Canvas Lms Mcp Local

[!TIP] Want it on your phone, on the web, or across several computers? Go to the Remote Edition → (website). It has the same 237 tools, served over a password-protected tunnel with a status page, phone alerts and automatic failover between computers.

[!TIP] On Windows? Skip the terminal. The free Canvas MCP Installer Assistant sets this up in Claude Desktop, the ChatGPT desktop app and other AI apps with pictures and a check after every step, or does every step for you. Download for Windows

[Example chat: asking what score is needed on the final and what's due this week (sample data)]

Local or Remote?

Highlights

• Your day and week: daily_briefing, get_week_ahead, semester_snapshot, cross-course missing work in one call
• Planner: add your own to-do notes, check items off your Canvas To Do list, export deadlines to Google, Apple or Outlook calendars
• Study plans: study_plan spreads study time before each deadline around your calendar; schedule_study_plan puts it on your Canvas calendar
• Grade intelligence: final_grade_scenarios (what you need for each letter, with group weights), what_if_grade, grade_impact_ranking, calculate_gpa
• Assignments: assignment_brief gives the instructions, rubric, late policy and linked files in one call
• Submissions, discussions and inbox: submit, post and message, always after you confirm (apps that support it ask you directly)
• Content: read lecture PDFs, Word docs and slides with read_course_file, plus pages, modules, captions and full course export
• Prompts and attachments: one-click prompts like Daily briefing, Start this assignment and Am I on track to pass?, and attach a syllabus or assignment to a chat

How it works

 Your AI app (MCP client)      ──stdio──►  node index.js  ──HTTPS──►  your school's Canvas API        (starts the server)              (237 tools, runs only                                          while your app is open)

No web server, no ports, nothing to keep running. Your AI app starts the server when it opens and stops it when it closes.

Quick start

[!NOTE] Rather click than type? Download the Canvas MCP Installer Assistant for Windows. It walks you through these steps with pictures and checks each one as you go, for both the Local and Remote editions. See screenshots.

Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" because the app isn't code-signed yet. Click More info, then Run anyway.

You need: Node.js 18+ (22+ to read PDFs) and a Canvas account.

1. Create a Canvas access token

In Canvas, go to Account → Settings → Approved Integrations → + New Access Token. Canvas only shows the token once, so copy it right away. Student tokens usually expire after 30–120 days.

2. Add it to your AI app

npx canvas-lms-mcp-local setup

npx -y canvas-lms-mcp-local

3. Try it

Ask your assistant: "Run test_connection." It checks your identity, courses, planner, inbox and missing submissions, and reports any features your school has disabled.

Then try: "Give me my daily briefing", "What do I need on the rest of Biology to get a B?", "Plan my study time for the next two weeks" or "Explain the Lab 4 assignment and its rubric."

If something isn't working, run npx canvas-lms-mcp-local doctor. It checks Node, each app's settings and your token, and says how to fix what it finds.

git clone https://github.com/Fireiscoolsolo/canvas-lms-mcp-local.gitcd canvas-lms-mcp-localnpm install

{ "mcpServers": { "canvas": { "command": "node", "args": ["C:/Users/YOUR-NAME/Documents/canvas-lms-mcp-local/index.js"] } } }

Configuration

Put settings in the env block of your config, as in step 2. If you run from source, you can use .env next to index.js instead.

* One of CANVAS_API_TOKEN, CANVAS_API_TOKEN_FILE or CANVAS_TOKEN_STORE.

Tools

Long lists come one page at a time (limit and page), dates read like "Fri, Nov 7, 11:59 PM (in 2 days)", and Canvas errors are explained with the fix. In your token's last week, answers carry a heads-up so the assistant can remind you to renew it.

Prompts and attachments

The server also adds these to your AI app's menus. They don't count as tools.

• Prompts: Daily briefing, Plan my week, Plan my study blocks, What did I miss?, Start this assignment, Prep me for an exam, How are my grades?, Am I on track to pass?, Catch me up on a course, Draft an email to my professor and Semester wrap-up. Each one tells the assistant which tools to use, and course names autocomplete.
• Attachments: attach a course syllabus, or an assignment due in the next 14 days, to a chat the same way you'd attach a file.

Apps that support MCP prompts and resources, such as Claude Desktop, show them in the + menu.

Security

• Nothing is exposed: the server doesn't listen on any port. Only the app that started it can talk to it, through a private pipe.
• Confirmation gate: tools that send, submit, post, upload or delete need confirmation. Apps that can ask you directly always do, and nothing the AI sends can skip that. Other apps get a preview and a one-time token that only works for that exact request, for 5 minutes. The token can't prove you agreed, so keep your AI app's own "ask before running" setting on for these tools.
• Prompt-injection fencing: text other people wrote (posts, messages, comments, rubric notes) is wrapped in <<<CANVAS_CONTENT>>> markers and labelled as untrusted.
• Your token stays private: every request is checked, so it can only go to your school's Canvas. It's never written to logs, and can live in your system's password store instead of a config file.
• Safe downloads: files only go in your download folder, never replace another file, and have their names cleaned.
• Private files stay private: uploads refuse .env files, keys, sign-in files, and the folders where browsers and AI apps keep their data.
• No quiz-taking: quiz attempt endpoints are deliberately not included, and writes to them are refused for every tool, however the address is written.

Never commit .env. It's already listed in .gitignore. See SECURITY.md.

Responsible use

This is a study and organization tool. It helps you see deadlines, understand your grades and plan your week. It never takes quizzes, and nothing is sent or submitted until you've confirmed it.

• Follow your school's academic integrity and acceptable-use policies. Some schools restrict personal API tokens or third-party tools.
• Want to be sure nothing in Canvas changes? Set CANVAS_ALLOW_WRITES=false for read-only mode. Downloads still work, into your download folder.

Troubleshooting

Start with npx canvas-lms-mcp-local doctor: it checks everything below and says what to fix.

Known limits: a student token can't reach admin endpoints, gradebook history, course analytics or quiz statistics. smart_search is a Canvas beta feature and often returns 404. Canvas doesn't let other apps add ePortfolio entries.

License

MIT. This project isn't affiliated with Instructure.