Canvas LTI signs instructors into Classwise and creates or reuses their linked course. Active learners sync during that launch through the roster service, without teacher OAuth.
Key points
- LTI does not import assessments or submissions, grade work, or publish grades back to Canvas. Those workflows require the separate Canvas OAuth or personal access token connection.
- Roster synchronization adds missing students and enrollments. It does not remove withdrawn students, delete enrollments, overwrite existing course names, or change grades. It is not continuous background synchronization.
- LTI does not link an existing Classwise account by matching email. Ask Classwise support to arrange an explicit account binding before the first launch if you need to keep your existing account.
- An unbound instructor receives a new, unlicensed, zero-credit account. Successful sign-in does not allocate a paid seat or grading credits.
A Canvas account administrator installs Classwise once at the intended account or course scope, using the configuration URL supplied by Classwise.
Step by step
- Open Canvas Admin → your account → Apps → Manage → Install a New App. Choose LTI 1.3 → Enter URL and paste the Classwise configuration URL, ending in /lti/configuration.
- Check the imported URLs: Redirect URIs must end in /lti/launch, without a query string. Keep ?view=platform on the default target and Course Navigation target. Use the same Classwise API origin throughout.
- Keep the supplied roster-read permission and Course Navigation placement. Select Public privacy (shown as All user data on newer Canvas screens) to share both names and emails with Classwise, after your institution approves that data sharing. Complete installation and keep the app On.
- Under Availability and Exceptions, make the app Available to the intended account or courses. An account-wide installation does not help other courses if availability is restricted to a single course exception.
- Copy the Client ID and the full Deployment ID from the installed app. Preserve every character, including any numeric prefix and colon. Send these with your Canvas URL and environment to your Classwise setup contact for registration.
Keep in mind
Canvas screens vary by version. If your Canvas does not have the combined installer, use the Developer Keys installation steps below. Do not install a duplicate app just to change availability.
Some Canvas versions separate creation of the LTI developer key from installation of the app. Creating a key alone is not a deployment.
Step by step
- Open Canvas Admin → your account → Developer Keys → + Developer Key → + LTI Key.
- Use Enter URL with the Classwise configuration URL if offered. Otherwise open that URL, copy the returned JSON, and use Paste JSON. Keep the supplied settings and verify the redirect ends in /lti/launch without ?view=platform.
- Save the key, switch it ON, and copy its Client ID.
- Open Account Settings → Apps → View App Configurations → + App. Choose By Client ID, paste the Client ID, and install. Installing under Course Settings → Apps instead limits that deployment to that course.
- Copy the complete Deployment ID from the installed app’s settings menu and have Classwise register it. Check app availability before testing another course.
Notes
- Canvas documents the configuration and deployment distinction in its LTI configuration reference.
An authorized Classwise internal operator completes registration after Canvas has created the Deployment ID. School administrators should give the installation details to their Classwise setup contact rather than look for this internal-only screen.
Step by step
- In the intended Classwise environment, open Internal settings → Institutions → your institution → Canvas LTI. The institution must have Canvas among its configured LMS options for the tab to appear.
- Complete MFA with an internal account that has both Institutions and Manage internal access permissions.
- Choose Canvas environment, enter the exact Canvas URL without course paths, and paste the Client ID and complete Deployment ID.
- For Self-hosted Canvas, enter the exact Configured issuer supplied by the Canvas administrator from its security configuration. Do not guess the issuer from the site address. Custom authentication endpoint locations require an operator review.
- Click Register installation. In Registered installations, confirm the intended record is Enabled, then perform a fresh instructor launch from Canvas.
Keep in mind
Canvas environment describes Canvas, not Classwise staging or production. A self-hosted Canvas connected to production Classwise still needs Self-hosted Canvas. Register staging and production separately in their matching Classwise environments.
Warnings
- Never paste private keys, access tokens, passwords, or database credentials into this form or a help-bot conversation. Backend deployment secrets are managed by the Classwise operator, not the school’s Canvas administrator.
- Saving registration is not a connectivity test. Retrying an existing registration preserves its disabled status and existing account bindings.
After installation and registration, open the intended Canvas course as an enrolled Teacher and select Classwise AI in course navigation.
Step by step
- Confirm your enrollment in Canvas → Courses → All Courses → Enrolled as, or ask the course administrator to check People. Classwise requires the course Instructor role; account-administrator access alone is not enough.
