Course Tools: Overview, Syllabus, Pages & More

The course tools expose everything about a single Canvas course: metadata, syllabus, wiki pages, navigation tabs, enrolled users, modules, grades, and a one-call context snapshot. Most tools require only a course_id, which you can obtain from list_courses or resolve_course.

get_course_overview

Returns course-level metadata along with the list of teachers. This is typically the first call when you need basic facts about a course — term, dates, student count, and instructor info.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Response

course

object

required

Show Course object fields

string

Canvas course ID.

name

string

Full course name.

course_code

string

Short course code.

workflow_state

string

Course state, e.g. "available".

term

object

Enrollment term object with id and name.

start_at

string

ISO datetime the course starts.

end_at

string

ISO datetime the course ends.

time_zone

string

Course time zone identifier.

default_view

string

Default course home view, e.g. "feed" or "wiki".

public_syllabus

boolean

Whether the syllabus is publicly visible.

is_favorite

boolean

Whether the course is starred by the current user.

total_students

integer

Total enrolled student count.

hide_final_grades

boolean

Whether final grades are hidden from students.

html_url

string

Direct URL to the course in Canvas.

teachers

object[]

Array of teacher objects, each containing id, display_name, sortable_name, avatar_image_url, and html_url.

Example

canvas tool run get_course_overview --args '{"course_id": "112233"}'

get_course_syllabus

Returns syllabus metadata and optionally the full syllabus body. The body is HTML and can be large; use body_char_limit to truncate it when you only need a summary.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

include_body

boolean

default:"true"

When true, includes the raw HTML syllabus body. Defaults to true.

body_char_limit

integer

default:"12000"

Maximum number of characters to return from the syllabus body. Must be between 200 and 200000. Defaults to 12000.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

course_name

string

required

Full course name.

course_code

string

Short course code.

term

object

Enrollment term object.

syllabus_body

string

The syllabus body as raw HTML, truncated to body_char_limit if needed. null when include_body is false or no syllabus exists.

has_syllabus_body

boolean

required

true if a syllabus body exists in Canvas, regardless of include_body.

syllabus_public

boolean

Whether the syllabus is publicly accessible.

syllabus_raw_length

integer

Full character length of the syllabus body before any truncation.

html_url

string

Direct URL to the course in Canvas.

Example

canvas tool run get_course_syllabus --args '{"course_id": "112233", "include_body": true, "body_char_limit": 5000}'

list_course_pages

Lists wiki pages in a course. Results can be filtered by search term and publication status.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

string

Filter pages by title. Case-insensitive substring match.

published_only

boolean

When true, returns only published pages. When false, returns only unpublished pages. When omitted, returns all pages.

limit

integer

Maximum number of pages to return. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 100.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

count

integer

required

Number of pages returned.

pages

object[]

required

Show Page object fields

page_id

string

Canvas page ID.

url

string

URL slug used to fetch the page, e.g. "course-syllabus".

title

string

Page title.

created_at

string

ISO datetime the page was created.

updated_at

string

ISO datetime of the last edit.

published

boolean

Whether the page is published.

front_page

boolean

Whether this is the course front page.

html_url

string

Direct URL to the page in Canvas.

Example

canvas tool run list_course_pages --args '{"course_id": "112233", "published_only": true, "limit": 25}'

canvas_get_page

Fetches the full content of a single course wiki page by URL slug or page ID. Pass the url slug (e.g. "week-3-notes") or a numeric page ID. This tool does not support assignment, discussion, or file URLs — use resolve_canvas_url for those.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

url_or_id

string

required

The page URL slug (e.g. "course-syllabus") or numeric page ID. Also accepts a full Canvas page URL — the slug is extracted automatically.

Show Optional parameters

force_as_id

boolean

default:"false"

When true, treats url_or_id as a numeric page ID even if it looks like a slug. Defaults to false.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

requested

object

required

Echo of the url_or_id and force_as_id values that were used.

page

object

required

Show Page object fields

page_id

string

Canvas page ID.

url

string

URL slug.

title

string

Page title.

created_at

string

ISO datetime the page was created.

updated_at

string

ISO datetime of the last edit.

published

boolean

Whether the page is published.

front_page

boolean

Whether this is the course front page.

body

string

Full page content as raw HTML.

html_url

string

Direct URL to the page in Canvas.

lock_info

object

Lock details if the page is locked.

locked_for_user

boolean

Whether the page is locked for the current user.

