Get grades and submission information. Can retrieve grades for a specific course (including individual assignment submissions) or overall grades across all courses.
AI agents call get_grades 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 tool only queries and retrieves grade and submission data from Canvas LMS without modifying, deleting, or executing any operations. It has no side effects and presents minimal risk—worst case being unauthorized access to academic records, which is a confidentiality concern rather than an operational risk. Classification as Read is appropriate.
From the tool's definition Tool name is 'get_grades' and description states it 'retrieves grades' and can 'retrieve grades for a specific course' or 'overall grades across all courses'.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
Get grades and submission information. Can retrieve grades for a specific course (including individual assignment submissions) or overall grades across all courses. 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 get_grades: 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.
get_grades 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 get_grades 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 get_grades. 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.
get_grades is provided by the Canvas MCP Server MCP server (taciturnaxolotl/canvas-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Every MCP server has a record like this.
Type a name, get the same breakdown: verified identity, auth posture, risk grade, capabilities, recommended policy.
Teams ship this data inside their own products. See what a licence covers →