canvas-lms_skill

Overview

This skill connects to Canvas LMS to view your courses, modules, pages, assignments, quizzes, and grades. It handles initial environment checks and guides you through setup if Canvas access is not configured. The skill prioritizes read-only operations and clear, user-friendly summaries of course content.

How this skill works

Before any Canvas call it verifies local prerequisites (Node.js) and whether the Canvas MCP bridge is configured. If MCP is missing, it walks you through creating a Canvas API token and adding the MCP. When the MCP is available it calls the appropriate endpoints to list courses, modules, pages, assignments, or quizzes and returns concise, human-readable summaries.

When to use it

• You want a quick list of your active Canvas courses.
• You need the contents of a course: modules, pages, or syllabus.
• You want upcoming or open assignments and due dates.
• You need quiz or assignment overview without raw JSON.
• Canvas is not configured and you need step-by-step setup help.

Best practices

• I run checks first: confirm Node.js and MCP presence before any Canvas API action.
• Follow the guided MCP setup exactly to avoid authentication errors.
• I use read-only requests by default; ask explicitly if you want changes made.
• I never display API tokens or student PII unless you explicitly request and authorize it.
• I summarize results in plain lists or tables — no raw JSON dumps.

Example use cases

• "Show my courses" — returns a clean numbered list of active courses.
• "What’s in [course name]?" — lists modules and top-level module items for that course.
• "Show assignments due soon" — filters assignments by upcoming due dates.
• "Get the syllabus" — fetches the course front page or syllabus summary.
• Setup flow: guides you to generate a Canvas API token and add the MCP bridge if not installed.