Example

canvas tool run canvas_get_page --args '{"course_id": "112233", "url_or_id": "week-3-lecture-notes"}'

list_course_tabs

Lists the left-sidebar navigation tabs visible in a course. Tabs represent entries like Home, Syllabus, Assignments, People, and any external tool links.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

limit

integer

Maximum number of tabs to return. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 100.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

count

integer

required

Number of tabs returned.

tabs

object[]

required

Show Tab object fields

string

Tab identifier, e.g. "home", "syllabus", "assignments".

label

string

Display label shown in the sidebar.

type

string

Tab type, e.g. "internal" or "external".

position

integer

Ordered position in the sidebar.

hidden

boolean

Whether the tab is hidden from students.

visibility

string

Visibility level, e.g. "public" or "members".

url

string

Relative URL path for the tab.

full_url

string

Absolute URL for the tab destination.

html_url

string

Canonical Canvas URL for the tab.

Example

canvas tool run list_course_tabs --args '{"course_id": "112233"}'

get_course_tab

Fetches a single navigation tab by its tab ID and optionally resolves and fetches the tab’s destination. Use this to follow a sidebar link through to its content.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

tab_id

string

required

The tab identifier, e.g. "home", "syllabus", "assignments". Obtain tab IDs from list_course_tabs.

Show Optional parameters

include_target

boolean

default:"true"

When true, resolves the tab’s destination URL and fetches its content using resolve_canvas_url. Defaults to true.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

tab_id

string

required

The tab identifier that was queried.

tab

object

required

Tab object with the same fields as list_course_tabs entries.

target

object

When include_target is true, the resolved content at the tab’s destination URL. Shape depends on the destination resource type (same structure as resolve_canvas_url response).

Example

canvas tool run get_course_tab --args '{"course_id": "112233", "tab_id": "syllabus", "include_target": true}'

list_course_people

Lists users enrolled in a course. Can be filtered by name, enrollment type, and whether to include email addresses.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

string

Filter users by name. Case-insensitive substring match.

enrollment_types

string[]

Filter by one or more enrollment types. Allowed values: "teacher", "student", "student_view", "ta", "observer", "designer".

include_email

boolean

default:"true"

When true, includes the user’s email address in the response. Defaults to true.

limit

integer

Maximum number of users to return. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 100.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

count

integer

required

Number of users returned.

people

object[]

required

Show Person object fields

string

Canvas user ID.

name

string

Full display name.

sortable_name

string

Last, First format used for sorting.

short_name

string

Preferred short name.

string

User email address. Present when include_email is true.

avatar_url

string

URL to the user’s avatar image.

enrollments

object[]

Array of enrollment objects, each with type, role, and enrollment_state.

Example

canvas tool run list_course_people --args '{"course_id": "112233", "enrollment_types": ["teacher", "ta"], "include_email": true}'

list_modules

Lists modules in a course and optionally expands each module’s items and their content details.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

string

Filter modules by name. Case-insensitive substring match.

include_items

boolean

When true, includes the list of items within each module.

include_content_details

boolean

When true, fetches additional details for each module item (requires include_items to be true).

limit

integer

Maximum number of modules to return. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 100.

items_limit

integer

Maximum number of items to return per module. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 100.

Example

canvas tool run list_modules --args '{"course_id": "112233", "include_items": true, "include_content_details": true, "limit": 10}'

get_course_grade_summary

Returns the current grade summary for a student in a course, including enrollment grade data, raw point totals, submission counts, and a per-assignment-group breakdown.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

student_id

string

default:"self"

Canvas user ID of the student. Defaults to "self" (the authenticated user). Querying other students requires course-level submission read permissions.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

course_name

string

required

Full course name.

student_id

string

required

The student ID that was queried.

grades

object

Canvas enrollment grades object. Contains current_score, final_score, current_grade, and final_grade when available.

raw_points

object

Show Raw points fields

earned

number

Total points earned across all graded submissions.

possible

number

Total points possible across all assignments.

percent

number

Calculated percentage (earned / possible * 100). null when no points are possible.

submission_counts

object

Show Submission count fields

total

integer

Total number of submissions fetched.

missing

integer

Count of missing submissions.

late

integer

Count of late submissions.

excused

integer

Count of excused submissions.

assignment_group_breakdown

object[]

Per-group grade data, each with id, name, group_weight, earned_points, possible_points, percent, and weighted_contribution_estimate.

