Canvas Parent MCP

Name: Canvas Parent MCP
Author: chrischall

by chrischallversion 2.2.3i★ –iRuns on your computer

Registry nameio.github.chrischall/canvas-parent-mcp

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Canvas LMS (Instructure) for Claude — courses, grades, assignments, planner, files

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

These three are never merged into one score: opinions, measurements and popularity are different things.

User voiceiNo reviews yetReviews open together with accounts in a later step
Our basic checksi1 of 1 passedChecked from public information; code not scanned yet
UsageiEarly↓ 989/wk · ★ –

What you can do with it

We have not written a plain-language summary for this one yet. Below are the facts we read from the registry.

Connection: Runs on your computer
Transport: stdio
Category: Games, sports, food & learning
You need to fill in: CANVAS_BASE_URL, CANVAS_PASSWORD, CANVAS_TOKEN, CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET, CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN

Install

Pick the AI app you use, then copy the settings.

Before you install

Basic checks: 1 of 1 passed
Runs on your computer with your user’s permissions (files, network, apps).
You fill in yourself: CANVAS_BASE_URL, CANVAS_USERNAME, CANVAS_PASSWORD, CANVAS_TOKEN, CANVAS_CLIENT_ID, CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET, CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN, CANVAS_NAME, CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE, CANVAS_SESSION_FILE, CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR, CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY, FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT, FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST, FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR

Values marked secret are keys to your account. Never share them or paste them into a chat.

You need

npmNode.js installed (for the npx command)

Which app do you use?

ClaudeClaude CodeCursorVS CodeChatGPT

Pick your app above. We remember it, so next time the button says “Install in …”.

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config, and paste this into claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-parent": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-parent-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_USERNAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_PASSWORD": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_ID": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_NAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_FILE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add canvas-parent --env CANVAS_BASE_URL=your-value --env CANVAS_USERNAME=your-value --env CANVAS_PASSWORD=your-value --env CANVAS_TOKEN=your-value --env CANVAS_CLIENT_ID=your-value --env CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET=your-value --env CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN=your-value --env CANVAS_NAME=your-value --env CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE=your-value --env CANVAS_SESSION_FILE=your-value --env CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR=your-value --env CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY=your-value --env FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT=your-value --env FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST=your-value --env FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR=your-value -- npx -y canvas-parent-mcp

Fill in the empty values before running it.

Open in Cursor

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-parent": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-parent-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_USERNAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_PASSWORD": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_ID": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_NAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_FILE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

Open in VS Code

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "canvas-parent": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-parent-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_USERNAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_PASSWORD": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_ID": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_NAME": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_SESSION_FILE": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR": "your-value",
        "CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST": "your-value",
        "FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

This one runs on your computer, and ChatGPT can only connect to servers on the internet. Pick another app.

Your choice stays on this device in a cookie; no account needed.

Values you fill in

CANVAS_BASE_URL required env
Canvas instance base URL, e.g. https://cms.instructure.com
CANVAS_USERNAME env
Canvas login username/email (recommended) — pair with CANVAS_PASSWORD for auto-login. No SSO/2FA.
CANVAS_PASSWORD secret env
Canvas password (recommended) — required iff CANVAS_USERNAME is set
CANVAS_TOKEN secret env
Canvas personal access token (advanced) — most schools have disabled token creation
CANVAS_CLIENT_ID env
Canvas OAuth client ID (advanced — for SSO accounts that can't use username/password)
CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET secret env
Canvas OAuth client secret (advanced)
CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN secret env
Canvas OAuth refresh token (advanced) — bootstrap via canvas-parent-mcp-qr-login
CANVAS_NAME env
Friendly name for the Canvas instance (defaults to the host portion of the base URL)
CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE env
Set to false to disable the on-disk session cache and re-authenticate on every process start. Defaults to enabled.
CANVAS_SESSION_FILE env
Absolute path for the session cache file. Defaults to $MCP_DATA_DIR/.canvas-parent-mcp/session.json.
CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR env
Directory canvas_download_file may write into (default ~/Downloads). A relative destinationPath is resolved against it.
CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY env
Set to 1 to turn off the browser (fetchproxy) fallback, so missing credentials are a hard error instead.
FETCHPROXY_WS_PORT env
Localhost port of the fetchproxy concentrator the ContextMint Bridge extension connects to (default 37149). Every MCP on one machine shares it, so move it for all of them or not at all.
FETCHPROXY_WS_HOST env
Bind interface for the fetchproxy concentrator, a literal IP only (default 127.0.0.1). Keep on loopback; it exists for hosted deployments that run each MCP in its own network namespace.
FETCHPROXY_IDENTITY_DIR env
Absolute path where the fetchproxy long-term identity keypair is stored (default ~/.fetchproxy/identity/).

