Get a list of all assignments in a course with submission status for students
AI agents call list-assignments to retrieve information from Canvas MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This is a read-only operation that queries and returns assignment data and submission status. It has no side effects. Severity is medium rather than low because the data returned includes student submission status, which could be sensitive educational information that an agent might misuse by disclosing or leaking to unauthorized parties.
From the tool's definition Tool name is 'list-assignments' and description states it 'Get a list of all assignments in a course with submission status for students' — purely retrieves data without modification.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get a list of all assignments in a course with submission status for students. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Canvas MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the Canvas MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for list-assignments: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Canvas MCP Server. Nothing to install.
list-assignments is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the list-assignments rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for list-assignments. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
list-assignments is provided by the Canvas MCP Server MCP server (ranver/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
list-assignments is one line of Canvas MCP Server's registry record.
The record carries the whole server: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, every tool classified, recommended policy — re-checked continuously.
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