Brightspace MCP Server

What RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server MCP server does

RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server MCP server gives an AI client read-only access to information in a D2L Brightspace account. It can list enrolled courses, inspect grade items, find upcoming assignment and quiz deadlines, retrieve announcements, and read course content such as modules, topics, files, and links.

The available tools also cover course administration and communication data. An agent can retrieve syllabi, inspect discussion forums and posts, identify instructors and TAs, and request roster or class email information. Assignment attachments can be read as text, including supported PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Files from course content or assignment submissions can be downloaded to a local directory.

The server does not submit assignments, post discussions, or otherwise modify Brightspace data. It is intended for querying and organizing course information, such as building a study plan from deadlines or summarizing the requirements in attached rubrics.

How it works

After authentication, the MCP tools query the user’s Brightspace courses on demand. Course-specific operations generally use a Brightspace course ID, which can be obtained from the enrolled-course list. Some tools accept an optional course filter and can search across all enrolled courses.

The due-date tool derives deadlines from assignment folders and quizzes. Grade results include grade items, points, percentages, and comments, while assignment results can include submission status, due dates, rubric information, and Brightspace URLs. Course content can be narrowed by module title or recursion depth. Discussion results can be requested at the forum, topic, or post level.

For downloads, the user must choose the destination directory before the tool is called. The server also supports a custom filename. Assignment attachments can instead be returned as text when the user wants a summary rather than a saved file.

Setup and configuration

RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server MCP server requires Node.js 18 or later. Run npx brightspace-mcp-server setup to start the configuration and login flow. Purdue and SUNY users can use the corresponding setup flags; other schools provide their Brightspace URL during setup. The wizard handles login and MFA, then can configure Claude Desktop and Cursor and print configuration for ChatGPT Desktop when available.

For manual MCP registration, use npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest as the server command. Run setup first so the local credentials and session information exist. If a session expires, npx brightspace-mcp-server auth starts authentication again.

Credentials are stored in ~/.brightspace-mcp/config.json with user-only permissions. Session tokens and cookies are stored in ~/.d2l-session/ using AES-256-GCM encryption. Brightspace traffic uses HTTPS. The optional D2L_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 variable disables the startup update check.

Tools and capabilities

RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server MCP server exposes tools for:

• Checking authentication and listing enrolled courses.
• Retrieving grades, assignments, quizzes, due dates, and announcements.
• Reading syllabi, course modules, assignment attachments, and discussion posts.
• Downloading course-content files and assignment-submission files.
• Listing instructors, TAs, students, roles, and class email addresses.
• Filtering course content by module and limiting content-tree depth.

The roster tool defaults to instructors and TAs and can optionally include students. The class-email tool returns email addresses for everyone in a course, so clients should handle that information appropriately.

Limitations and notes

RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server MCP server depends on the school’s Brightspace deployment and authentication flow. Session duration and MFA behavior are controlled by the institution. Schools using different login flows may require additional handling, and the documented presets include Purdue and SUNY options.

The server is read-only. It cannot submit work, send course messages, create discussion posts, or change grades or course content. Download operations require an explicit user-selected path, and the server should not infer one. Large rosters may be truncated unless the available limit is increased, according to the tool behavior described by the project.