Canvas Lms MCP vs EngrAmo
A side-by-side look at the Canvas Lms MCP and EngrAmo MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Canvas Lms MCP for education work as a local process; choose EngrAmo 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 Canvas Lms MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You have the keys it needs:
CANVAS_API_TOKEN, CANVAS_BASE_URL, CANVAS_PSEUDONYMIZE_STUDENTS. - You want tools like
health_check, list_courses, get_course.
Choose EngrAmo when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
ENGRAMO_API_URL, ENGRAMO_API_TOKEN. - You want tools like
activate_learning_path, add_card_to_learning, add_catalog_to_learning.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Education | Education |
| Quality signal | 67/100 · Great | 72/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | API key required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | CANVAS_API_TOKENCANVAS_BASE_URLCANVAS_PSEUDONYMIZE_STUDENTS | ENGRAMO_API_URLENGRAMO_API_TOKEN |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 10 | 2 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 174 | 29 |
| Full listing | View Canvas Lms MCP | View EngrAmo |
Tools & capabilities
Canvas Lms MCP tools 174
health_checkCheck if the Canvas API is reachable and the token is valid. Returns ok/error status.list_coursesList courses for the authenticated user. Use fields="slim" when enumerating courses for selection; switch to "full" once you have identified the target. slim returns id, name, course_code, term name, and workflow_state only. "full" (default) includes all Canvas fields plus `include` extras (teachers, total_students, syllabus_body, etc.). `state[]` narrows by course workflow state; `enrollment_state` narrows by the caller's enrollment state.get_courseGet details for a single course. Defaults to requesting `term` and `total_students`. Pass `include` to replace the default set with custom Canvas include[] fields (teachers, permissions, syllabus_body, sections, etc.).get_syllabusGet the syllabus HTML body for a course.create_courseCreate a new course in a Canvas account. Returns the created course object.update_courseUpdate an existing course. Only provided fields are changed; omitted fields are left as-is.list_assignmentsList all assignments in a course. Use fields="slim" when enumerating assignments for selection; switch to "full" once you've identified the target. slim returns id, name, due_at, points_possible, published, and course_id only. "full" (default) includes all Canvas fields plus `include` extras (submission, all_dates, overrides, score_statistics, etc.). Use `bucket` to filter by past/upcoming/overdue/etc. Other filters: `search_term`, `assignment_ids`, `order_by`.get_assignmentGet details for a single assignment by ID. Use `include` to request submission, overrides, all_dates, score_statistics, and other optional fields.list_assignment_groupsList assignment groups (categories like Homework, Exams) in a course. Use `include=assignments` to nest assignments under each group; other includes add submission, overrides, score_statistics, etc.create_assignmentCreate a new assignment in a course.update_assignmentUpdate an existing assignment in a course.delete_assignmentDelete an assignment from a course. This action is permanent.- +162 more on the listing page
EngrAmo tools 29
activate_learning_pathActivate a learning path so its catalogs are included in daily reviews.add_card_to_learningAdd a single card to the learning queue. It will appear in due reviews. A card_id that doesn't exist is reported as "Not found"; one that belongs to another user is reported as a permission error (the API may also report a missing id that way).add_catalog_to_learningAdd all cards in a catalog to the learning queue at once.add_catalog_to_learning_pathAdd a catalog to a learning path so its cards become part of the path. Idempotent: adding a catalog that is already in the path succeeds (no error). A missing path or catalog returns Not found.create_learning_pathCreate a new learning path. It starts empty — use add_catalog_to_learning_path (or pass `catalog_ids` here) to populate it with catalogs. Passing `catalog_ids` adds each one in its own request right after the path is created (non-atomic): the path is never rolled back if a catalog fails to add, and the response then includes `catalogs_added`/`catalogs_failed` so failed ids can be retried.deactivate_learning_pathDeactivate a learning path so its catalogs are excluded from daily reviews.delete_cardDelete a flashcard from a catalog. If the card has learning progress it is archived (it stays in get_due_cards/get_all_learning_cards and remains reviewable, but get_card/update_card then report it as Not found); otherwise hard-deleted. A card_id that doesn't exist, or a catalog_id the card is not in, is reported as "Not found" and nothing is deleted; a card that belongs to another user is reported as a permission error (the API may also report a missing id that way).delete_catalogDelete a catalog. It is archived (not hard-deleted) if it has cards, a cover image, or is in an active learning path; otherwise it is hard-deleted. There is no restore/unarchive tool. Cards also in another live catalog are unaffected (they only lose this membership); cards only in this catalog stay reachable by id via get_card (showing `catalogs: []`) only until backend cleanup archives them; they disappear from search and list_cards immediately, and once archived get_card/update_card report them as Not found (cards with learning progress still appear in get_due_cards). To keep them, move them to another catalog with update_card (catalog_ids) BEFORE deleting. Catalog quota decrements automatically.generate_cardCreate a single styled flashcard. Pass catalog_id to add to an existing catalog; omit for the default catalog. For language-learning cards: translate face.text yourself and set back.text before calling; build a word-level dictionary (word → translation map) yourself and set face.dictionary. rich_text spans (IMPORTANT rules): ALWAYS set face.text and back.text to the full plain sentence — it is the ground truth. Each span's text must be a VERBATIM continuous segment of the original text — never add separator characters, markers, or ANY characters not present in the original sentence. Spans must partition face.text with no gaps; their concatenation must equal face.text exactly. The server validates this and discards richText if spans disagree with text. Styling goes under a nested `style` object on the span, never as flat fields, e.g. {"text":"gracias.","style":{"bold":true,"fontColor":"#27AE60"}}. Use fontFamily='monospace' for code, bold=true for key terms, fontColor='#E74C3C' for warnings, '#27AE60' for correct answers. If no styling needed, omit rich_text entirely and just set text.generate_cardsAdd multiple flashcards to an EXISTING catalog in one batch. Use this instead of calling generate_card N times. WARNING: cards are created one at a time — if one fails, previously created cards in this batch are NOT rolled back. Use generate_catalog_with_cards for atomic creation. For language-learning cards: translate each face.text yourself and set back.text; build a word-level dictionary (word → translation map) yourself and set face.dictionary on each card. rich_text spans (IMPORTANT rules): ALWAYS set face.text and back.text to the full plain sentence — it is the ground truth. Each span's text must be a VERBATIM continuous segment of the original text — never add separator characters, markers, or ANY characters not present in the original sentence. Spans must partition face.text with no gaps; their concatenation must equal face.text exactly. The server validates this and discards richText if spans disagree with text. Styling goes under a nested `style` object on the span, e.g. {"text":"gracias.","style":{"bold":true,"fontColor":"#27AE60"}}. At most 200 cards per call; split larger sets into several calls.generate_catalog_with_cardsCreate a new catalog together with all its flashcards in one atomic call. More efficient than creating cards one by one. For language-learning cards: translate each face.text yourself and set back.text; build a word-level dictionary (word → translation map) yourself and set face.dictionary on each card. rich_text spans (IMPORTANT rules): ALWAYS set face.text and back.text to the full plain sentence — it is the ground truth. Each span's text must be a VERBATIM continuous segment of the original text — never add separator characters, markers, or ANY characters not present in the original sentence. Spans must partition face.text with no gaps; their concatenation must equal face.text exactly. The server validates this and discards richText if spans disagree with text. Styling goes under a nested `style` object on the span, e.g. {"text":"gracias.","style":{"bold":true,"fontColor":"#27AE60"}}. The returned catalog's cardCount reflects the cards created in this call. At most 200 cards per call; split larger sets into several calls.get_all_learning_cardsGet all cards currently in the learning queue (due and future), with pagination. Returns at most 50 items per call; pass the returned `cursor` back to fetch the next page (`cursor: null` means this is the last page). A returned card may be archived (deleted after learning started): it stays reviewable here, but get_card/update_card report it as Not found.- +17 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.
Canvas Lms MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"canvas-lms-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"canvas-lms-mcp"
],
"env": {
"CANVAS_API_TOKEN": "YOUR_CANVAS_API_TOKEN_HERE",
"CANVAS_BASE_URL": "YOUR_CANVAS_BASE_URL_HERE",
"CANVAS_PSEUDONYMIZE_STUDENTS": "YOUR_CANVAS_PSEUDONYMIZE_STUDENTS_HERE"
}
}
}
}
EngrAmo
{
"mcpServers": {
"engramo": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@engramo/mcp"
],
"env": {
"ENGRAMO_API_URL": "YOUR_ENGRAMO_API_URL_HERE",
"ENGRAMO_API_TOKEN": "YOUR_ENGRAMO_API_TOKEN_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Canvas Lms MCP is categorized under Education and uses a local stdio subprocess. EngrAmo belongs to Education and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Canvas Lms MCP for education work and EngrAmo 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.
Canvas Lms MCP is listed as free. Auth: api key required. EngrAmo 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 canvas-lms-mcp and engramo as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Canvas Lms MCP has a quality signal of 67/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 10 GitHub stars. EngrAmo has 72/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars.