Canvas LMS

Connect Crow to Canvas LMS to access courses, assignments, grades, and submissions through your AI assistant.

What You Get

• Browse courses and their content
• View assignments, due dates, and rubrics
• Check grades and submission status
• Access course announcements and discussions

Setup

Step 1: Find your Canvas instance URL

Your Canvas base URL is the domain you use to access Canvas, for example:

• https://canvas.instructure.com
• https://myschool.instructure.com
• https://canvas.myuniversity.edu

Step 2: Generate an access token

1. Log in to your Canvas account
2. Click your profile picture or avatar in the left sidebar
3. Click Settings
4. Scroll down to Approved Integrations
5. Click + New Access Token
6. Enter a purpose (e.g., "Crow") and optionally set an expiration date
7. Click Generate Token
8. Copy the token — Canvas only shows it once

Step 3: Add to Crow

Paste your token and base URL in Crow's Nest → Settings → Integrations, or on the Setup page at /setup.

The environment variables are CANVAS_API_TOKEN and CANVAS_BASE_URL.

Required Permissions

Permission	Why
User-level access token	The token inherits the permissions of your Canvas account

The token can access everything your Canvas account can access. If you're a student, it sees your courses and grades. If you're an instructor, it also sees rosters and submission details.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid access token" error

Tokens can be revoked by you or your institution's Canvas administrator. Generate a new one in Settings → Approved Integrations.

"Not Found" (404) for API calls

Double-check your CANVAS_BASE_URL. It should be the full URL including https:// with no trailing slash (e.g., https://canvas.instructure.com).

Some courses are missing

Canvas tokens only grant access to active courses. Concluded or unpublished courses may not appear in API results depending on your institution's settings.