brightspace-mcp

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MCP server for D2L Brightspace. Gives Claude (and any MCP-compatible client) access to your courses, grades, assignments, content, calendar, and more — with multi-strategy authentication, full MFA support, and production-grade resilience built in.

Quick start

npx brightspace-mcp@latest setup   # interactive wizard (recommended for first time)

The interactive wizard handles everything: base URL, auth strategy, MFA, credential storage, and auto-registration with Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf.

For CI pipelines or DevContainers with no TTY, use the non-interactive init command instead:

npx brightspace-mcp@latest init \
  --base-url https://yourschool.brightspace.com \
  --strategy api_token \
  --token-ref env:BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN

Documentation

Deep-dive guides live in docs/ — start with docs/README.md.

| Topic | Doc | |---|---| | Setup walkthrough | docs/setup-guide.md | | Auth strategies | docs/auth-strategies.md | | Known-good presets (Microsoft AAD, etc.) | docs/presets.md | | Write operations (submit, post, mark) | docs/writes.md | | MCP tools reference | docs/tools.md | | MCP Resources + Prompts | docs/tools.md#mcp-resources | | Troubleshooting | docs/troubleshooting.md | | Architecture (DDD) | docs/architecture.md | | Register with MCP clients | docs/clients.md |

For AI assistants and contributors, AGENTS.md is a one-page map of the repo.

Table of contents

• Installation
• Authentication strategies
• MFA strategies
• Configuration reference
• Output: timezone and language
• Redis cache
• Write operations
• Available tools
• MCP Resources
• MCP Prompts
• Web UI dashboard
• Register with an MCP client
• CLI reference
• Docker

Installation

npx (recommended — no install needed)

npx brightspace-mcp@latest setup   # first-time wizard
npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve   # run the server

Global install

npm install -g brightspace-mcp
brightspace-mcp setup
brightspace-mcp serve

From source

git clone https://github.com/JhostinAleck/brightspace-mcp.git
cd brightspace-mcp
npm install && npm run build
node build/cli/main.js serve

Requirements: Node.js ≥ 20.

Authentication strategies

Pick the strategy that matches your Brightspace setup. Run npx brightspace-mcp@latest setup and it will walk you through the right one.

API Token (simplest)

Requires a Valence API token from your Brightspace admin panel.

profiles:
  my_school:
    base_url: https://school.brightspace.com
    auth:
      strategy: api_token
      api_token:
        token_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN

export BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN="your-token"
npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve

Headless (username + password)

Automates HTTP-level login — no browser window. Supports all MFA strategies including Duo Push.

profiles:
  my_school:
    base_url: https://school.brightspace.com
    auth:
      strategy: headless
      headless:
        login_url: https://school.brightspace.com/d2l/login
        username_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_USERNAME
        password_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORD
        mfa:
          strategy: duo_push     # or: totp, manual_prompt, none
          duo_push: {}           # uses defaults: poll every 1s, timeout 120s

Browser (Playwright)

Launches a headless Chromium instance and automates the login UI. Best for SSO flows (Microsoft Azure AD, SAML) where the login page has complex JavaScript.

npm install playwright && npx playwright install chromium

auth:
  strategy: browser
  browser:
    login_url: https://school.brightspace.com/d2l/login
    headless: true
    username_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_USERNAME
    password_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORD
    selectors:
      username: "#i0116"
      password: "#i0118"
      submit: "#idSIButton9"
      password_submit: "#idSIButton9"
      mfa_input: "#idTxtBx_SAOTCC_OTC"
      mfa_submit: "#idSubmit_SAOTCC_Continue"
      post_login: "d2l-labs-navigation"
    mfa:
      strategy: totp
      totp:
        secret_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRET

The setup wizard includes a Microsoft SSO preset that fills all selectors automatically.

Session Cookie

Paste the D2L session cookies from your browser's DevTools. Useful when other strategies are blocked.

auth:
  strategy: session_cookie
  session_cookie:
    cookie_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_COOKIE
    session_ttl_seconds: 3600

# Cookie format: "d2lSessionVal=XXX; d2lSecureSessionVal=YYY"
export BRIGHTSPACE_COOKIE="d2lSessionVal=...; d2lSecureSessionVal=..."

