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Canvas LMS (read-only) MCP Server

local only

Canvas LMS (read-only) runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 82 installs a week from npm. Last commit 12 Nov 2026.

Read-only Canvas LMS for students: what changed in your courses, search across slides and PDFs.

Installs per day peak 260 · avg 19 · -84% w/w
a month agotoday
82
Installs / week
npm · canvas-readonly-mcp
0
Stars
0 open issues
12 Nov 2026
Last commit
from GitHub
MIT
License
TypeScript

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Canvas LMS (read-only) 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-readonly-mcp -e 'CANVAS_BASE_URL=<CANVAS_BASE_URL>' -e 'CANVAS_TOKEN=<CANVAS_TOKEN>' -- npx -y canvas-readonly-mcp
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-readonly-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-readonly-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.canvas-readonly-mcp]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "canvas-readonly-mcp"]
env = { CANVAS_BASE_URL = "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>", CANVAS_TOKEN = "<CANVAS_TOKEN>" }
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "canvas-readonly-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-readonly-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "canvas-readonly-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "canvas-readonly-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CANVAS_BASE_URL": "<CANVAS_BASE_URL>",
        "CANVAS_TOKEN": "<CANVAS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Put your own values in place of <CANVAS_BASE_URL> (Your Canvas address, e.g. https://canvas.yourschool.edu), <CANVAS_TOKEN> (Canvas personal access token (Account → Settings → New access token)). The author’s registry entry marks them as required.

Optional settings from the registry entry, left out of the block above: CANVAS_HOST_ALIASES (Other hostnames of the same Canvas, comma-separated (optional)).

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Canvas LMS (read-only) — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Canvas LMS (read-only)?
Canvas LMS (read-only) 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 npm package canvas-readonly-mcp was installed 82 times last week.
How do I connect Canvas LMS (read-only)?
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-readonly-mcp straight from npm; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.
How many people use Canvas LMS (read-only)?
The npm package canvas-readonly-mcp was installed 82 times in the last week. Week over week that is -84%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.
Is Canvas LMS (read-only) open source?
Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in TypeScript and 0 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.