External Tools Introduction

Canvas, like many LMSs, supports loading external resources inline using the IMS LTI standard. These tools can be deployed on a course or account level. Once configured, tools can be surfaced as links in course modules or used to deliver custom assignment experiences. Canvas supports some additional integration points using LTI (see the "Placements" dropdown in the left hand navigation here) to offer a more integrated experience and to allow for more customization of the Canvas product. This is accomplished by configuring additional settings on external tools used inside of Canvas and by leveraging LTI Advantage services.

Because tools can be deployed at any level in the system hierarchy, they can be as general or specific as needed. The Chemistry Department can add chemistry-specific tools without those tools cluttering everyone else's interfaces. Or, a single teacher who is trying out some new web service can do so without needing the tool to be set up at the account level.

Types of Tool Integrations

Canvas currently supports the following types of tool placements:

External tool assignments integrations:

This type of integration is part of the LTI 1.1 Outcomes Service or LTI 1.3 Assignment and Grade Services and allows external services to synchronize grades, and other assignment details.

Example use cases might include:

Adding a link/tab to the course navigation:

Example use cases might include:

Adding a link/tab to the account navigation:

Example use cases might include:

Adding a link/tab to the user profile navigation:

Example use cases might include:

Selecting content to add to a variety of locations as LTI deep links:

Example use cases might include:

How to Configure/Import Integrated Tools

LTI 1.1

Tool's placements can be configured using LTI configuration XML as specified in the IMS Common Cartridge specification, or using the external tools API. Configuration XML contains all non-account-specific settings (except the consumer key and shared secret, which must always be entered manually). The user can configure the tool by a tool-provided URL (recommended), or paste in the XML that the tool provides.

For information on how to programmatically configured external tools, so users don't have to copy and paste URLs or XML, please see the Canvas external tools API.

LTI 1.3

Similar to LTI 1.1, tools built on the LTI 1.3 specification can be configured by either supplying clients with a JSON block or URL that hosts the JSON. This JSON is used to determine the behavior of the tool within Canvas by configuring and LTI Developer Key. Once the developer key is created and turned on, users with sufficient permissions can install the tool using the developer key's client ID.

LTI Advantage Services permissions

When setting up Developer Keys, the section “LTI Advantage Services” allows you to enable or disable permissions for access via that developer key. Below is the list of permissions available:

Permission name What it does IMS / Canvas scope
Can create and view assignment data in the gradebook associated with the tool Allows use of all functionality of the LTI LineItems API https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-ags/scope/lineitem
Can view assignment data in the gradebook associated with the tool Allows use of the “show” and “list” endpoints of the LTI LineItems API https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-ags/scope/lineitem.readonly
Can view submission data for assignments associated with the tool. Allows use of the LTI Advantage Result API https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-ags/scope/result.readonly
Can create and update submission results for assignments associated with the tool Allows use of the LTI Advantage Score API https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-ags/scope/score
Can view Progress records associated with the context the tool is installed in Allows use of the Canvas LTI Progress API, which is used during Score creation with an associated file https://canvas.instructure.com/lti-ags/progress/scope/show
Can retrieve user data associated with the context the tool is installed in Allows use of the LTI Advantage Names and Roles Provisioning Service https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/lti-nrps/scope/contextmembership.readonly
Can update public jwk for LTI services Allows to update the public JWT https://canvas.instructure.com/lti/public_jwk/scope/update
Can lookup Account information Allows use of the Canvas LTI Account API (read only) https://canvas.instructure.com/lti/account_lookup/scope/show
Can view the content of a page the tool is launched from Allows use of the lti.getPageContent postMessage https://canvas.instructure.com/lti/page_content/show

NOTE: scopes with https://canvas.instructure.com are Canvas specific while others are LTI specifications