Courses is available in Element Success. See our packages overview for details.
Overview
The Canvas LMS integration seamlessly syncs real-time academic and enrollment data from Canvas into Element451. This guide will walk you through the setup process, from configuring Canvas settings to completing the integration within Element451.
📌 Note: This is a one-way integration. Element451 reads data from Canvas but does not write back any data.
Overview of the Setup Process
To get started, you’ll work through four main steps:
Step 1: Create a Developer Key in Canvas
To allow secure communication between Canvas and Element451, you’ll first need to create a Developer Key in Canvas. This generates a Client ID and Client Secret you'll use later in the setup.
Log in to your Canvas account as an Admin.
Navigate to the Developer Keys section in your Canvas admin settings.
Click + Developer Key and select API Key.
Set the following Redirect URI:
https://api.451.io/clients/integrations/canvas/oauth2Save and Enable the key.
Copy the Client ID and Client Secret—you’ll need these in Step 3.
🔗 For more detailed instructions, see Canvas’s guide on creating developer keys.
Step 2: Enable Live Events in Canvas
Canvas Live Events allow Element451 to receive real-time updates on things like course activity, enrollments, and user changes.
Your Canvas instance must have Canvas Data Services installed to enable live events.
Follow Canvas’s guide to install Data Services:
Set up Live Event Streams using Amazon SQS.
Element451 uses the Amazon SQS Data Stream for optimal performance.
Subscribe to the following Live Events:
Event Category | Events |
Assignment | While assignment events are not required right now, we recommend enabling them to support future expansion. |
Course | Created, Updated, Completed, Progress, Deleted |
Course Section | Created, Updated, Deleted |
User | Created, Updated, Deleted |
Enrollment | Created, Updated, Deleted |
Grade | Course Grade Change |
Step 3: Authenticate the Integration in Element451
Once you have registered your application in Canvas, you'll need to authorize Element451 to access your Canvas data using OAuth.
🚨 Important: The user performing the authentication must be a Canvas Administrator and have read access to: Courses, Course Sections, Users, Enrolments, Assignments, and Grades (optional but recommended). You can read more about Canvas permissions here.
Click on your avatar/profile picture in the top right corner of the orange navigation menu.
Navigate to Settings > Integrations.
From the left-hand menu, select Canvas LMS.
Click the Authenticate button and follow the prompts.
You'll need your Client ID and Client Secret.
Next Steps
Once authentication is complete, Element451 will begin syncing data from Canvas based on the configured Live Events. This data lives in Courses (Data + Automation > Courses), where you can view course records from your LMS.
Now that your course data is flowing into Element, you can begin using it to:
Build targeted segments
Trigger workflows + communications
Assign tasks or academic support resources
Personalize student experiences in StudentHub
To explore how to make the most of your LMS data, check out our Getting Started with Courses article.