Canvas API MCP

canvas-api-mcp

Never miss an assignment deadline again.

Ask your AI what's due and it reads the answer straight from Canvas:

real deadlines, real submission status, no copying anything across.

An MCP server for Canvas LMS. 16 curated tools for everyday student work, plus a gateway that reaches every endpoint your Canvas instance exposes.

📖 Documentation: [mcp.johannsenlum.com/canvas-lms](https://mcp.johannsenlum.com/canvas-lms) · install guide · tool reference · skills · compliance

Personal-use software. Canvas's API Policy requires OAuth for applications used

by multiple people, and Canvas OAuth cannot be implemented safely by locally

installed software (no PKCE, and client_secret cannot be shipped in a package).

Use this with your own token on your own account. See Compliance.

What you can ask it

Real prompts, and which tool answers them.

You: What's due this week?

Claude: *(calls whats_due)*: You have 3 things due: Problem Set 4 (Thu,

CS3230), a discussion reply (Fri, IS4302), and the Milestone 2 report (Sun,

EE2211).

You: How am I doing in my databases course, and what's on the syllabus for

week 6?

Claude: *(calls my_grades, then get_syllabus, then

course_content for the week 6 module)*: You're at 87% overall. Week 6 covers

normalization and has a reading plus a lab file due Friday.

You: Summarize the PDF lecture notes for lecture 8 and pull up my submission

for the essay so I can see the feedback.

Claude: *(calls list_files + read_file for the PDF, then my_submission

for the essay)*: ...

You: Reply to the "Project teams" discussion and say I'm free after 3pm for

the group meeting.

Claude: *(calls post_discussion_reply ✏️)*: Posted to the thread.

You: Has Canvas ever given me quiz statistics broken down by question, across

the whole semester?

Claude: *(calls search_canvas_api to find the right endpoint, then

canvas_request to call it)*: ...

The last example is the point of the gateway tools: if an endpoint exists on your Canvas instance, search_canvas_api can find it and canvas_request can call it, even though only 16 tools are hand-curated.

Install

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• A Canvas personal access token. Your institution must allow students to create them: check Canvas → Account → Settings → Approved Integrations for a "+ New access token" button. Full walkthrough with screenshots: mcp.johannsenlum.com/canvas-lms/install.

Note that the token expires. Since Instructure's October 2025 security update, accounts holding only student roles must set an expiry no more than 120 days out, and institutions often cap it lower (NUS allows 90). Write the date down: an expired token makes every tool return 401 at once, which looks like a broken install rather than a credential that simply ran out.

Running the server

canvas-api-mcp is published on PyPI. Run it with:

uvx canvas-api-mcp

Install from source (contributors / unreleased `main`). Not part of the normal install path above, only needed if you want the latest unreleased code instead of the published PyPI release:

uvx --from git+https://github.com/JohannsenLum/canvas-api-mcp canvas-api-mcp

Or run from a local clone:

git clone https://github.com/JohannsenLum/canvas-api-mcp

cd canvas-api-mcp uv sync

Quick install (one-click)

One-click deeplinks exist for Cursor, VS Code, and LM Studio only. No other client has a documented install-link format. These prefill the config below but still need CANVAS_BASE_URL and CANVAS_TOKEN filled in afterward.

All clients (manual config)

Your token stays on your machine, in your own config file. It is never transmitted anywhere except directly to your Canvas instance.

Claude Code : ~/.claude.json

{

"mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

Claude Desktop : claude_desktop_config.json

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

No one-click install exists for Claude Desktop (it installs .mcpb bundles, not deeplinks). Copy this JSON in via Settings → Developer → Edit Config:

{

"mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

Cursor : ~/.cursor/mcp.json

Fallback for the button above, or if you'd rather paste it directly:

{

"mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

VS Code : .vscode/mcp.json

Fallback for the button above, or if you'd rather paste it directly. Note VS Code uses a servers key, not mcpServers:

{

"servers": { "canvas": { "type": "stdio", "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

LM Studio : mcp.json (Program → Install → Edit mcp.json)

Fallback for the button above, or if you'd rather paste it directly:

{

"mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

Zed : settings.json

No deeplink exists for Zed. Add this under context_servers in your Zed settings:

{

"context_servers": { "canvas": { "source": "custom", "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

Windsurf : ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

No deeplink exists for Windsurf. It only resolves servers from its own registry, so this has to be pasted in manually via Windsurf Settings → MCP Servers → Edit raw config:

{

"mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["canvas-api-mcp"], "env": { "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://canvas.yourschool.edu", "CANVAS_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } }

</details>

Tools

✏️ writes to Canvas. That's 3 write tools total: submit_assignment, post_discussion_reply, and canvas_request when called with a non-GET method (GET calls through canvas_request are read-only).

search_canvas_api + canvas_request reach all ~1,116 endpoints your instance exposes. What they may do is decided by Canvas from your token's permissions: a teacher token unlocks educator endpoints with no change to this server.

Prompts

week_ahead, study_pack, grade_check.

Resources

canvas://me, `c