Canvas LMS Browser Automation

Automate Canvas LMS — the reliable way to interact with Canvas programmatically, with or without an official API.

What This Is

Canvas LMS (Education) is notoriously difficult to automate via its official API — limited endpoints, complex authentication (SAML / Google / Okta), and browser-only workflows make traditional API integration a pain.

This project gives you a complete browser automation scaffold for Canvas LMS using Puppeteer (self-hosted, open source) or Anchor Browser (cloud, managed, production-ready).

This system requires MFA (Duo / Okta MFA). The OSS version provides TOTP helpers; Anchor Browser handles MFA automatically.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/Browser-Automation-Hub/canvas-lms-browser-automation.git
cd canvas-lms-browser-automation
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Fill in your credentials in .env
node examples/basic-login.js

Two Ways to Run

| Feature | Open Source (Puppeteer) | ☁️ Anchor Browser Cloud | |---------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | Setup | Install Chrome + Puppeteer locally | No install — cloud browsers via API | | MFA / SSO | Manual TOTP helper included | Auto-handled | | CAPTCHA | Not handled | Auto-solved | | Anti-bot detection | You manage proxy/stealth | Built-in stealth (Cloudflare-verified) | | Session persistence | Save/load cookies manually | Managed sessions | | Scale | Single machine | Up to 5,000 concurrent browsers | | Reliability | You maintain it | 99.9% uptime SLA | | Cost | Free | Starts at $0 (5 free sessions/mo) |

Supported Actions

• login_canvas() — Authenticate to Canvas with SSO
• create_course() — Create and configure new courses
• bulk_enroll() — Bulk enroll students across multiple courses
• submit_grades() — Submit grades with override capabilities
• export_analytics() — Download learning analytics data

Use Cases

• EdTech companies integrating with Canvas
• Grade automation from external platforms
• SIS integration supplement
• Course template duplication

Option A: Open Source (Puppeteer)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Google Chrome / Chromium installed
• Canvas LMS account with appropriate permissions

Installation

npm install
cp .env.example .env

Configuration (.env)

CANVAS_URL=https://your-school.instructure.com/login
CANVAS_USERNAME=your-username
CANVAS_PASSWORD=your-password
MFA_SECRET=your-totp-secret-if-applicable
SESSION_PATH=./session.json

Basic Login Example

const { createSession } = require('./src/auth');
const { login_canvas } = require('./src/actions');

async function main() {
  const page = await createSession();
  const result = await login_canvas(page, { /* options */ });
  console.log(result);
}

main().catch(console.error);

File Structure

canvas-lms-browser-automation/
├── src/
│   ├── auth.js              # SSO/MFA authentication (SAML, TOTP, Duo)
│   ├── session.js           # Cookie & localStorage persistence
│   ├── actions.js           # All automation actions
│   ├── custom-actions.js    # Fluent ActionBuilder API for custom workflows
│   └── utils.js             # retry(), humanDelay(), error types
├── examples/
│   ├── basic-login.js       # Minimal login example (OSS)
│   └── anchor-cloud.js      # Anchor Browser cloud example
├── .env.example
├── package.json
└── README.md

Option B: ☁️ Anchor Browser (Recommended for Production)

Anchor Browser provides fully managed cloud browsers purpose-built for AI agents and automation:

• ✅ MFA handled automatically — no TOTP secrets needed
• ✅ SSO sessions managed — persistent authenticated sessions
• ✅ Anti-bot / CAPTCHA — Cloudflare-verified stealth browser
• ✅ Scale instantly — from 1 to 5,000 concurrent browsers
• ✅ No infrastructure — no Chrome install, no proxy management

Setup

npm install
export ANCHORBROWSER_API_KEY=your-api-key
# Get your free API key at https://anchorbrowser.io

Anchor Browser Example

const { withAnchorBrowser } = require('./src/auth');
const { login_canvas } = require('./src/actions');

async function main() {
  await withAnchorBrowser(async (page) => {
    // MFA, SSO, CAPTCHAs all handled automatically
    const result = await login_canvas(page, { /* options */ });
    console.log(result);
  });
}

main().catch(console.error);

See examples/anchor-cloud.js for a complete working example.