Example

canvas tool run get_course_grade_summary --args '{"course_id": "112233"}'

resolve_canvas_url

Parses a Canvas URL into its component object identifiers and optionally fetches the identified resource. Use this when you have a Canvas URL and need to know what it points to and how to retrieve its content.

canvas_get_page only handles wiki page URLs. For all other Canvas URLs — assignments, discussions, files, submissions — use resolve_canvas_url.

Parameters

url

string

required

A full Canvas URL, e.g. "https://school.instructure.com/courses/112233/assignments/789".

Show Optional parameters

fetch_details

boolean

default:"true"

When true, fetches the resource identified by the URL and includes it in the details field. Defaults to true.

Response

url

string

required

The original URL that was parsed.

domain

string

required

The hostname extracted from the URL.

course_id

string

Extracted Canvas course ID.

resource_type

string

Type of resource identified. Common values: "assignment", "discussion_topic", "page", "file", "syllabus", "course_grades", "course_people", "course".

resource_id

string

Expanded Canvas resource ID.

resource_id_aliases

string[]

All known ID aliases for the resource (short, tilde, and full formats).

recommended_tool

string

The suggested tool name to use for this resource type.

details

object

Fetched resource content when fetch_details is true. Shape matches the response from the recommended tool.

detail_error

string

Error message if the details fetch failed. null on success.

Example

canvas tool run resolve_canvas_url --args '{"url": "https://school.instructure.com/courses/112233/assignments/789", "fetch_details": true}'

get_course_context_snapshot

Returns an aggregated, single-call context snapshot for a course. Combines the course overview, syllabus, upcoming assignments, recent announcements, modules, and grade summary into one response. Designed to give an LLM or tool a quick orientation to a course without making multiple sequential requests.

Parameters

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

Show Optional parameters

include_syllabus_body

boolean

default:"false"

When true, includes the full HTML syllabus body. Defaults to false to keep the response compact.

upcoming_limit

integer

default:"20"

Maximum number of upcoming assignments to include. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 20.

announcements_limit

integer

default:"10"

Maximum number of recent announcements to include. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 10.

modules_limit

integer

default:"20"

Maximum number of modules to include. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 20.

module_items_limit

integer

default:"50"

Maximum number of items per module to include. Must be between 1 and 300. Defaults to 50.

Response

course_id

string

required

Canvas course ID.

overview

object

Result from get_course_overview.

syllabus

object

Result from get_course_syllabus.

upcoming_assignments

object

Result from list_course_assignments with bucket: "upcoming".

announcements

object

Result from list_announcements.

modules

object

Result from list_modules with items and content details.

grade_summary

object

Result from get_course_grade_summary.

errors

object[]

Array of section-level errors. Each entry has section (the snapshot key that failed) and error (the error message). Individual section failures do not abort the entire snapshot.

Example

canvas tool run get_course_context_snapshot --args '{"course_id": "112233", "include_syllabus_body": false, "upcoming_limit": 10}'

Core Tools

Content Tools

​get_course_overview

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​get_course_syllabus

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​list_course_pages

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​canvas_get_page

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​list_course_tabs

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​get_course_tab

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​list_course_people

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​list_modules

​Parameters

​Example

​get_course_grade_summary

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​resolve_canvas_url

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

​get_course_context_snapshot

​Parameters

​Response

​Example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

get_course_overview

Parameters

Response

Example

get_course_syllabus

Parameters

Response

Example

list_course_pages

Parameters

Response

Example

canvas_get_page

Parameters

Response

Example

list_course_tabs

Parameters

Response

Example

get_course_tab

Parameters

Response

Example

list_course_people

Parameters

Response

Example

list_modules

Parameters

Example

get_course_grade_summary

Parameters

Response

Example

resolve_canvas_url

Parameters

Response

Example

get_course_context_snapshot

Parameters

Response

Example