- Click Classwise AI in the course navigation. If Canvas embeds the launch screen, click Open Classwise to continue in a new tab.
- Allow the sign-in flow to finish in the same browser and complete any Classwise MFA challenge.
- Confirm the expected Classwise course opens and inspect its Roster. Launch again from the same Canvas course and verify that the course and students are reused rather than duplicated.
Common blockers
- If no usable course mapping is supplied, Classwise explains that it will open the dashboard instead.
- If no supported roster service is supplied, Classwise explains that students were not synced and allows you to continue. If an advertised roster service fails, resolve the error and start a fresh launch.
- An @nrps.invalid student email means Canvas withheld the email or has none. Older Classwise apps used User’s name only privacy, which hides emails even when a Canvas administrator can see them.
- To import names and emails together, ask the Canvas administrator to approve Public / All user data sharing, edit the existing app’s privacy setting, and save. This shares fields with Classwise, not the internet, and may also include profile identifiers and pictures. Keep the same Client ID, Deployment ID, and roster-read permission; do not reinstall.
- Relaunch the course as its Teacher and check Roster. Classwise replaces a placeholder when Canvas supplies the real email, preserving the same student and enrollments. Conflicting identities require support review. If email is still withheld or missing, do not guess it from a login ID or send feedback to the placeholder. A Classwise deployment alone does not update installed app privacy.
Check installation scope, app availability, and course navigation before reinstalling the app.
Step by step
- Ask the Canvas administrator to confirm that the existing app is On and installed at the account or course scope you intend.
- Under Apps → Manage → Classwise → Availability and Exceptions, check that the intended courses are Available. A root deployment set to Not Available with one course exception only appears in that course.
- In the affected course, open Settings → Navigation, enable the Classwise link if hidden, and save.
- Check that the person testing has a Teacher enrollment in that course. Visibility and authorization are separate: seeing the link does not grant instructor access.
Keep in mind
Prefer updating the existing deployment’s availability to reinstalling. A replacement deployment has a different ID and may require new registration and account bindings.
This message means Classwise has not authorized the launch’s deployment. Enabling the Canvas developer key alone does not enable the Classwise registration.
Step by step
- Ask the Classwise internal operator to compare the installed app’s exact Client ID and full Deployment ID with Registered installations in the intended Classwise environment. Keep any Deployment ID prefix and colon.
- If the matching installation is disabled, have the authorized operator use Enable installation. Re-registering the same installation does not turn it back on.
- If the record says Platform disabled, an operator must review the shared platform configuration. The installation switch cannot override that shared block.
- If no matching record exists, have the operator register the correct installation for your institution, then start a fresh launch from Canvas.
Classwise refuses to overwrite existing authentication trust for a shared Canvas client. This is a configuration conflict, not a request to create a new developer key.
Step by step
- Check that Canvas environment matches the Canvas instance: Instructure-hosted production, beta, test, or self-hosted. This choice is independent of the Classwise deployment environment.
- Ask a Classwise operator to review the existing issuer, authorization URL, and public-key URL against the Canvas administrator’s verified configuration and any other installations using that client.
- After the authorized correction, reuse the existing Client ID and Deployment ID and launch again. Do not delete installations or change the issuer merely to bypass the conflict.
This generic message can mean expired or reused launch state, invalid signed claims, or a course-role rejection. It does not prove that the launch has expired.
Step by step
- Close the failed Classwise launch tab, return to the Canvas course, and click Classwise AI again. Do not refresh or reuse the old launch URL.
- If one course works and another fails, check Courses → All Courses → Enrolled as or the affected course’s People list. A Student enrollment does not authorize the Classwise teacher workspace, even if you are a Canvas account administrator.
- Launch with an account enrolled as Teacher. If you teach the affected course, ask its authorized administrator to correct your enrollment. Do not grant a student instructor access just to bypass the error.
- If a fresh Teacher launch still fails, contact Classwise support with the Canvas site, affected course, exact error, and approximate time with timezone. An operator must inspect the validation logs; do not share signed launch URLs, tokens, or authenticator codes.
Keep in mind
Classwise currently accepts the signed Instructor role, not student, TA, designer, or administrator-only launches. The generic error can mask this permission failure. Reinstalling the app does not change a course enrollment.