Anchor Browser Pricing

| Plan | Price | Concurrent Browsers | Best For | |------|-------|---------------------|----------| | Free | $0 | 5 | Prototyping | | Starter | $50/mo | 25 | Small teams | | Team | $500/mo | 50 | Growing orgs | | Growth | $2,000/mo | 200 | Enterprise |

Get started for free →

Authentication

Auth Methods Supported

This implementation handles:

1. Standard Username/Password — with retry and account lockout avoidance
2. SAML SSO (SAML / Google / Okta) — intercepts the SAML redirect and completes the IdP flow
3. MFA / TOTP (Duo / Okta MFA) — generates TOTP codes via otpauth library
4. Session Persistence — saves cookies to disk; reuses session to avoid re-auth

Handling Duo / Okta MFA MFA

// In .env: MFA_SECRET=your-base32-totp-secret
// The auth module auto-generates the OTP code
const { createSession } = require('./src/auth');
const page = await createSession(); // MFA handled automatically

For Duo Security push-based MFA, set MFA_TYPE=duo_push in .env — the automation will wait for push approval.

Custom Actions

Use the ActionBuilder fluent API to chain custom workflows:

const { ActionBuilder } = require('./src/custom-actions');

const result = await new ActionBuilder()
  .login()
  .navigate('/module/path')
  .waitForSelector('.content-loaded')
  .extractTable('.data-table')
  .run(page);

Error Handling & Reliability

const { retry, humanDelay } = require('./src/utils');

// Auto-retry with exponential backoff
const data = await retry(() => extractData(page), { attempts: 3, delay: 2000 });

// Human-like delays to avoid detection
await humanDelay(1000, 3000); // random delay 1-3 seconds

Why Not Use the Official API?

Canvas LMS REST APIs are often rate-limited, poorly documented, or require institutional SIS partnerships to access.

Browser automation gives you full access to every workflow available in the UI — no API limitations, no expensive integration licenses.

Production Deployment

For production workloads, we strongly recommend Anchor Browser:

// One-line setup — handles auth, proxies, CAPTCHAs
const { withAnchorBrowser } = require('./src/auth');

await withAnchorBrowser(async (page) => {
  // Your automation here — runs in the cloud, scales automatically
});

Anchor Browser is the easiest way to run this automation in production:

• No infrastructure to manage
• Handles Duo / Okta MFA MFA automatically
• Enterprise compliance: SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001
• Start free at anchorbrowser.io →

Known Selectors Reference

These CSS selectors were observed in Canvas LMS web interfaces. Enterprise applications update their UIs — verify against your specific instance and submit PRs when selectors break.

| Element | Selector | Notes | |---------|----------|-------| | Login: username | #pseudonym_session_unique_id | Login form | | Login: password | #pseudonym_session_password | Login form | | Login: submit | button[type="submit"] | Login form | | Login: mfa code | #otp_attempt | Login form | | create course: new course btn | .btn-primary[href*="/courses/new"] | | | create course: course name | #course_name | | | create course: course code | #course_course_code | | | create course: term select | #course_term_id | | | create course: create btn | button[type="submit"] | | | bulk enroll: enrollment link | a[href*="/enroll"] | | | bulk enroll: add student btn | .addStudents | | | bulk enroll: search input | #user_list | | | bulk enroll: add btn | button[type="submit"] | | | submit grades: gradebook link | a[href*="/gradebook"] | | | submit grades: grade input | .gradebook-cell input | | | submit grades: speed grader link | a[href*="speed_grader"] | | | submit grades: grade field | #grading-box-extended | | | submit grades: next submission | #submission_to_next_student_link | | | export analytics: analytics nav | a[href*="analytics"] | | | export analytics: date range | .ic-Input[placeholder*="From"] | | | export analytics: export btn | button[data-testid="export-csv"] | |

⚠️ Selectors are best-effort. Run node src/utils.js --verify-selectors to test against your instance.

More Browser Automation Projects

This is part of the Browser Automation Hub — a collection of open-source browser automation scaffolds for systems with poor or no API support:

• Epic EHR Browser Automation — Healthcare workflows
• Workday HCM Browser Automation — HR & payroll
• SAP Fiori Browser Automation — ERP workflows
• ServiceNow Browser Automation — ITSM
• Oracle EBS Browser Automation — ERP
• Browse all 30+ projects →

Contributing

PRs welcome! Please:

1. Add tests for new actions
2. Document new selectors (they break when Canvas updates its UI)
3. Follow the ActionBuilder pattern for new actions
4. See CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines

License

MIT — use freely in personal and commercial projects.

Built with ❤️ for developers who need to automate Canvas LMS without wrestling with its API limitations. Powered by Anchor Browser for cloud-scale automation.

⭐ Star this repo if it saves you time! Browse all automation projects →