL.
-          client({ path: url, method }).then((response) => {
+          client(clientObj).then((response) => {
             const oldId = this.id;
             // Set the retrieved Object onto the Model instance.
             this.set(response.entity);
@@ -121,8 +143,8 @@ class Model {
             }
             // Flag that the Model has been fetched.
             this.synced = true;
-            // Resolve the promise with the attributes of the Model.
-            resolve(this.attributes);
+            // Resolve the promise with the Model.
+            resolve(this);
             // Clean up the reference to this promise
             this.promises.splice(this.promises.indexOf(promise), 1);
           }, (response) => {