Accounts API

API for accessing account data.

An Account object looks like:

{
  // the ID of the Account object
  "id": 2,
  // The display name of the account
  "name": "Canvas Account",
  // The UUID of the account
  "uuid": "WvAHhY5FINzq5IyRIJybGeiXyFkG3SqHUPb7jZY5",
  // The account's parent ID, or null if this is the root account
  "parent_account_id": 1,
  // The ID of the root account, or null if this is the root account
  "root_account_id": 1,
  // The storage quota for the account in megabytes, if not otherwise specified
  "default_storage_quota_mb": 500,
  // The storage quota for a user in the account in megabytes, if not otherwise
  // specified
  "default_user_storage_quota_mb": 50,
  // The storage quota for a group in the account in megabytes, if not otherwise
  // specified
  "default_group_storage_quota_mb": 50,
  // The default time zone of the account. Allowed time zones are
  // {http://www.iana.org/time-zones IANA time zones} or friendlier
  // {http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveSupport/TimeZone.html Ruby on Rails
  // time zones}.
  "default_time_zone": "America/Denver",
  // The account's identifier in the Student Information System. Only included if
  // the user has permission to view SIS information.
  "sis_account_id": "123xyz",
  // The account's identifier in the Student Information System. Only included if
  // the user has permission to view SIS information.
  "integration_id": "123xyz",
  // The id of the SIS import if created through SIS. Only included if the user
  // has permission to manage SIS information.
  "sis_import_id": 12,
  // The number of courses directly under the account (available via include)
  "course_count": 10,
  // The number of sub-accounts directly under the account (available via include)
  "sub_account_count": 10,
  // The account's identifier that is sent as context_id in LTI launches.
  "lti_guid": "123xyz",
  // The state of the account. Can be 'active' or 'deleted'.
  "workflow_state": "active"
}

A TermsOfService object looks like:

{
  // Terms Of Service id
  "id": 1,
  // The given type for the Terms of Service
  "terms_type": "default",
  // Boolean dictating if the user must accept Terms of Service
  "passive": false,
  // The id of the root account that owns the Terms of Service
  "account_id": 1,
  // Content of the Terms of Service
  "content": "To be or not to be that is the question",
  // The type of self registration allowed
  "self_registration_type": "["none", "observer", "all"]"
}

A HelpLink object looks like:

{
  // The ID of the help link
  "id": "instructor_question",
  // The name of the help link
  "text": "Ask Your Instructor a Question",
  // The description of the help link
  "subtext": "Questions are submitted to your instructor",
  // The URL of the help link
  "url": "#teacher_feedback",
  // The type of the help link
  "type": "default",
  // The roles that have access to this help link
  "available_to": ["user", "student", "teacher", "admin", "observer", "unenrolled"]
}

A HelpLinks object looks like:

{
  // Help link button title
  "help_link_name": "Help And Policies",
  // Help link button icon
  "help_link_icon": "help",
  // Help links defined by the account. Could include default help links.
  "custom_help_links": [{"id":"link1","text":"Custom Link!","subtext":"Something something.","url":"https:\/\/google.com","type":"custom","available_to":["user","student","teacher","admin","observer","unenrolled"],"is_featured":true,"is_new":false,"feature_headline":"Check this out!"}],
  // Default help links provided when account has not set help links of their own.
  "default_help_links": [{"available_to":["student"],"text":"Ask Your Instructor a Question","subtext":"Questions are submitted to your instructor","url":"#teacher_feedback","type":"default","id":"instructor_question","is_featured":false,"is_new":true,"feature_headline":""}, {"available_to":["user","student","teacher","admin","observer","unenrolled"],"text":"Search the Canvas Guides","subtext":"Find answers to common questions","url":"https:\/\/community.canvaslms.com\/t5\/Guides\/ct-p\/guides","type":"default","id":"search_the_canvas_guides","is_featured":false,"is_new":false,"feature_headline":""}, {"available_to":["user","student","teacher","admin","observer","unenrolled"],"text":"Report a Problem","subtext":"If Canvas misbehaves, tell us about it","url":"#create_ticket","type":"default","id":"report_a_problem","is_featured":false,"is_new":false,"feature_headline":""}]
}

List accounts AccountsController#index

GET /api/v1/accounts

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts

A paginated list of accounts that the current user can view or manage. Typically, students and even teachers will get an empty list in response, only account admins can view the accounts that they are in.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
include[] string

Array of additional information to include.

