Content
# Canvas LMS MCP Server
[](https://smithery.ai/server/@ahnopologetic/canvas-lms-mcp)
A minimal Canvas LMS MCP (Machine Conversation Protocol) server for easy access to education data through your Canvas LMS instance. This server provides a bridge between AI systems (like Cursor) and Canvas Learning Management System.
## Features
- **Courses**: List enrolled courses, get course details, syllabus, modules, and module items
- **Assignments**: List and get assignments with optional submission status
- **Pages**: Get course pages by URL slug
- **Submissions**: List your own submissions with grades and feedback
- **Announcements**: List announcements across multiple courses
- **Discussions**: List topics and view full discussion threads
- **Calendar**: List calendar events with date filtering
- **Planner**: List planner items (assignments, announcements, etc.)
- **Enrollments**: Get enrollment data with grades
- **Quizzes**: List and get quizzes (classic quizzes only)
- **Files**: List and get files
- **Navigation**: Get course tabs, assignment groups, and favorite courses
## Installation
### Installing via Smithery
To install Canvas LMS Server for Claude Desktop automatically via [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/@ahnopologetic/canvas-lms-mcp):
```bash
npx -y @smithery/cli install @ahnopologetic/canvas-lms-mcp --client claude
```
### Prerequisites
- Python 3.13+
- Canvas LMS API token
- `uv` package manager (recommended)
### Installation Methods
#### Option 1: Install with uvx (Recommended)
The easiest way to install and run canvas-lms-mcp is using uvx:
```bash
uvx canvas-lms-mcp
```
This will run the server in an isolated environment without installing it permanently.
To install the tool permanently:
```bash
uv tool install canvas-lms-mcp
```
#### Option 2: Install from Source
1. Clone the repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/canvas-lms-mcp.git
cd canvas-lms-mcp
```
2. Install with uv:
```bash
# Install uv if you don't have it yet
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# Create a virtual environment and install dependencies
uv venv
uv pip install -e .
```
Alternatively, use traditional methods:
```bash
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .
```
## Configuration
Set the following environment variables:
```bash
export CANVAS_API_TOKEN="your_canvas_api_token"
export CANVAS_BASE_URL="https://your-institution.instructure.com" # Default: https://canvas.instructure.com
```
You can get your Canvas API token from your Canvas account settings.
## Running the Server
Start the server with uv:
```bash
uv run src/canvas_lms_mcp/main.py
```
If installed with uvx tool:
```bash
canvas-lms-mcp
```
By default, the server runs on http://localhost:8000. You can use the FastMCP interface at http://localhost:8000/docs to interact with the API.
## Available Tools
The server provides 22 tools for interacting with Canvas LMS:
### Courses
#### `list_courses`
List courses that the user is actively enrolled in.
Parameters:
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
#### `get_course`
Get a single course by ID.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `include` (optional): List of additional data to include
#### `get_course_syllabus`
Get a course's syllabus body as HTML.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
#### `get_course_modules`
Get modules for a course.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `include` (optional): List of additional data to include
- `per_page` (optional, default=100): Number of items per page
#### `get_module_items`
Get items for a specific module.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `module_id` (required): Module ID
### Assignments
#### `list_assignments`
List assignments for a course.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `bucket` (required): Filter by "past", "overdue", "undated", "ungraded", "unsubmitted", "upcoming", or "future"
- `order_by` (required): Order by "due_at", "position", or "name"
- `include` (optional): List of additional data to include (e.g., `["submission"]` to see grade status)
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
#### `get_assignment`
Get a single assignment by ID.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `assignment_id` (required): Assignment ID
#### `list_assignment_groups`
List assignment groups for a course (shows grade weighting/categories).
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
### Pages
#### `get_page`
Get a single page by its URL slug.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `page_slug` (required): Page URL slug (e.g., "syllabus", "course-handbook")
### Submissions
#### `list_submissions`
List the current user's submissions for a course, including grades and feedback.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `include` (optional): List of additional data (e.g., `["assignment", "submission_comments"]`)
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
### Announcements
#### `list_announcements`
List announcements for one or more courses.
Parameters:
- `course_ids` (required): List of course IDs
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
### Discussions
#### `list_discussions`
List discussion topics for a course.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
#### `get_discussion_view`
Get the full view of a discussion topic including all replies.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `discussion_id` (required): Discussion topic ID
### Calendar
#### `list_calendar_events`
List calendar events for courses.
Parameters:
- `context_codes` (required): List of context codes (e.g., `["course_123"]`)
- `start_date` (optional): Start date in ISO 8601 format
- `end_date` (optional): End date in ISO 8601 format
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
### Planner Items
#### `list_planner_items`
List planner items for the authenticated user.
Parameters:
- `start_date` (required): Start date in ISO 8601 format
- `end_date` (required): End date in ISO 8601 format
- `context_codes` (optional): List of context codes (e.g., `["course_123"]`)
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
### Enrollments
#### `get_enrollments`
Get the current user's enrollments including grades.
### Quizzes
#### `list_quizzes`
List quizzes for a course. Note: only works with Classic Quizzes, not New Quizzes (quiz_lti).
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `include` (optional): List of additional data to include
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
#### `get_quiz`
Get a single quiz by ID.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `quiz_id` (required): Quiz ID
### Files
#### `list_files`
List files for a course or folder. Note: may return 403 for student accounts depending on institution permissions.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (optional): Course ID
- `folder_id` (optional): Folder ID
- `include` (optional): List of additional data to include
- `page` (optional, default=1): Page number (1-indexed)
- `items_per_page` (optional, default=10): Number of items per page
#### `get_file`
Get a file by ID. Works with known file IDs even when `list_files` is restricted.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
- `file_id` (required): File ID
### Other
#### `get_tabs`
Get available tabs/navigation items for a course.
Parameters:
- `course_id` (required): Course ID
#### `list_favorites`
List the current user's favorite courses.
## Integration
This MCP server works with any client that supports the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/), including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and others.
The MCP configuration is the same across all clients — only the config file location differs:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"canvas": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["canvas-lms-mcp"],
"env": {
"CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your_canvas_api_token",
"CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://your-institution.instructure.com"
}
}
}
}
```
Replace `your_canvas_api_token` with your Canvas API token (found in Canvas → Account → Settings → New Access Token) and `your-institution.instructure.com` with your institution's Canvas URL.
### Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config file:
- **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
Restart Claude Desktop after saving.
### Claude Code
Add to your project's `.mcp.json` or global `~/.claude/settings.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"canvas": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["canvas-lms-mcp"],
"env": {
"CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your_canvas_api_token",
"CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://your-institution.instructure.com"
}
}
}
}
```
### Cursor
Add to `.cursor/mcp.json` in your project directory. Restart Cursor after saving.
### Windsurf
Add to `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`. Restart Windsurf after saving.
### Usage Examples
Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant about your Canvas data:
- "What assignments do I have due next week?"
- "Show me the syllabus for my Biology course"
- "What announcements were posted today?"
- "What are my grades so far?"
- "What's on my schedule for tomorrow?"
- "Show me the discussion posts for my English class"
## Development
For detailed development instructions, please see the [DEVELOPMENT.md](DEVELOPMENT.md) file.
## License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
