Brightspace vs Fiveable for AP Students
A side-by-side look at the Brightspace and Fiveable for AP Students MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Brightspace for education work as a local process; choose Fiveable for AP Students for education over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Brightspace when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN, BRIGHTSPACE_USERNAME, BRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORD, BRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRET, BRIGHTSPACE_COOKIE, BRIGHTSPACE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK. - You want tools like
check_auth, list_my_courses, get_my_grades.
Choose Fiveable for AP Students when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
list_subjects, get_subject_outline, get_study_guide.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Education | Education |
| Quality signal | 59/100 · Good | 57/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKENBRIGHTSPACE_USERNAMEBRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORDBRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRETBRIGHTSPACE_COOKIEBRIGHTSPACE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 13 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 29 | 38 |
| Full listing | View Brightspace | View Fiveable for AP Students |
Tools & capabilities
Brightspace tools 29
check_authVerify authentication and show the active user identitylist_my_coursesList all enrolled coursesget_my_gradesGet grades for a courseget_assignmentsList assignments and dropbox foldersget_assignment_filesDownload and read instructor-posted assignment filesget_upcoming_due_datesList assignments due in the next N daysget_feedbackRead the grade, instructor comments and per-criterion rubric results for an assignmentget_assignment_rubricShow an assignment's grading rubric (criteria, levels, points, descriptions)get_my_submissionsList and download the files you (or your group) submitted, even after the folder closesget_syllabusFetch the course syllabusget_course_contentBrowse modules and topics (includes topic IDs)get_topic_fileDownload and read a content topic file (DOCX, PDF, HTML, plain text)- +17 more on the listing page
Fiveable for AP Students tools 38
list_subjectsLists every AP subject Fiveable covers, with its canonical subject slug and flags for which features exist for that subject (practice questions, key terms, score calculator). Suitable when a subject slug is not already known. Cheap — roughly 1-2k tokens.get_subject_outlineReturns the full unit and topic outline for one AP subject, including every study guide slug in each unit. Provides the course map for study planning and individual guide retrieval. Moderate cost — roughly 2-5k tokens depending on subject size.get_study_guideReturns the full text of one Fiveable AP study guide as Markdown. Accepts the exact canonical guide reference or a close approximation of its title. Suitable when a student asks to learn or review a topic. It consumes one full-content preview for a caller unless existing access covers this subject and feature. Expensive — a full guide can be 3-8k tokens.get_unit_overviewReturns the overview page for one unit of an AP course: what it covers, how it is weighted on the exam, its topics and study plan. Suitable when a student is reviewing a whole unit. Moderate cost — roughly 1-3k tokens.list_key_termsLists the key vocabulary terms for an AP subject, paginated alphabetically. Suitable for building flashcards or checking what vocabulary a student should know; results include stable term slugs for full definitions. Cheap.get_key_termReturns the full definition, context and related terms for one AP key term. Use when a student asks "what does X mean" for AP vocabulary. Cheap — usually under 1k tokens.search_contentKeyword search across every Fiveable study guide, unit, subject hub and key term. Suitable when the relevant subject or guide is not known. Returns titles and canonical references rather than full content, so it is cheap.get_content_sectionsReturns a small set of Fiveable study-guide passages relevant to one question. Suitable for narrow explanations, research questions and checking student notes. One call consumes one full-content preview for a caller without existing access.list_frqsLists Fiveable's free-response (FRQ) practice prompts for an AP subject, optionally filtered by FRQ type, unit, and excluded IDs. Results use stable ID order; unchanged filters continue pagination. Returns prompt ids and summaries rather than full prompts. Cheap.get_frqReturns one full, original Fiveable FRQ prompt: stimulus, background and every lettered part with its point value. The returned prompt is eligible for Fiveable's saved scoring workflow after the student writes a response. It consumes one full-content preview unless existing access covers this FRQ. Moderate cost — 1-4k tokens.get_practice_questionsReturns original, course-specific multiple-choice practice questions. Free-text topics are matched against Fiveable's course map, so natural phrasing works. Omit topic to get balanced practice across the whole subject, with varied units, skills and stimulus formats. For history, science and language subjects this can return source-based sets — one stimulus with several questions off it — and stimulus images come back as viewable images. This is targeted or mixed practice, distinct from Fiveable's durable adaptive diagnostic. Every question carries a `Question id` that supports a saved answer submission for student progress. The recentCorrect and recentAnswered inputs allow the tool to drop to easier question types when a student is missing questions, helping find where understanding breaks down. A returned question set consumes one full-content preview unless existing access covers this practice feature. Moderate cost — roughly 300 tokens per question, more when images are attached.calculate_ap_scorePredicts a 1-5 AP score from raw section scores using Fiveable's per-subject score calculator, and explains the weighting. Call with no sectionScores to see which sections the subject has and their point maximums, then call again with the student's scores. Cheap.- +26 more on the listing page
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Brightspace
{
"mcpServers": {
"brightspace": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"brightspace-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_API_TOKEN_HERE",
"BRIGHTSPACE_USERNAME": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_USERNAME_HERE",
"BRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORD": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_PASSWORD_HERE",
"BRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRET": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_TOTP_SECRET_HERE",
"BRIGHTSPACE_COOKIE": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_COOKIE_HERE",
"BRIGHTSPACE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK": "YOUR_BRIGHTSPACE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Fiveable for AP Students
{
"mcpServers": {
"fiveable-for-ap-students": {
"url": "https://fiveable.me/api/mcp"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Brightspace is categorized under Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. Fiveable for AP Students belongs to Education and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Brightspace for education work and Fiveable for AP Students for education.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Brightspace has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Fiveable for AP Students has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add brightspace and fiveable-for-ap-students as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Brightspace has a quality signal of 59/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 13 GitHub stars. Fiveable for AP Students has 57/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.