MFA strategies

| Strategy | When to use | |---|---| | none | No MFA on your account | | totp | Authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.) | | duo_push | Duo Security — server polls for mobile approval automatically | | manual_prompt | Any TOTP/OTP — server pauses and asks you to paste the code |

TOTP example

mfa:
  strategy: totp
  totp:
    secret_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRET   # base32 secret from QR code setup
    digits: 6       # 6 or 8
    period: 30      # seconds
    algorithm: SHA1 # SHA1, SHA256, or SHA512

Duo Push example

mfa:
  strategy: duo_push
  duo_push:
    poll_interval_ms: 1000   # how often to check (default: 1000)
    timeout_ms: 120000       # give up after this many ms (default: 120000)

Configuration reference

Full config file (~/.brightspace-mcp/config.yaml):

default_profile: my_school

profiles:
  my_school:
    base_url: https://school.brightspace.com
    auth:
      strategy: api_token          # api_token | browser | headless | session_cookie | oauth
      api_token:
        token_ref: env:BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN
    session:
      cache_backend: memory        # memory | file | redis
      preemptive_refresh_seconds: 300

output:
  tz: America/Bogota               # IANA timezone; default: auto-detected from system
  locale: es-419                   # en-US | es-419 | pt-BR | fr-CA; default: auto-detected
  format: markdown                 # markdown (default) | plain
  include_meta_footer: true

logging:
  level: info                      # debug | info | warn | error

writes:
  enabled: false
  dry_run: false

# Optional — required when session.cache_backend: redis
redis:
  url: redis://localhost:6379
  key_prefix: "brightspace:"

Credential references

Secret values are never stored in plain text. Use ref: notation to point to the actual value:

| Prefix | Example | Description | |---|---|---| | env:NAME | env:BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN | Read from environment variable | | keychain:service/account | keychain:brightspace-mcp/token | OS keychain (macOS Keychain, GNOME Keyring, Windows Credential Manager) | | file:label | file:api_token | Encrypted file (~/.brightspace-mcp/credentials.enc, AES-256-GCM) |

Output: timezone and language

All tool responses are formatted in your configured timezone and language.

output:
  tz: America/Bogota       # IANA name; default: auto-detected from system
  locale: es-419           # en-US | es-419 | pt-BR | fr-CA; default: auto-detected
  format: markdown         # markdown (default) | plain
  include_meta_footer: true

Run brightspace-mcp setup and choose your timezone and language. Or set it in ~/.brightspace-mcp/config.yaml.

Redis cache

When running multiple instances or want cache persistence across restarts, enable Redis:

1. Add the redis section to config:

redis:
  url: redis://localhost:6379
  key_prefix: "brightspace:"

profiles:
  my_school:
    session:
      cache_backend: redis

2. Install ioredis (optional dependency):

npm install ioredis

3. Start Redis and the server:

docker run -d -p 6379:6379 redis:7-alpine
npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve

The domain cache (courses, grades, assignments, etc.) automatically uses Redis as persistent layer when the redis: section is present in config. Session tokens are stored with TTL derived from the token expiry.

Write operations

Write tools (submit_assignment, post_discussion_reply, mark_announcement_read) are disabled by default and require two separate opt-ins:

1. Config file:

writes:
  enabled: true
  dry_run: false   # set true to preview without mutating D2L

2. CLI flag:

npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve --enable-writes

All write operations:

• Require a client-supplied idempotency_key (8–128 chars). Repeat calls with the same key return the cached response without re-executing.
• Emit a WARN-level audit log line with correlation ID, tool name, and redacted args.
• Respect dry_run: true to return a preview response without touching D2L.

Available tools

Read tools (always available)

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | check_auth | Verify authentication and show the active user identity | | list_my_courses | List all enrolled courses | | get_my_grades | Get grades for a course | | get_assignments | List assignments and dropbox folders | | get_assignment_files | Download and read instructor-posted assignment files | | get_upcoming_due_dates | List assignments due in the next N days | | get_feedback | Read instructor feedback on submitted assignments | | get_syllabus | Fetch the course syllabus | | get_course_content | Browse modules and topics (includes topic IDs) | | get_topic_file | Download and read a content topic file (DOCX, PDF, HTML, plain text) | | get_announcements | List course announcements | | get_discussions | Browse discussion forums and threads | | get_calendar_events | List calendar events in a date range | | get_roster | Get the full course roster | | get_classlist_emails | Get classmate email addresses | | get_my_groups | List group enrollments per course with member rosters | | list_quizzes | List quizzes with attempt counts, time limits, due dates | | get_quiz_attempts | Your attempts on a quiz with scores and timestamps | | list_notifications | User activity feed (announcements, due-date reminders, grade releases) | | search_course | Full-text search across content, announcements, and discussions | | get_audit_log | Local history of write operations (correlation IDs, redacted args) | | get_diagnostics | Show cache stats, circuit breaker state, and version info | | clear_cache | Clear memory and persistent cache backends |

