Canvas Connector Live

Dr. Olivia is connected to your PHSU Canvas account. When you ask about a course, an assignment, a module, or a wiki page, she queries Canvas in real time using your own permissions — she sees exactly what you can see, nothing more.

Screenshot: canvas-tools.png — example chat where Dr. Olivia drilled into a Canvas module to answer.

What Dr. Olivia Can Do With Canvas

Tool	What it does
Course list	Lists your active enrollments. Used when you say "my courses" or "what classes am I in?"
Course modules & assignments	For a specific course, lists every module and the assignments inside, with module IDs so deeper drill-downs work.
Course module items	Drills into one module to list every item: pages, assignments, quizzes, files, external URLs.
Course page	Fetches the full body of a Canvas wiki page by URL slug, so Dr. Olivia can quote and reason about its content.
Assignment detail	Pulls a specific assignment's title, instructions, due date, and rubric.

Things You Can Ask

"What's due in Pharmacology this week?"
"Read me the instructions for the Cardiology case study."
"Open the ‘Renal Physiology Overview’ module and walk me through the readings."
"What does the wiki page on diabetic nephropathy in Internal Med say about screening?"
"List my upcoming assignments across all my courses."

Course materials vs. Canvas Dr. Olivia has two different sources for course content:

Canvas API — live queries for current assignments, due dates, module structure, and wiki pages. Always up-to-date.
Course Materials — a pre-indexed library of lecture slides, video captions, and textbook excerpts. Best for "what did the lecturer say about X?" style questions.

She picks the right one automatically based on your question. You don't have to think about it.

How It Works (Behind the Scenes)

You sign in with Canvas (see Signing In). Canvas issues a secure access token that lets Dr. Olivia read your courses, modules, pages, and assignments — nothing else.
The token stays server-side — it never reaches the browser.
When Dr. Olivia decides a Canvas lookup is needed, she uses your token to read Canvas exactly the way the Canvas web app would.
The response is folded back into her reasoning and you get an answer that cites the actual content.

Permissions & Privacy

Dr. Olivia sees only what you see in Canvas. If you can't access a course, neither can she.
She does not write to Canvas — no submitting assignments, no posting in discussions, no editing pages. Read-only.
Her access is limited to courses, modules, pages, and assignments. She cannot see grades, private messages, or your Canvas profile settings.
You can revoke her access at any time from your Canvas account > Settings > Approved Integrations.

When Canvas Lookups Don't Work

Symptom	What it usually means
"I couldn't find that in Canvas."	The exact name didn't match. Try the course code or instructor name. Canvas search is literal.
"I don't have access to that course."	Your enrollment may have ended (past semester) or you're not in the course. Check Canvas directly.
"My Canvas connection has expired — please sign in again."	Your Canvas access has been revoked or aged out. Sign out and back in to refresh it.

Demo / Act-As mode When an admin is impersonating a student via Act-As, Canvas calls run with the impersonated student's enrollments — not the admin's. This is intentional so the experience matches what the student would see.