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Canvas MCP Server

local only

Canvas MCP runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 101 installs a week from pypi. Last commit 23 Jul 2026.

Local-first MCP server for Canvas LMS. Stdio transport, no third-party broker.

Installs per day peak 28 · avg 16 · -18% w/w
a month agotoday
101
Installs / week
pypi · canvas-local-mcp
4
Stars
0 open issues
23 Jul 2026
Last commit
from GitHub
MIT
License
Python

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Canvas MCP every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Three servers free · no card

Connect this server

This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add canvas-mcp -e 'CANVAS_BASE_URL=<CANVAS_BASE_URL>' -e 'CANVAS_TOKEN=<CANVAS_TOKEN>' -- uvx canvas-local-mcp
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "canvas-local-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.canvas-mcp]
command = "uvx"
args = ["canvas-local-mcp"]
env = { CANVAS_BASE_URL = "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>", CANVAS_TOKEN = "<CANVAS_TOKEN>" }
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "canvas-local-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "canvas-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "canvas-local-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Put your own values in place of <CANVAS_BASE_URL> (Canvas institution root URL (no /api/v1 suffix), e.g. https://your-institution.instructure.com), <CANVAS_TOKEN> (Canvas personal access token (Account -> Settings -> Approved Integrations -> New Access Token)). The author’s registry entry marks them as required.

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Canvas MCP — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Canvas MCP?
Canvas MCP runs on your own machine over stdio — there is no network address to reach, so uptime cannot be measured for it by anyone. What can be measured is adoption: the pypi package canvas-local-mcp was installed 101 times last week.
How do I connect Canvas MCP?
Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It runs locally, so the command pulls canvas-local-mcp straight from pypi; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.
How many people use Canvas MCP?
The pypi package canvas-local-mcp was installed 101 times in the last week. Week over week that is -18%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.
Is Canvas MCP open source?
Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in Python and 4 stars on GitHub. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.