“lti_guid”

the ‘tool_consumer_instance_guid’ that will be sent for this account on LTI launches

“registration_settings”

returns info about the privacy policy and terms of use

“services”

returns services and whether they are enabled (requires account management permissions)

“course_count”

returns the number of courses directly under each account

“sub_account_count”

returns the number of sub-accounts directly under each account

Allowed values: lti_guid, registration_settings, services, course_count, sub_account_count

Returns a list of Account objects

Get accounts that admins can manage AccountsController#manageable_accounts

GET /api/v1/manageable_accounts

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/manageable_accounts

A paginated list of accounts where the current user has permission to create or manage courses. List will be empty for students and teachers as only admins can view which accounts they are in.

Returns a list of Account objects

Get accounts that users can create courses in AccountsController#course_creation_accounts

GET /api/v1/course_creation_accounts

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/course_creation_accounts

A paginated list of accounts where the current user has permission to create courses.

Returns a list of Account objects

List accounts for course admins AccountsController#course_accounts

GET /api/v1/course_accounts

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/course_accounts

A paginated list of accounts that the current user can view through their admin course enrollments. (Teacher, TA, or designer enrollments). Only returns “id”, “name”, “workflow_state”, “root_account_id” and “parent_account_id”

Returns a list of Account objects

Get a single account AccountsController#show

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:id

Retrieve information on an individual account, given by id or sis sis_account_id.

Returns an Account object

Settings AccountsController#show_settings

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/settings

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/settings

Returns a JSON object containing a subset of settings for the specified account. It’s possible an empty set will be returned if no settings are applicable. The caller must be an Account admin with the manage_account_settings permission.

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/<account_id>/settings \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

Example Response:

{"microsoft_sync_enabled": true, "microsoft_sync_login_attribute_suffix": false}

List environment settings AccountsController#environment

GET /api/v1/settings/environment

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/settings/environment

Return a hash of global settings for the root account This is the same information supplied to the web interface as ENV.SETTINGS.

Example Request:

curl 'http://<canvas>/api/v1/settings/environment' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

Example Response:

{ "calendar_contexts_limit": 10, "open_registration": false, ...}

Permissions AccountsController#permissions

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/permissions

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/permissions

Returns permission information for the calling user and the given account. You may use ‘self` as the account id to check permissions against the domain root account. The caller must have an account role or admin (teacher/TA/designer) enrollment in a course in the account.

See also the Course and Group counterparts.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
permissions[] string

List of permissions to check against the authenticated user. Permission names are documented in the Create a role endpoint.

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/self/permissions \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  -d 'permissions[]=manage_account_memberships' \
  -d 'permissions[]=become_user'

Example Response:

{'manage_account_memberships': 'false', 'become_user': 'true'}

Get the sub-accounts of an account AccountsController#sub_accounts

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts

List accounts that are sub-accounts of the given account.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
recursive boolean

If true, the entire account tree underneath this account will be returned (though still paginated). If false, only direct sub-accounts of this account will be returned. Defaults to false.
include[] string

Array of additional information to include.

“course_count”

returns the number of courses directly under each account

“sub_account_count”

returns the number of sub-accounts directly under each account

Allowed values: course_count, sub_account_count

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/<account_id>/sub_accounts \
     -H 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'
Returns a list of Account objects

Get the Terms of Service AccountsController#terms_of_service

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/terms_of_service

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/terms_of_service

Returns the terms of service for that account

Returns a TermsOfService object

Get help links AccountsController#help_links

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/help_links

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/help_links

Returns the help links for that account

Returns a HelpLinks object

Get the manually-created courses sub-account for the domain root account AccountsController#manually_created_courses_account

GET /api/v1/manually_created_courses_account

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/manually_created_courses_account

List active courses in an account AccountsController#courses_api

GET /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/courses

Scope: url:GET|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/courses

Retrieve a paginated list of courses in this account.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
with_enrollments boolean

If true, include only courses with at least one enrollment. If false, include only courses with no enrollments. If not present, do not filter on course enrollment status.
enrollment_type[] string

If set, only return courses that have at least one user enrolled in in the course with one of the specified enrollment types.

