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   ╚═════╝╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═╝  ╚═══╝  ╚═══╝  ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝  CLI

A universal command-line client for Canvas LMS written in Go. Works with any Canvas instance — just provide your institution's URL and an API access token.

Features

• Works with any Canvas LMS instance (Instructure, self-hosted, etc.)
• Simple API token authentication — no complex SSO flows
• 20+ commands covering courses, assignments, grades, submissions, modules, discussions, files, calendar, and more
• Color-coded output with human-readable formatting
• --json flag on any command for scripting/piping
• Zero external Go dependencies

Requirements

• Go 1.21+ (for building from source)
• A Canvas LMS account at your institution
• A Canvas API access token

Installation

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/jpnarchi/canvas-cli.git
cd canvas-cli
go build -o canvas-cli .

# Optional: add to PATH
sudo ln -s $(pwd)/canvas-cli /usr/local/bin/canvas-cli

Quick Start

# 1. Configure with your Canvas URL and API token
canvas-cli configure
# Canvas URL: https://myschool.instructure.com
# API Token: your_token_here

# 2. Verify login
canvas-cli whoami

# 3. List your courses
canvas-cli courses

# 4. Check your grades
canvas-cli grades

# 5. See what's due
canvas-cli todo

Generating an API Token

1. Log in to your Canvas instance in a browser
2. Go to Account → Settings
3. Scroll to Approved Integrations
4. Click + New Access Token
5. Give it a name (e.g. "canvas-cli") and click Generate Token
6. Copy the token — you won't be able to see it again

Commands

Setup

Command	Description
canvas-cli configure	Set up Canvas URL and API token
canvas-cli whoami	Show your profile info
canvas-cli debug-login	Test API connection with verbose output
canvas-cli version	Show CLI version

Courses

Command	Description
canvas-cli courses	List your active courses
canvas-cli courses <id>	Show course details (syllabus, term, grade)
canvas-cli courses <id> users	List users enrolled in a course

Assignments & Grades

Command	Description
canvas-cli assignments <course>	List assignments with due dates and status
canvas-cli assignments <course> <id>	Show assignment details and your submission
canvas-cli grades	Grades overview across all courses
canvas-cli grades <course>	Detailed grades for a specific course
canvas-cli submissions <course> <assign>	View your submission, comments, and rubric
canvas-cli submit <course> <assign> --text "..."	Submit text entry
canvas-cli submit <course> <assign> --url <url>	Submit a URL

Productivity

Command	Description
canvas-cli todo	Pending to-do items
canvas-cli upcoming	Upcoming events and assignments
canvas-cli missing	Missing/late submissions
canvas-cli calendar	Calendar events (next 30 days)
canvas-cli calendar --start 2026-01-01 --end 2026-02-01	Events in a date range

Content

Command	Description
canvas-cli modules <course>	List modules in a course
canvas-cli modules <course> <id>	List items in a module
canvas-cli discussions <course>	List discussion topics
canvas-cli discussions <course> <id>	View a discussion thread
canvas-cli discussions <course> <id> --reply "msg"	Post a reply
canvas-cli announcements	Recent announcements (all courses)
canvas-cli announcements <course>	Announcements for a specific course

Files

Command	Description
canvas-cli files <course>	List course files with sizes
canvas-cli download <file_id>	Download a file
canvas-cli download <file_id> -o ~/path	Download to a specific path

Other

Command	Description
canvas-cli notifications	Activity stream (announcements, messages, submissions)

Global Flags

Flag	Description
--json	Output raw JSON (works on any command)
--per-page <n>	Results per page, default 50
-h, --help	Show help

Configuration

Config is stored at ~/.canvas-cli/config.json with 0600 permissions:

{
  "api_url": "https://myschool.instructure.com",
  "api_token": "your_api_token_here"
}

Project Structure

canvas-cli/
├── main.go                    # Entry point
├── go.mod                     # Go module (zero external deps)
├── cmd/
│   ├── root.go                # Command router, global flags, help
│   ├── announcements.go       # Announcements command
│   ├── assignments.go         # Assignments command
│   ├── calendar.go            # Calendar command
│   ├── courses.go             # Courses command
│   ├── debug.go               # Debug login command
│   ├── discussions.go         # Discussions command
│   ├── files.go               # Files & download commands
│   ├── grades.go              # Grades command
│   ├── modules.go             # Modules command
│   ├── notifications.go       # Notifications command
│   ├── submissions.go         # Submissions & submit commands
│   ├── todo.go                # Todo, upcoming, missing commands
│   └── whoami.go              # Whoami command
├── internal/
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── client.go          # HTTP client & API methods
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── config.go          # Configuration load/save
│   └── ui/
│       └── ui.go              # Colors, tables, formatting helpers
└── README.md

Canvas API Documentation

This CLI is built on top of the Canvas LMS REST API.

License

MIT