v1.2.0: phone alerts, read course files, GPA calculator, prompts and attachments

New

• 📱 Phone alerts. Get a notification for new grades (several at once arrive as one summary), new announcements, work due within 24 hours that you haven't submitted, and a Canvas token that expires within 5 days. Alerts go to the free ntfy app and/or a Discord webhook. Only the computer that is serving sends them, and what was already sent is remembered in your Canvas account, so failover doesn't repeat alerts. Run canvas-lms-mcp-remote test-alert to check your settings. See Phone alerts in the README.
• Read course files. read_course_file reads PDFs, Word documents and PowerPoint slides (including speaker notes). Long files come back in parts.
• GPA calculator. calculate_gpa works out your GPA on a 4.0 scale from your current grades, weighted by credit hours, with what-if grades and extra points for AP or Honors classes.
• Prompts. Five one-click prompts in your AI app's menu: Plan my week, What did I miss?, Prep me for an exam, How are my grades? and Catch me up on a course. Course names autocomplete.
• Attach Canvas items. Attach a course syllabus, or an assignment due in the next 14 days, to a chat like a file.

Improved

• MCP SDK 1.32 and dependency updates. npm audit is clean.
• 211 tools. The Identity group count in the docs was off by one and is fixed.

Upgrade

On every computer: npm install -g canvas-lms-mcp-remote@latest, then restart the server (see Restarting cleanly in the README), or use Auto update in the Windows app. Alerts stay off until you add CANVAS_ALERTS_NTFY_TOPIC or CANVAS_ALERTS_DISCORD_WEBHOOK to .env.

Windows app: Canvas MCP Installer Assistant

The free Canvas MCP Installer Assistant for Windows (download) walks you through setting up the Local or Remote Edition with pictures and checks each step. Its free Tool guide explains all 211 tools in plain English with search, and Optional features shows how to turn on phone and Discord alerts. An optional $5 unlock adds one-click Auto install, Auto update and Patch version. It isn't code-signed yet, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info, then Run anyway.

SHA-256: 0d64435670655acb7333e8aef3d4cf3c21c3e52996ecca30e9e92555fdfc7193

v1.1.2: setup tools work without a token

Improved

• get_server_config, search_tools and get_rate_limit_status work before you've set a token. They never contact Canvas, so they no longer fail when CANVAS_API_TOKEN or CANVAS_BASE_URL is missing. get_server_config is the one to run first if setup isn't working, because it reports whether a token is present (without revealing it).

Upgrade

• From npm: npm install -g canvas-lms-mcp-remote@latest
• From source: git pull and npm install, then restart cleanly (see the Multi-Device Guide).

📦 npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/canvas-lms-mcp-remote

Windows app

The newest Canvas MCP Installer Assistant is on the latest release.

v1.1.1: every tool documented

Improved

• Every tool and parameter is documented. All 209 descriptions now say what the tool returns, whether it only reads or is visible to other people, and which related tool to use instead. All 404 parameters explain what they mean and where each ID comes from. Your AI assistant picks the right tool more often and needs fewer retries.
• Tools have readable titles (for example "Get Tool Launch URL") and complete safety hints for apps that show them.

Fixed

• post_submission_comment can attach files: pass the file_ids from upload_comment_attachment. Before, uploaded comment files had no way to be attached.
• get_custom_data ignored scope; it now reads only that path.
• get_quiz_assignment_overrides ignored its quiz filter; it now sends it.
• raw_canvas_request was marked read-only even though it can write. It's now marked as able to change data.
• The server told apps it was version 1.0.0; it now reports its real version.
• Removed the include_planner_overrides parameter from list_missing_submissions, because it never did anything.

Upgrade

• From npm: npm install -g canvas-lms-mcp-remote@latest
• From source: git pull and npm install, then restart cleanly (see the Multi-Device Guide).

📦 npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/canvas-lms-mcp-remote

v1.1.0: install with npm, excused-assignment fix

New

• Install with npm: npm install -g canvas-lms-mcp-remote, then run canvas-lms-mcp-remote init in an empty folder. Commands: init, start (the default), serve and --stdio. See the Quick start.
• --stdio mode (or CANVAS_MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio): serves the same tools over stdin/stdout, for directories and sandboxes that inspect servers.

Fixed

• compute_needed_score now skips excused assignments. Before, they were counted as work still to do, so "what do I need on the final?" was wrong whenever something was excused.

Improved

• The grade math now lives in grade-calculators.js with unit tests (npm test), ported from the Local Edition. Thanks @dharamdan01.
• The supervisor finds index.js next to itself, so it works from any settings folder.

Upgrade

• From npm: npm install -g canvas-lms-mcp-remote@latest
• From source: git pull and npm install, then restart cleanly (see the Multi-Device Guide).

📦 npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/canvas-lms-mcp-remote

v1.0.1: Linux setup and downloadable zip

Added

• Linux support: instructions for running the supervisor as a systemd user service, in the Multi-Device Guide. Thanks @kukirin-ui (#4)
• Download option: grab canvas-lms-mcp-server-v1.0.1.zip below if you don't use git. Unzip it and run npm install inside the folder.

Upgrade

Run git pull and npm install (or download the new zip), then restart cleanly as described in the guide. There are no code changes since v1.0.0.

v1.0.0: Remote Edition

First public release of the Remote Edition: Canvas LMS in your AI assistant on every device.

Highlights

• 209 student tools: grades (what-if, score needed on the final, impact ranking), deadlines, missing work, submissions, discussions, inbox, calendar, files and study planning
• Use it anywhere: a password-protected OAuth 2.1 login over an ngrok tunnel, so it works from web, desktop and mobile AI apps
• Multi-computer failover: run it on several computers. One serves, the others stand by and take over in about a minute
• Safe by design: confirmation before sending anything, prompt-injection fencing, no quiz-taking, login rate limiting

Get started

Follow the Quick start, then the Multi-Device Guide for more computers.

Only need it on one computer? See the Local Edition.