vocabulary: provider: instructure title: Instructure Canvas API Vocabulary description: >- Domain vocabulary for Instructure Canvas LMS and related services APIs. Covers LMS concepts, LTI integrations, data access, and educational workflows. version: '1.0' source: https://developerdocs.instructure.com/ terms: # Core Canvas LMS concepts - term: Canvas definition: >- Instructure's flagship learning management system (LMS), an open-source platform used by thousands of educational institutions worldwide. category: product related: [LMS, Course, Enrollment] - term: LMS definition: >- Learning Management System — a software application for administering, documenting, tracking, reporting, and delivering educational courses and programs. category: concept related: [Canvas, Course, Assignment] - term: Course definition: >- A structured educational offering in Canvas, containing modules, assignments, discussions, grades, and enrolled users. category: resource related: [Enrollment, Module, Assignment, Section] - term: Enrollment definition: >- The association of a user with a specific course in a specific role (student, teacher, observer, TA, designer). category: resource related: [Course, User, Section] - term: Assignment definition: >- A task or assessment within a Canvas course that can be submitted by students and graded by instructors. category: resource related: [Submission, Grade, LineItem] - term: Grade definition: >- A score or evaluation applied to a student's submission for an assignment. category: resource related: [Assignment, Submission, LineItem, Result] - term: Module definition: >- A collection of course content items (pages, files, assignments) organized sequentially within a Canvas course. category: resource related: [Course, Assignment] - term: Section definition: >- A subdivision of a course in Canvas, allowing different groups of students within the same course to have distinct settings or schedules. category: resource related: [Course, Enrollment] - term: Discussion definition: >- A threaded forum topic within a Canvas course that enables asynchronous conversation between students and instructors. category: resource related: [Course, User] - term: Submission definition: >- A student's completed response to an assignment, which can include files, text, media, or URLs. category: resource related: [Assignment, Grade] # LTI concepts - term: LTI definition: >- Learning Tools Interoperability — an IMS Global standard that defines how external tools can integrate securely within an LMS like Canvas. category: standard related: [LTI-1.3, DeepLinking, NRPS, AGS] - term: LTI-1.3 definition: >- The latest major version of the LTI specification, using OAuth 2.0 with JWT-signed messages for secure tool launch and service interactions. category: standard related: [LTI, DeveloperKey, Registration] - term: DeepLinking definition: >- An LTI service that allows external tools to return content items (links, files, HTML) to be embedded in Canvas course content. category: service related: [LTI-1.3, ExternalTool] - term: NRPS definition: >- Names and Roles Provisioning Service — an LTI service that allows tools to retrieve the roster (names, roles, and status) of course participants. category: service related: [LTI-1.3, Membership, Enrollment] - term: AGS definition: >- Assignment and Grade Services — an LTI service that enables external tools to create grade columns (LineItems) and submit student scores (Results). category: service related: [LTI-1.3, LineItem, Result, Grade] - term: LineItem definition: >- An AGS resource representing a grade column or scoring opportunity associated with an LTI tool launch within a course. category: resource related: [AGS, Result, Assignment] - term: Result definition: >- An AGS resource representing a student's score for a specific LineItem, including the raw score and maximum possible score. category: resource related: [AGS, LineItem, Grade] - term: DeveloperKey definition: >- A Canvas credential (client ID + secret) that authorizes an external application or LTI tool to interact with Canvas APIs. category: security related: [OAuth2, LTI-1.3, Registration] - term: Registration definition: >- The dynamic LTI 1.3 process by which an external tool registers itself with a Canvas instance by exchanging OIDC configuration metadata. category: process related: [LTI-1.3, DeveloperKey, OIDC] - term: ExternalTool definition: >- A third-party application integrated into Canvas via LTI, appearing as a navigation link, assignment submission type, or embedded content. category: resource related: [LTI, DeveloperKey, DeepLinking] # Data & analytics - term: DAP definition: >- Data Access Platform — Instructure's service for bulk data queries against Canvas data, designed for reporting and data warehousing use cases. category: product related: [Canvas, Analytics, DataService] - term: DataService definition: >- An LTI subscription mechanism allowing tools to receive Canvas live events via SQS or other transports when specified Canvas events occur. category: service related: [LiveEvents, DAP] - term: LiveEvents definition: >- Canvas real-time event streaming feature that publishes events (e.g., discussion_topic_created, submission_created) to configured endpoints. category: feature related: [DataService, DAP] # Auth & security - term: OAuth2 definition: >- The authorization framework used by Canvas APIs, supporting authorization code flow for user-delegated access and client credentials for service accounts. category: security related: [AccessToken, DeveloperKey, OIDC] - term: AccessToken definition: >- A bearer token issued by Canvas OAuth2 that grants access to API resources on behalf of a user or service account. category: security related: [OAuth2, DeveloperKey] - term: OIDC definition: >- OpenID Connect — the authentication layer used in LTI 1.3 for tool launches and dynamic registration flows. category: security related: [LTI-1.3, DeveloperKey, JWKS] - term: JWKS definition: >- JSON Web Key Set — a JSON structure containing public keys used by Canvas to verify JWT signatures from LTI tools. category: security related: [OIDC, LTI-1.3] # Products - term: CanvasStudio definition: >- Instructure's video and media platform integrated within Canvas, supporting media upload, captions, analytics, and course embedding. category: product related: [Canvas, Media] - term: NewQuizzes definition: >- Canvas's next-generation assessment engine supporting advanced question types, accommodations, and detailed analytics. category: product related: [Canvas, Assignment, Grade] - term: Catalog definition: >- Instructure's course catalog product enabling public discovery and enrollment in Canvas courses, with e-commerce and certificate support. category: product related: [Canvas, Course, Enrollment] - term: GraphQL definition: >- A flexible query language API provided by Canvas that allows clients to request exactly the data they need from Canvas resources. category: technology related: [Canvas, REST] - term: RateLimit definition: >- Canvas enforces per-token dynamic rate limits on REST API requests; the limit is returned in the X-Rate-Limit-Remaining response header. category: policy related: [AccessToken, OAuth2]