Connect Canvas

Use Roster management to connect myViewBoard Hub to your district's Canvas account to import teacher, class, and student data directly from Canvas. Once connected, the roster refreshes automatically every 24 hours. 

Pre-requisites

Verify that you have the following requirements met. 

• A Canvas account admin who is also an admin in myViewBoard Hub.
• Permission to create a developer key in Canvas.
• myViewBoard needs permission to read roster data. 
  • Read-only access is recommended.
  • Two Write scopes are used to send grades back to Canvas later.

Once connected, roster data refreshes automatically every 24 hours. Note that only published Canvas courses that have a teacher enrolled will be included in the sync. 

As you will need to move between Hub and Canvas repeatedly during this setup, we recommend keeping both tabs open.

Open the setup guide

Sign in to myViewBoard Hub first to open the Canvas setup guide. All required values are on this setup guide.

1. Go to Roster management in Hub. 
2. Click the Canvas option.
    
3. Review the setup page that appears. 
   • Step 1 is done in Canvas (create a developer key)
   • Step 2 returns here to enter the key details. 

Create developer key

myViewBoard Hub needs a Client ID and Developer key to connect with Canvas.

Open Key Settings page

Open the Canvas admin page in a separate tab (or a new browser window, if preferred).  

1. Sign in to Canvas as an admin. 
2. Go to Admin » Developer Keys.
    
3. Perform the following:
   1. Click + Developer Key. 
   2. Click + API Key from the menu. 
       
4. The Key Settings page opens.

Provide details and scopes

Perform the steps below in the Key Settings page. Keep the myViewBoard Hub setup guide open since we need to copy-paste several information between the two pages.

1. Provide the following:
   • Key Name. Use a name that is recognizable, such as myViewBoard. 
   • Owner Email. Specify who should manage this key.
      
2. For Redirect URIs: 
   1. Back in Hub, click the Copy button next to the redirect URIs 
   2. Paste the copied addresses into the Redirect URIs field. 
       
3. Activate Enforce Scopes, then perform these steps in the scopes table:
   
   
   • Click Read only at the top of the table:
     1. In the setup guide, locate the section for the API scopes. 
     2. Enable the two write scopes shown in the section.
         
   • If Read-only permissions are not allowed: 
     1. In the setup guide, click the Show the exact endpoint list link.
     2. Enable the scopes listed in the new section that opens. 
         
4. Click Save. 
    

Activate the new key

The save process generates the required details for our new key. After the page returns to the Developer Keys admin page, activate the key by performing the steps below. 

1. Verify that all required details are now in the table: 
   • Your new key now appears in the list. 
   • The Details column displays the Client ID. 
   • The Show Key button reveals the Developer key. 
      
2. Under the State column, click the toggle to enable this config. 
   The toggle should change color once active.
    
3. Don't close the Developer Keys admin page yet as we will need this page open for the next steps.

Import key details to Hub

Note the values for Client ID and Developer key from the previous step. Keep the Developer Keys admin page open since we need to copy-paste several information between the two pages.

1. Go back to the Hub's setup guide page.
    
2. Scroll down to the Step 2 section. 
   1. In the Enter ID  input box, paste the Client ID. 
   2. In the Enter Key input box, paste the Developer key. 
   3. In the Enter URL input box, paste your district's Canvas domain.
       
3. Click Submit. 
4. Click Authorize once prompted to confirm access.

The Roster Management page should now show Canvas with an Activated status, along with new options (such as importing roster data).

Sync school data

Once connection is established, you can now perform a sync to import your school's Canvas data into myViewBoard Hub.

1. Open Manage Roster Data. 
   Select the schools that should use myViewBoard. Every school under the connected Canvas account is listed with its type and parent organization. 
    
2. Click Sync. 
   This process starts pulling the roster data and updates the Sync Status column as each one finishes. After the first sync run, the roster refreshes automatically every 24 hours.
    
3. Review sync errors. 
   If something in Canvas is incomplete, the school shows a Details flag, which shows what was skipped and why (for example: a course with no teacher enrolled). Fix the record in Canvas and it should import correctly on the next sync schedule.

Note the following conditions when performing a sync:

• Roster data flows one way: Canvas to myViewBoard. 

✅ Changes made in Canvas appear in Hub at the next sync

❌ Changes made in Hub do not write back to the roster.

• The Developer key is tied to the district's Canvas account. Roster sync stops immediately if this key is deleted or turned off in Canvas.
• The two write scopes are only used when a teacher chooses to sync lesson results to the Canvas gradebook.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and how to resolve them.