These settings are generated from the maker’s registry entry. If the README says otherwise, follow the README.

What it can do

Runs on your computer; the tool list appears in your AI app after you install it.

Basic checksi

We check information anyone can see; we have not read the code. Checks that do not apply are left out of the count. · Checked Nov 9, 2026

✓ Pass
Maker matches the repo
The registry name was verified with the GitHub account chrischall, which owns the repo
… Not checked yet
Still maintained
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
… Not checked yet
Has a licence
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
– Not applicable
Endpoint responds
This one runs on your computer; there is no internet endpoint
– Not applicable
Sign-in with OAuth
Runs on your computer and uses local settings instead
… Not checked yet
No hidden instructions in tool descriptions
Runs on your computer; we can only read tool lists from internet endpoints

Compared with others in Games, sports, food & learningi

More stars than 0% of the other 1319 servers in this category
Published to the registry more recently than 93% of the other 1319 servers in this category
Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 1319 servers in this category

Compared with every active server in this category in the registry. Stars count only when the publisher owns the repo.

Common questions

Is Canvas Parent MCP safe?

It passed 1 of 1 applicable basic checks. We have not read the code. Before adding a key or token, see what access the server asks for and use a key with only the permissions you need.

What keys or codes does it need?

You need to fill in: CANVAS_BASE_URL, CANVAS_PASSWORD, CANVAS_TOKEN, CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET, CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs on your computer. Your AI app starts it when needed, and data does not pass through the maker’s servers (unless it calls an online service itself).

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (2.2.3) reached the registry 2 days ago.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. You also need Node.js on your computer.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: League Loom, Lamplight Daily Verse, CoreForge Books

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README from the maker

Open the README

Copied from the maker’s repo as written. PopNx MCP has not reviewed or endorsed it. HTML, images and scripts are removed. Links lead off this site.

canvas-parent-mcp

MCP server for Canvas LMS (Instructure), scoped for parent observers and student self-access. Targets https://cms.instructure.com by default but works against any Canvas instance.

Mirrors the read-only parent-portal scope of sibling infinitecampus-mcp. Users interact via the canvas_* tool prefix.

Tools

18 tools across profile, observees, courses, assignments, submissions, grades, calendar, planner, announcements, conversations, discussions, and files.

Domain	Tools
Profile	`canvas_get_profile`
Observees	`canvas_list_observees`
Courses	`canvas_list_courses`, `canvas_get_course`
Assignments	`canvas_list_assignments`, `canvas_list_missing_submissions`
Submissions	`canvas_get_submission`, `canvas_list_recent_submissions` (default 14d window)
Grades	`canvas_list_enrollments`
Calendar	`canvas_list_calendar_events`, `canvas_list_upcoming_events`
Planner	`canvas_list_planner_items`
Announcements	`canvas_list_announcements`
Conversations	`canvas_list_conversations`, `canvas_get_conversation`
Discussions	`canvas_list_discussion_topics`
Files	`canvas_list_course_files`, `canvas_download_file`

Tools that the harness will gate as write/IO operations: canvas_download_file.

Planner: child names and a brief view

canvas_list_planner_items takes a child by name. At start the server lists your observees once (bounded to 5 s) and publishes their display names as the observeeId enum; the tool accepts either a name (any case) or a Canvas user id (self, a numeric id, or a sis_user_id:-style reference — including a child linked after the server started), and an unknown name is refused with the list of known ones. If the listing fails or you observe nobody, observeeId is published as a plain string and ids pass through as before. Two children with the same display name are listed as Name (id).

view: "brief" returns one line per planner item, at most 120 characters (cut as a whole, title first): title — — . Items with nothing to submit (planner notes, pages, events) carry their kind as the status (planner note, wiki page, …). Titles are written by teachers, so the lines come back inside the untrusted-data envelope, {"untrusted_content":true,"note":"…","data":["…"]}; an empty planner is data: ["-- none"], and a title that itself starts with -- or \ is escaped with one leading \ so it never reads as a note. The default (view: "full") is Canvas's payload, unchanged.