Allowed values: teacher, student, ta, observer, designer

published boolean

If true, include only published courses. If false, exclude published courses. If not present, do not filter on published status.
completed boolean

If true, include only completed courses (these may be in state ‘completed’, or their enrollment term may have ended). If false, exclude completed courses. If not present, do not filter on completed status.
blueprint boolean

If true, include only blueprint courses. If false, exclude them. If not present, do not filter on this basis.
blueprint_associated boolean

If true, include only courses that inherit content from a blueprint course. If false, exclude them. If not present, do not filter on this basis.
public boolean

If true, include only public courses. If false, exclude them. If not present, do not filter on this basis.
by_teachers[] integer

List of User IDs of teachers; if supplied, include only courses taught by one of the referenced users.
by_subaccounts[] integer

List of Account IDs; if supplied, include only courses associated with one of the referenced subaccounts.
hide_enrollmentless_courses boolean

If present, only return courses that have at least one enrollment. Equivalent to ‘with_enrollments=true’; retained for compatibility.
state[] string

If set, only return courses that are in the given state(s). By default, all states but “deleted” are returned.

Allowed values: created, claimed, available, completed, deleted, all

enrollment_term_id integer

If set, only includes courses from the specified term.
search_term string

The partial course name, code, or full ID to match and return in the results list. Must be at least 3 characters.
include[] string

  • All explanations can be seen in the Course API index documentation

  • “sections”, “needs_grading_count” and “total_scores” are not valid options at the account level

Allowed values: syllabus_body, term, course_progress, storage_quota_used_mb, total_students, teachers, account_name, concluded, post_manually

sort string

The column to sort results by.

Allowed values: course_status, course_name, sis_course_id, teacher, account_name

order string

The order to sort the given column by.

Allowed values: asc, desc

search_by string

The filter to search by. “course” searches for course names, course codes, and SIS IDs. “teacher” searches for teacher names

Allowed values: course, teacher

starts_before Date

If set, only return courses that start before the value (inclusive) or their enrollment term starts before the value (inclusive) or both the course’s start_at and the enrollment term’s start_at are set to null. The value should be formatted as: yyyy-mm-dd or ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ.
ends_after Date

If set, only return courses that end after the value (inclusive) or their enrollment term ends after the value (inclusive) or both the course’s end_at and the enrollment term’s end_at are set to null. The value should be formatted as: yyyy-mm-dd or ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ.
homeroom boolean

If set, only return homeroom courses.
Returns a list of Course objects

Update an account AccountsController#update

PUT /api/v1/accounts/:id

Scope: url:PUT|/api/v1/accounts/:id

Update an existing account.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
account[name] string

Updates the account name
account[sis_account_id] string

Updates the account sis_account_id Must have manage_sis permission and must not be a root_account.
account[default_time_zone] string

The default time zone of the account. Allowed time zones are IANA time zones or friendlier Ruby on Rails time zones.
account[default_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default course storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
account[default_user_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default user storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
account[default_group_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default group storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
account[course_template_id] integer

The ID of a course to be used as a template for all newly created courses. Empty means to inherit the setting from parent account, 0 means to not use a template even if a parent account has one set. The course must be marked as a template.
account[parent_account_id] integer

The ID of a parent account to move the account to. The new parent account must be in the same root account as the original. The hierarchy of sub-accounts will be preserved in the new parent account. The caller must be an administrator in both the original parent account and the new parent account.
account[settings][restrict_student_past_view][value] boolean

Restrict students from viewing courses after end date
account[settings][restrict_student_past_view][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][restrict_student_future_view][value] boolean

Restrict students from viewing courses before start date
account[settings][microsoft_sync_enabled] boolean

Determines whether this account has Microsoft Teams Sync enabled or not.

