@risnake/canvas-mcp-server

A TypeScript Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Canvas LMS. It exposes Canvas API operations over stdio so MCP-compatible clients can work with courses, assignments, modules, discussions, files, users, and other Canvas resources.

Environment variables

• CANVAS_API_TOKEN required: Canvas API bearer token used for authentication
• CANVAS_BASE_URL optional: Base URL for your Canvas instance, for example https://school.instructure.com

If CANVAS_BASE_URL is not set, the server uses the project's current built-in default.

Local build and run

npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js

For a quick local development run:

npm run dev

MCP client configuration

Local build

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/canvas-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your-canvas-token",
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://school.instructure.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Published package with npx

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@risnake/canvas-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "your-canvas-token",
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "https://school.instructure.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

After publishing, this package can also be started with:

bunx @risnake/canvas-mcp-server

Major tool groups

• Courses and enrollments
• Assignments, modules, pages, and files
• Discussions, announcements, and calendar data
• Users, conversations, and miscellaneous Canvas utilities

Publishing

Local publishing currently requires authenticating with npm first, for example:

npm login
npm publish

GitHub Actions publishing requires adding an NPM_TOKEN repository secret. Once that secret exists, the Publish package workflow can be run manually from GitHub Actions or triggered by pushing a version tag such as v1.0.0.

After publishing, the package is installable with:

npx -y @risnake/canvas-mcp-server
bunx @risnake/canvas-mcp-server