Context-group hints

Every tool except canvas_healthcheck carries a _meta.mint hint for hosts that group tools by context (mcp-host's context groups): domain: "school" plus an intent — whats-due for the planner and missing submissions, whats-new for announcements, whats-on for the calendar tools, lookup for the other reads, other for the download. The planner (whats-due) and announcements (whats-new) are marked canonical; the planner also names its subject argument (observeeId) and range (startDate/endDate). Hosts that do not read _meta see nothing different.

canvas_download_file only fetches /files/… URLs on your CANVAS_BASE_URL host (https), so your Canvas credential is never sent anywhere else, and it only writes inside a download directory: CANVAS_OUTPUT_DIR if set, otherwise ~/Downloads. A relative destinationPath is resolved against that directory. It never writes through a symlink at the destination, and new files are created owner-only (0600).

On a hosted deployment (mcp-host) the server's disk is not reachable from your session, so canvas_download_file writes nothing to disk: it reads the file (up to 100 MiB) and returns a signed download link that expires after an hour. An image under 10 MiB is shown inline instead. destinationPath is ignored there. A hosted server without a blob store returns files up to 10 MiB inline and refuses larger ones. On a local install, destinationPath is now optional; leave it out and the file is saved under its own name in the download directory, never overwriting an existing file.

Configuration

Set CANVAS_BASE_URL plus one of four auth modes. canvas-parent-mcp tries them in priority order:

`CANVAS_TOKEN` → personal access token
`CANVAS_CLIENT_ID` + `CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET` + `CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN` → OAuth
`CANVAS_USERNAME` + `CANVAS_PASSWORD` → session-scrape (direct Canvas accounts only)
fetchproxy fallback → no env vars needed; reads canvas_session + pseudonym_credentials cookies from your signed-in Canvas tab via the ContextMint Bridge browser extension

If none succeed, you get an error that names every escape hatch.

Mode A — fetchproxy fallback (recommended, zero config)

CANVAS_BASE_URL=https://cms.instructure.com

Install the ContextMint Bridge browser extension from its releases page (Chrome: download the chrome zip, unzip it, and load it unpacked at chrome://extensions with Developer mode on — there is no Chrome Web Store listing yet; Safari: not available yet — it will ship inside the ContextMint app, which has no public download yet, so use Chrome for now), sign into your Canvas instance, and the MCP reads your session cookies from the browser on the first request and again whenever Canvas answers 401 (the session expired). In between, Canvas API calls go directly from Node — the extension is not in the request hot path, but it must stay reachable (browser running, extension installed) for the MCP to renew the session. Works with any auth flow (SSO/SAML/2FA included) because Canvas itself handled the sign-in.

Where the extension comes from. ContextMint Bridge is the fetchproxy browser extension under its new name, from the same maintainer — fetchproxy's own README (Extension) points to it. Its source is public at nullnet-app/contextmint-bridge: build it yourself (npm run build, per its README), or check a release zip against the .sha256 file published beside it:

`bash

shasum -a 256 -c contextmint-bridge-chrome- .zip.sha256

`

Multiple districts? Declared domain instructure.com matches every *.instructure.com host, so you only pair the extension once. The MCP uses whichever district you set in CANVAS_BASE_URL.

Set CANVAS_DISABLE_FETCHPROXY=1 to opt out (missing creds become a hard error — useful in headless CI).

Mode B — username/password (legacy session-scrape)

CANVAS_BASE_URL=https://cms.instructure.com

CANVAS_USERNAME=me@example.com CANVAS_PASSWORD=your-canvas-password CANVAS_NAME=cms # optional, defaults to host portion of base URL

Direct Canvas accounts only — won't work with SAML/Google/Microsoft SSO or 2FA. Brittle (breaks on every Canvas login-page restyling). Prefer fetchproxy if your tab is already signed in. Treat .env like a password file.

Advanced alternatives

Personal access token — simplest if your admin allows it

CANVAS_BASE_URL=https://cms.instructure.com

CANVAS_TOKEN=your-personal-access-token

Generate via Canvas → Account → Settings → "+ New Access Token". Most institutions have disabled this for non-admins.