Note that if you are altering Microsoft Teams sync settings you must enable the Microsoft Group enrollment syncing feature flag. In addition, if you are enabling Microsoft Teams sync, you must also specify a tenant, login attribute, and a remote attribute. Specifying a suffix to use is optional.
account[settings][microsoft_sync_tenant] string

The tenant this account should use when using Microsoft Teams Sync. This should be an Azure Active Directory domain name.
account[settings][microsoft_sync_login_attribute] string

The attribute this account should use to lookup users when using Microsoft Teams Sync. Must be one of “sub”, “email”, “oid”, “preferred_username”, or “integration_id”.
account[settings][microsoft_sync_login_attribute_suffix] string

A suffix that will be appended to the result of the login attribute when associating Canvas users with Microsoft users. Must be under 255 characters and contain no whitespace. This field is optional.
account[settings][microsoft_sync_remote_attribute] string

The Active Directory attribute to use when associating Canvas users with Microsoft users. Must be one of “mail”, “mailNickname”, or “userPrincipalName”.
account[settings][restrict_student_future_view][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][lock_all_announcements][value] boolean

Disable comments on announcements
account[settings][lock_all_announcements][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][usage_rights_required][value] boolean

Copyright and license information must be provided for files before they are published.
account[settings][usage_rights_required][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][restrict_student_future_listing][value] boolean

Restrict students from viewing future enrollments in course list
account[settings][restrict_student_future_listing][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][conditional_release][value] boolean

Enable or disable individual learning paths for students based on assessment
account[settings][conditional_release][locked] boolean

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][password_policy] Hash

Hash of optional password policy configuration parameters for a root account

allow_login_suspension boolean

Allow suspension of user logins upon reaching maximum_login_attempts

require_number_characters boolean

Require the use of number characters when setting up a new password

require_symbol_characters boolean

Require the use of symbol characters when setting up a new password

minimum_character_length integer

Minimum number of characters required for a new password

maximum_login_attempts integer

Maximum number of login attempts before a user is locked out

Required feature option:

Enhance password options
account[settings][enable_as_k5_account][value] boolean

Enable or disable Canvas for Elementary for this account
account[settings][use_classic_font_in_k5][value] boolean

Whether or not the classic font is used on the dashboard. Only applies if enable_as_k5_account is true.
override_sis_stickiness boolean

Default is true. If false, any fields containing “sticky” changes will not be updated. See SIS CSV Format documentation for information on which fields can have SIS stickiness
account[settings][lock_outcome_proficiency][value] boolean
DEPRECATED

Restrict instructors from changing mastery scale
account[lock_outcome_proficiency][locked] boolean
DEPRECATED

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[settings][lock_proficiency_calculation][value] boolean
DEPRECATED

Restrict instructors from changing proficiency calculation method
account[lock_proficiency_calculation][locked] boolean
DEPRECATED

Lock this setting for sub-accounts and courses
account[services] Hash

Give this a set of keys and boolean values to enable or disable services matching the keys

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/<account_id> \
  -X PUT \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  -d 'account[name]=New account name' \
  -d 'account[default_time_zone]=Mountain Time (US & Canada)' \
  -d 'account[default_storage_quota_mb]=450'
Returns an Account object

Delete a user from the root account AccountsController#remove_user

DELETE /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/users/:user_id

Scope: url:DELETE|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/users/:user_id

Delete a user record from a Canvas root account. If a user is associated with multiple root accounts (in a multi-tenant instance of Canvas), this action will NOT remove them from the other accounts.

WARNING: This API will allow a user to remove themselves from the account. If they do this, they won’t be able to make API calls or log into Canvas at that account.

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/3/users/5 \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -X DELETE
Returns an User object

Restore a deleted user from a root account AccountsController#restore_user

PUT /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/users/:user_id/restore

Scope: url:PUT|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/users/:user_id/restore

Restore a user record along with the most recently deleted pseudonym from a Canvas root account.

Example Request:

curl https://<canvas>/api/v1/accounts/3/users/5/restore \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -X PUT
Returns an User object

Create a new sub-account SubAccountsController#create

POST /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts

Scope: url:POST|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts

Add a new sub-account to a given account.

Request Parameters:

Parameter Type Description
account[name] Required string

The name of the new sub-account.
account[sis_account_id] string

The account’s identifier in the Student Information System.
account[default_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default course storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
account[default_user_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default user storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
account[default_group_storage_quota_mb] integer

The default group storage quota to be used, if not otherwise specified.
Returns an Account object

Delete a sub-account SubAccountsController#destroy

DELETE /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts/:id

Scope: url:DELETE|/api/v1/accounts/:account_id/sub_accounts/:id

Cannot delete an account with active courses or active sub_accounts. Cannot delete a root_account

Returns an Account object