Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server
by mbcrosier
The Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server allows you to interact with Canvas/Instructure courses and assignments directly from your LLM. It enables you to retrieve, search, and summarize course and assignment information programmatically.
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What is Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server?
This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables interaction with Canvas/Instructure courses and assignments through an LLM (e.g., Claude Desktop). It provides tools to retrieve, search, and summarize course and assignment information.
How to use Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server?
To use this server, you need to clone the repository, install dependencies, set up environment variables with your Canvas API token and domain, configure the MCP server in your LLM's configuration directory (Claude Desktop or Cursor), and restart your LLM. Then you can use the MCP tools to interact with Canvas.
Key features of Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server
List Courses (filter by state)
Search Assignments (filter by query, date, course)
Get Assignment Details (multiple output formats)
Retrieve assignment content using a standardized URI format
Use cases of Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server
Checking due dates for upcoming assignments
Searching for assignments based on keywords
Retrieving detailed information about a specific assignment
Summarizing course content
FAQ from Canvas Assignment Assistant MCP Server
How do I get my Canvas API token?
How do I get my Canvas API token?
Log into Canvas, go to Account > Settings, scroll to 'Approved Integrations', click 'New Access Token', and copy the generated token.
What environment variables do I need to set?
What environment variables do I need to set?
You need to set CANVAS_API_TOKEN with your Canvas API access token and CANVAS_DOMAIN with your Canvas institution's domain.
Where do I save the MCP configuration file for Claude Desktop?
Where do I save the MCP configuration file for Claude Desktop?
Save it as claude_desktop_config.json in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/.
Where do I save the MCP configuration file for Cursor?
Where do I save the MCP configuration file for Cursor?
Save it as mcp.json in ~/.cursor/.
What if I get a 'Token Invalid' error?
What if I get a 'Token Invalid' error?
Regenerate your Canvas API token and ensure it has the appropriate permissions. Also, double-check that you have set the environment variable correctly and restarted your LLM.