Claude Canvas MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables Claude to interact with Canvas LMS. This server provides tools for managing courses, announcements, assignments, students, and more through the Canvas API.

Features

• List active courses and their details
• Retrieve course modules, pages, and content
• View assignments, quizzes, and discussions
• Access student enrollment information
• Post announcements and comments
• View submission details and grades
• Upload and download files
• Manage rubrics and grades

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• A Canvas API token
• Canvas instance URL (defaults to “http://canvas.docker/”)
• Claude Desktop application

Installation

1. Clone this repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/johnnyrobot/claude-canvas-mcp.git
cd claude-canvas-mcp
npm install

2. Build the TypeScript project:

npm run build

3. Configure your environment variables:

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit the .env file with your Canvas information
nano .env

Claude Desktop Integration

1. Open Claude Desktop’s configuration file:

MacOS:

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

Windows:

code %AppData%Claudeclaude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the Canvas MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/claude-canvas-mcp/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "CANVAS_DOMAIN": "http://canvas.docker/"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop to apply changes

Available Tools

list-courses

Lists all active courses for the authenticated user

• No required parameters
• Returns course names, IDs, and term information

get-course

Gets detailed information about a specific course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string

list-modules

Lists all modules in a course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string

list-module-items

Lists all items in a module

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • moduleId: string

list-assignments

Gets all assignments in a course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
• Optional parameters:
  • includeContent: boolean (default: false)

get-assignment

Gets detailed information about an assignment

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • assignmentId: string

list-students

Gets a complete list of students enrolled in a course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
• Optional parameters:
  • includeEmail: boolean (default: false)

post-announcement

Posts an announcement to a specific course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • title: string
  • message: string

list-submissions

Gets all student submissions for an assignment

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • assignmentId: string

get-submission

Gets a specific student’s submission for an assignment

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • assignmentId: string
  • studentId: string

post-submission-comment

Posts a comment on a student’s submission

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • assignmentId: string
  • studentId: string
  • comment: string

list-files

Lists files in a course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
• Optional parameters:
  • folderId: string

upload-file

Uploads a file to a course

• Required parameters:
  • courseId: string
  • fileName: string
  • fileContent: string
• Optional parameters:
  • folderId: string

License

MIT License