Canvas Poke MCP

A Poke recipe integration that connects your Canvas LMS account to Poke, so you get proactive text reminders about upcoming assignments and deadlines.

What it does

• get_upcoming_assignments — Lists all unsubmitted assignments due in the next 14 days across all your courses
• get_urgent_assignments — Flags anything due in the next 48 hours
• get_courses — Lists your active courses

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Deploy to Render (free, takes ~5 minutes)

Step 1: Put this code on GitHub

1. Go to github.com and sign in
2. Click the + icon in the top right, then New repository
3. Name it canvas-poke-mcp
4. Set it to Public
5. Click Create repository
6. On the next page, click uploading an existing file
7. Upload all the files from this folder (keep the folder structure: src/index.js and package.json in the root)
8. Click Commit changes

Step 2: Deploy on Render

1. Go to render.com and sign up for a free account
2. Click New then Web Service
3. Connect your GitHub account and select your canvas-poke-mcp repository
4. Fill in these settings:
   • Name: canvas-poke-mcp
   • Runtime: Node
   • Build Command: npm install
   • Start Command: npm start
   • Instance Type: Free
5. Click Create Web Service
6. Wait about 2 minutes for it to deploy
7. Copy your Render URL — it will look like https://canvas-poke-mcp.onrender.com

Step 3: Get your Canvas API token

1. Log in to your school's Canvas (e.g. https://yourschool.instructure.com)
2. Click your profile picture in the top right
3. Click Settings
4. Scroll down to Approved Integrations
5. Click + New Access Token
6. Give it a name like "Poke" and click Generate Token
7. Copy the token — you will only see it once

Step 4: Connect to Poke

1. Go to poke.com/settings/connections/integrations/new
2. Fill in:
   • Name: Canvas
   • MCP Server URL: your Render URL + /mcp (e.g. https://canvas-poke-mcp.onrender.com/mcp)
   • API Key: your Canvas URL and token joined with a pipe character, like this:

     https://yourschool.instructure.com|your_canvas_token_here
     

3. Click Create Integration

Step 5: Test it

Text Poke:

"What assignments do I have due this week?"

or

"Do I have anything urgent due soon?"

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Create the Recipe (to earn payouts)

1. Go to poke.com/kitchen
2. Click Create recipe
3. Fill in:
   • Name: Canvas Assignment Tracker
   • Description: Never miss a deadline. Poke monitors your Canvas courses and texts you about upcoming assignments and anything due in the next 48 hours.
   • Onboarding context: Ask the user for their Canvas school URL (e.g. https://school.instructure.com) and their Canvas personal access token, which they can generate in Canvas Settings > Approved Integrations. Combine them as "url|token" and add the integration at poke.com/settings/connections/integrations/new using the MCP server URL provided.
   • Prefilled first message: "What assignments do I have due this week?"
4. Click Publish
5. Share your recipe link everywhere

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Notes

• The free Render tier spins down after 15 minutes of inactivity. The first request after spin-down takes ~30 seconds. Upgrading to Render's $7/month tier keeps it always-on.
• Canvas API tokens do not expire unless manually deleted.
• This server never stores your token — it passes through per-request only.