canvas_list_active_courses

Retrieve your currently active Canvas courses using the dashboard API for faster access to current semester classes.

Instructions

Lists only your active/current courses using the dashboard API. Much faster than list_courses.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
No arguments

Implementation Reference

src/tools/list-active-courses.ts:9-42 (handler)

The handler function that executes the tool logic: fetches active courses from Canvas dashboard API and returns a formatted text list or error.

async () => {
  try {
    const dashboardCards = await canvasApiRequest<any[]>(`/dashboard/dashboard_cards`);

    if (dashboardCards.length === 0) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: "No active courses found in your dashboard."
        }]
      };
    }

    const courseList = dashboardCards.map((card) => {
      const termName = card.term ? `(${card.term})` : '';
      return `- ID: ${card.id} | ${card.shortName} ${termName}`;
    }).join('\n');

    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `Your active courses:\n\n${courseList}`
      }]
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `Failed to fetch active courses: ${(error as Error).message}`
      }],
      isError: true
    };
  }
}

src/tools/list-active-courses.ts:5-43 (registration)

The server.tool() registration of the canvas_list_active_courses tool, including name, description, empty input schema, and handler reference.

server.tool(
  "canvas_list_active_courses",
  "Lists only your active/current courses using the dashboard API. Much faster than list_courses.",
  {},
  async () => {
    try {
      const dashboardCards = await canvasApiRequest<any[]>(`/dashboard/dashboard_cards`);

      if (dashboardCards.length === 0) {
        return {
          content: [{
            type: "text",
            text: "No active courses found in your dashboard."
          }]
        };
      }

      const courseList = dashboardCards.map((card) => {
        const termName = card.term ? `(${card.term})` : '';
        return `- ID: ${card.id} | ${card.shortName} ${termName}`;
      }).join('\n');

      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: `Your active courses:\n\n${courseList}`
        }]
      };
    } catch (error) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: `Failed to fetch active courses: ${(error as Error).message}`
        }],
        isError: true
      };
    }
  }
);

src/index.ts:25-25 (registration)
The call to register the tool on the main MCP server instance in the entrypoint file.
```
registerListActiveCoursesTool(server);
```

src/api/canvas-client.ts:16-37 (helper)

Supporting utility function canvasApiRequest used by the handler to perform authenticated GET/POST requests to the Canvas API.

export async function canvasApiRequest<T>(path: string, method = 'GET', body?: any): Promise<T> {
  if (!canvasApiToken) {
    throw new Error("Canvas API token not set. Please check CANVAS_API_TOKEN environment variable.");
  }

  const url = `${getBaseUrl()}${path}`;
  const response = await fetch(url, {
    method,
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${canvasApiToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: body ? JSON.stringify(body) : undefined,
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.text();
    throw new Error(`Canvas API error: ${response.status} - ${error}`);
  }

  return response.json() as Promise<T>;
}

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