list_announcements
Retrieve course announcements from the Canvas Learning Management System by providing a course identifier to access important updates and information.
Instructions
List announcements for a specific course.
Args:
course_identifier: The Canvas course code (e.g., badm_554_120251_246794) or ID
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| course_identifier | Yes |
Implementation Reference
- The core handler implementation for the 'list_announcements' tool. It resolves the course ID, fetches discussion topics filtered specifically for announcements using Canvas API parameters 'include[]=announcement' and 'only_announcements=true', formats the results, and returns a formatted string list.async def list_announcements(course_identifier: str) -> str: """List announcements for a specific course. Args: course_identifier: The Canvas course code (e.g., badm_554_120251_246794) or ID """ course_id = await get_course_id(course_identifier) params = { "include[]": ["announcement"], "only_announcements": True, "per_page": 100 } announcements = await fetch_all_paginated_results(f"/courses/{course_id}/discussion_topics", params) if isinstance(announcements, dict) and "error" in announcements: return f"Error fetching announcements: {announcements['error']}" if not announcements: return f"No announcements found for course {course_identifier}." announcements_info = [] for announcement in announcements: announcement_id = announcement.get("id") title = announcement.get("title", "Untitled announcement") posted_at = format_date(announcement.get("posted_at")) announcements_info.append( f"ID: {announcement_id}\nTitle: {title}\nPosted: {posted_at}\n" ) course_display = await get_course_code(course_id) or course_identifier return f"Announcements for Course {course_display}:\n\n" + "\n".join(announcements_info)
- src/canvas_mcp/server.py:49-49 (registration)Registration call for discussion tools (including list_announcements) during server setup in register_all_tools function.register_discussion_tools(mcp)
- src/canvas_mcp/core/types.py:39-48 (schema)TypedDict schema definition for AnnouncementInfo, representing the structure of announcement data used throughout the codebase.class AnnouncementInfo(TypedDict, total=False): id: int | str title: str message: str posted_at: str | None delayed_post_at: str | None lock_at: str | None published: bool is_announcement: bool
- Related helper tool 'list_discussion_topics' that can include announcements via the 'include_announcements' parameter, sharing similar API logic with list_announcements.@mcp.tool() @validate_params async def list_discussion_topics(course_identifier: str | int, include_announcements: bool = False) -> str: """List discussion topics for a specific course. Args: course_identifier: The Canvas course code (e.g., badm_554_120251_246794) or ID include_announcements: Whether to include announcements in the list (default: False) """ course_id = await get_course_id(course_identifier) params = {"per_page": 100} if include_announcements: params["include[]"] = ["announcement"] topics = await fetch_all_paginated_results(f"/courses/{course_id}/discussion_topics", params) if isinstance(topics, dict) and "error" in topics: return f"Error fetching discussion topics: {topics['error']}" if not topics: return f"No discussion topics found for course {course_identifier}." topics_info = [] for topic in topics: topic_id = topic.get("id") title = topic.get("title", "Untitled topic") is_announcement = topic.get("is_announcement", False) published = topic.get("published", False) posted_at = format_date(topic.get("posted_at")) topic_type = "Announcement" if is_announcement else "Discussion" status = "Published" if published else "Unpublished" topics_info.append( f"ID: {topic_id}\nType: {topic_type}\nTitle: {title}\nStatus: {status}\nPosted: {posted_at}\n" ) course_display = await get_course_code(course_id) or course_identifier return f"Discussion Topics for Course {course_display}:\n\n" + "\n".join(topics_info)