Canvas Academic Assistant 🎓

An AI-powered academic management tool that connects your Canvas LMS with Claude Desktop. Ask Claude natural questions about your coursework, assignments, grades, and deadlines - all through conversational AI.

🌟 What This Does

This tool transforms Claude into your personal academic assistant by connecting it directly to your Canvas account. Instead of logging into Canvas and clicking through multiple pages, you can simply ask Claude:

"What assignments do I have due this week?"
"Show me my current grades in all courses"
"What announcements did I miss?"
"What's on my Canvas calendar for tomorrow?"
"Help me prioritize my upcoming deadlines"

✨ Features

📚 Course Management

View all your active courses
Get course details and enrollment information

📝 Assignment Tracking

See upcoming assignments and deadlines
Get detailed assignment information
Check your to-do list items

📊 Grade Monitoring

View grades across all courses
Check assignment submission status
Track your academic progress

📅 Calendar Integration

Access your Canvas calendar events
See upcoming due dates and deadlines

📢 Stay Updated

Get course announcements
View recent Canvas activity
Never miss important updates

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Prerequisites

You'll need:

A Canvas account (this was built for Carnegie Mellon University but works with any Canvas instance)
Claude Desktop installed on your computer
Python 3.10 or newer

Step 1: Get Your Canvas API Token

Log into Canvas at your school's Canvas website
Click "Account" in the left sidebar
Go to "Settings"
Scroll down to "Approved Integrations"
Click "+ New Access Token"
Enter a purpose like "Claude Academic Assistant"
Copy the generated token (you won't see it again!)

Step 2: Download and Set Up

Download this project to your computer
Open Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows)
Navigate to the project folder:
```
cd path/to/canvas-mcp-server
```

Step 3: Install Dependencies

Create a virtual environment:
```
python3 -m venv venv
```
Activate it:
- Mac/Linux: source venv/bin/activate
- Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

Install required packages:

pip install mcp httpx python-dotenv pydantic

Step 4: Configure Your Token

Open the .env file in the project folder

Replace the token with yours:

CANVAS_API_TOKEN=your_token_here
CANVAS_BASE_URL=https://your-school.instructure.com

Step 5: Test the Setup

Run this command to make sure everything works:

python src/canvas_server.py

You should see:

✅ Canvas API connection successful
🚀 Canvas MCP Server started

Press Ctrl+C to stop the test.

Step 6: Connect to Claude Desktop

Find your Claude Desktop configuration file:
- Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add this configuration (replace the path with your actual project location):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Canvas Academic Assistant": {
      "command": "/path/to/your/canvas-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/your/canvas-mcp-server/src/canvas_server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      },
      "enabled": true,
      "autostart": true
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen)

🎯 How to Use

Once set up, you can ask Claude natural questions about your academic life:

📋 Assignment Management

"What assignments are due this week?"
"Show me details about my math homework"
"What's the next deadline I need to worry about?"
"Help me prioritize my upcoming assignments"

📊 Grade Tracking

"What are my current grades?"
"How am I doing in Computer Science?"
"Show me my grade for the last assignment"

📅 Schedule Planning

"What's on my calendar tomorrow?"
"When is my next exam?"
"What Canvas events do I have this week?"

📢 Staying Updated

"Any new announcements in my courses?"
"What Canvas activity did I miss?"
"Show me recent updates from professors"

🤖 AI-Powered Help

"Help me create a study schedule based on my deadlines"
"What should I focus on today?"
"Remind me about upcoming important dates"

🔧 Troubleshooting

❌ "Could not connect to MCP server"

Make sure Python path in your config is correct
Check that your virtual environment is set up properly
Verify your Canvas token is still valid

❌ "Canvas API connection failed"

Double-check your Canvas token in the .env file
Make sure your Canvas URL is correct
Verify you're connected to the internet

❌ "No data returned"

Ensure you're enrolled in active courses
Check that your Canvas account has proper permissions
Try regenerating your Canvas API token

🆘 Need Help?

Check that all file paths in your configuration are absolute paths
Make sure your Canvas token hasn't expired
Restart Claude Desktop after any configuration changes
Test the server manually first using Step 5 above

🎓 Built For Students

This tool was originally created for Carnegie Mellon University students but works with any Canvas installation. It's designed to help students:

Save time by getting information through conversation instead of clicking through Canvas
Stay organized with AI-powered deadline management
Never miss important announcements or due dates
Focus on learning instead of administrative tasks

🔒 Privacy & Security

Your Canvas token stays on your computer - nothing is sent to external servers
All communication happens locally between Claude Desktop and your Canvas instance
Your academic data remains private and secure

📚 What You Can Access

The tool provides access to the same information you can see in Canvas:

Your enrolled courses
Assignment details and due dates
Your grades and submissions
Course announcements
Calendar events
Recent activity

Note: You can only access your own data - the same permissions apply as when using Canvas directly.

Ready to transform your academic workflow? Set it up in 10 minutes and start having conversations with Claude about your coursework! 🚀