Write tools (require --enable-writes)

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | submit_assignment | Upload a file to a Brightspace Dropbox folder | | post_discussion_reply | Reply to a discussion thread | | mark_announcement_read | Mark an announcement as read |

MCP Resources

Four stable URIs for Brightspace content (readable by any MCP client via resources/read):

| URI | Content | |---|---| | brightspace://{courseId}/syllabus | Course syllabus, HTML stripped | | brightspace://{courseId}/content/topics/{topicId} | Topic file (text extracted from PDF, or base64 fallback) | | brightspace://{courseId}/assignments/{assignmentId}/files | All assignment attachments as text | | brightspace://{courseId}/announcements/{announcementId} | Announcement text |

Obtain IDs from tools like list_my_courses, get_assignments, get_announcements.

MCP Prompts

Four pre-built prompt templates visible in your MCP client's prompt picker:

| Prompt | Arguments | Purpose | |---|---|---| | weekly_briefing | none | 7-day overview: due dates, announcements, recent grades | | grade_audit | course_id? | Grade analysis + what you need to pass | | study_planner | days_ahead? (default 7) | Study plan from due dates and calendar | | course_summary | course_id (required) | Full course overview |

Web UI dashboard

brightspace-mcp ui             # open at http://localhost:9876
brightspace-mcp ui --open      # open browser automatically
brightspace-mcp ui --port 8080 # custom port

Provides: auth status, upcoming due dates, grades, announcements, config editor (form + YAML), cache stats, audit logs, diagnostics. Dark/light mode, tooltips on all fields.

Register with an MCP client

See docs/clients.md for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf snippets, or run brightspace-mcp setup which auto-detects and registers for you.

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brightspace": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["--yes", "brightspace-mcp@latest", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "BRIGHTSPACE_CONFIG": "/Users/you/.brightspace-mcp/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

CLI reference

npx brightspace-mcp@latest setup                      Interactive first-time setup wizard (detects system language)
npx brightspace-mcp@latest init [flags]               Non-interactive config writer (CI/scripts, no TTY)
npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve                      Start the MCP server (stdio transport)
npx brightspace-mcp@latest serve --enable-writes      Start with write tools enabled
npx brightspace-mcp@latest ui [--port 9876] [--open]  Local web dashboard at http://localhost:9876
npx brightspace-mcp@latest auth                       Re-authenticate and test the config
npx brightspace-mcp@latest record-auth                Open browser for manual login, capture session cookies
npx brightspace-mcp@latest doctor                     End-to-end smoke test: config → auth → API → list_my_courses
npx brightspace-mcp@latest profile list               List profiles (* marks the default)
npx brightspace-mcp@latest profile use <name>         Switch the default profile
npx brightspace-mcp@latest config show                Print config (secrets redacted)
npx brightspace-mcp@latest config show --resolved     Show all secret refs as [redacted]
npx brightspace-mcp@latest config validate            Validate config schema without running
npx brightspace-mcp@latest config set <path> <value>  Edit a nested config value
npx brightspace-mcp@latest cache clear                Clear memory + file/Redis cache
npx brightspace-mcp@latest cache clear --context <n>  Clear a specific cache context
npx brightspace-mcp@latest upgrade                    Upgrade brightspace-mcp to the latest version

Docker

Standalone

docker pull ghcr.io/jhostinaleck/brightspace-mcp:latest
docker run --rm -i \
  -v "$HOME/.brightspace-mcp:/config:ro" \
  -e BRIGHTSPACE_CONFIG=/config/config.yaml \
  ghcr.io/jhostinaleck/brightspace-mcp:latest serve

With Redis (docker-compose)

# Start server + Redis
docker compose --profile redis up

# Or standalone (in-memory cache)
docker compose up

The config.yaml inside ~/.brightspace-mcp/ must have the redis: section pointing to redis://redis:6379 when using the compose profile.

Architecture highlights

• Resilience: retry with exponential backoff + jitter, circuit breaker (5 failures → 30s cooldown), request coalescing, bulkhead (max 5 concurrent requests)
• Cache tiers: HTTP response cache (L1, in-memory, 60s TTL) + domain cache (L2, layered memory → file or Redis)
• Security: HTTPS-only transport, secrets redaction in all log output, OS keychain integration, AES-256-GCM encrypted credential file, session tokens expire with the D2L token
• DDD structure: bounded contexts (assignments, authentication, calendar, communications, content, courses, grades, groups, notifications, quizzes) with clean domain / application / infrastructure separation

License

MIT © Jhostin Aleck