Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server

Originally by mbcrosiersamuel.

Overview

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets you interact with Canvas/Instructure courses and assignments, without leaving your LLM (e.g. Claude Desktop).

It allows you to retrieve, search, and summarize course and assignment information programmatically, for example to check due dates for upcoming assignments:

Features

Tools

1. List Courses

   • Retrieve a list of courses

   • Filter by course state (active, completed, or all)

2. Search Assignments

   • Search across courses for assignments

   • Filter by:

     • Search query

     • Due date range

     • Specific course

     • Include/exclude completed courses

3. Get Assignment Details

   • Fetch detailed information about a specific assignment

   • Multiple output formats (full HTML, plain text, markdown)

Resources

• Assignment Content: Retrieve full assignment details using a standardized URI format

Prerequisites

• Node.js

• Canvas LMS account

• Canvas API Token

• Canvas Domain

Environment Setup

Set the following environment variables:

• CANVAS_API_TOKEN: Your Canvas API access token (see instructions below)

• CANVAS_DOMAIN: Your Canvas institution's domain (e.g., canvas.youruniversity.edu)

How to Get Your Canvas API Token

1. Log into Canvas

2. Go to Account > Settings

3. Scroll to the "Approved Integrations" section

4. Click "New Access Token"

5. Copy the generated token

For more details, see these instructions from Canvas.

Security Note

Keep your CANVAS_API_TOKEN confidential. Do not commit it to version control.

Installation

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/mbcrosier/canvas-mcp.git
cd canvas-mcp

Install dependencies. If this throws an error, make sure you have node installed.

npm install

2. Connect to the MCP server

   Copy the below json with the appropriate {{PATH}} values:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "canvas": {
         "command": "node", 
         "args": ["/absolute/path/to/canvas-mcp/src/index.ts"], // cd into the src repo, run `pwd` and enter the output here
         "env": {
            "CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your_api_token_here",
            "CANVAS_DOMAIN": "myschool.instructure.com"
          }
       }
     }
   }

   For Claude, save this as claude_desktop_config.json in your Claude Desktop configuration directory at:

   ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   For Cursor, save this as mcp.json in your Cursor configuration directory at:

   ~/.cursor/mcp.json

3. Restart Claude Desktop / Cursor

   Open Claude Desktop and you should now see Canvas as an available integration.

   Or restart Cursor.

MCP Tools

• list_courses: Shows all active courses by default. Use flags to show completed or all courses

• search_assignments: Searches assignment titles and descriptions

• get_assignment: Retrieves full assignment details

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Token Invalid:

  • Regenerate your Canvas API token

  • Ensure token has appropriate permissions

• Domain Incorrect:

  • Double-check your Canvas institution domain

  • Verify there are no typos

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial Canvas MCP, and is not affiliated with Canvas or Instructure. I'm also not a professional software engineer, and this project was vibe-coded using Claude, so please use it at your own risk :)

Thanks!

• Thanks to Luke Harries for inspiration and for part of the text of this Readme.

• Thanks to the Anthropic team for great instructions on how to use LLMs to create MCPs!