OAuth via mobile QR code — bootstrapped from the mobile-app login flow

CANVAS_BASE_URL=https://cms.instructure.com

CANVAS_CLIENT_ID=... CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET=... CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN=...

If your account uses SSO and you can't use fetchproxy (e.g. headless server), mint OAuth credentials by reusing the Canvas mobile-app QR-login flow — see Bootstrapping OAuth via the mobile QR code below.

Precedence when multiple are set: CANVAS_TOKEN > username/password > OAuth > fetchproxy.

See .env.example.

Session cache

In username/password and OAuth modes the signed-in session is cached between runs, so a restart does not log in (or spend a refresh-token exchange) again. The cache file — $MCP_DATA_DIR/.canvas-parent-mcp/session.json by default, or CANVAS_SESSION_FILE — holds the live canvas_session + pseudonym_credentials cookies or the OAuth access token in plaintext. It is created owner-only (0600, in a 0700 directory), and only the credential binding is stored as a salted digest; your username, password and refresh token are never written to it. Token and fetchproxy modes never write the cache.

Backup and sync tools that run as you can still copy that file. On a shared or backed-up machine, set CANVAS_SESSION_CACHE=false to keep the session in memory only (each start then re-authenticates).

Bootstrapping OAuth via the mobile QR code

If your Canvas admin has disabled personal-access-token creation (some institutions restrict tokens to "the mobile app only") AND your account uses SSO so username/password can't auth, you can mint OAuth credentials by going through the same QR-login flow that the official Canvas mobile apps use:

In Canvas web, open Account → QR for Mobile Login — Canvas shows a QR that's valid for 10 minutes.
Decode the QR with any QR reader. The result is a URL on sso.canvaslms.com like https://sso.canvaslms.com/canvas/login?domain=...&code=....
Run the bundled helper:

   npx canvas-parent-mcp-qr-login "<decoded-qr-url>" >> .env

It hits Canvas's public mobile_verify.json endpoint to fetch the mobile client_id/client_secret, exchanges the QR's one-time code for an access+refresh token pair, and prints CANVAS_BASE_URL / CANVAS_CLIENT_ID / CANVAS_CLIENT_SECRET / CANVAS_REFRESH_TOKEN to stdout. The refresh token is sensitive — treat it like a password.

This reuses the same SSO + OAuth endpoints the official Canvas Student/Parent apps use; from Canvas's perspective the resulting session looks like a mobile-app session. Use it only against accounts you legitimately control.

Upgrading

next release

canvas_download_file now works on hosted deployments:

destinationPath is optional (it was required). Local calls that pass it behave exactly as before and return the same {path, bytes, contentType}.
Calls without destinationPath, and every call on a hosted server, return a delivery result instead: {via, fileName, mimeType, url?, expiresAt?, path?, bytes, contentType, note?}. via is image (inline image block), resource (inline bytes), link (signed url valid until expiresAt) or disk (path). An inline image or resource is returned as a content block before that JSON.
On a hosted server destinationPath is ignored and the note says so.

Status

Unofficial — not affiliated with Instructure. AI-maintained.

Acknowledgement of Terms

By using this MCP server, you acknowledge and agree to the following:

1. This server accesses your own Canvas account via the official Canvas REST API. Auth happens via your own personal access token, issued by your institution. It does not — and cannot — access anyone else's enrollments, grades, or messages.

2. [Instructure's Canvas API Policy](https://www.instructure.com/policies/canvas-api-policy) governs your use of this server, in addition to your institution's own acceptable-use policy. The clauses most relevant her

Only the beginning is shown; read the rest in the repo

Canvas Parent MCP

Overview

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

What you can do with it

Install

Before you install

Values you fill in

What it can do

Basic checksi

Maker matches the repo

Still maintained

Has a licence

Endpoint responds

Sign-in with OAuth

No hidden instructions in tool descriptions

Compared with others in Games, sports, food & learningi

Common questions

Alternatives

League Loom

Lamplight Daily Verse

CoreForge Books

README from the maker

canvas-parent-mcp

Tools

Planner: child names and a brief view

Context-group hints

Configuration

Mode A — fetchproxy fallback (recommended, zero config)

Mode B — username/password (legacy session-scrape)

Advanced alternatives

Session cache

Bootstrapping OAuth via the mobile QR code

Upgrading

next release

Status

Acknowledgement of Terms