Yes, Brightspace is free to use.

How do I install Brightspace?

Brightspace is a local plugin. Install it using npm package: brightspace-mcp-server and add the generated configuration snippet to your AI app's MCP config file. Then restart your AI app.

Is Brightspace safe to use?

Brightspace scored 6.5/10 (moderate risk) in MCP Marketplace's automated security scan. It has 1 high or critical finding to review. It's listed, but review the security report on this page before installing.

What credentials does Brightspace need?

Brightspace requires the following credentials or environment variables: D2L_BASE_URL, D2L_SESSION_DIR, D2L_HEADLESS, D2L_TOKEN_TTL, D2L_INCLUDE_COURSES, D2L_EXCLUDE_COURSES, D2L_ACTIVE_ONLY, D2L_CURRENT_ONLY, D2L_DEV_MODE, D2L_NO_UPDATE_CHECK. You can find setup instructions on the server detail page.

What AI apps work with Brightspace?

Brightspace uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and works with any MCP-compatible AI app, including Claude, ChatGPT / Codex, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor, and more.

Back to Browse

Brightspace MCP Server

by RohanMuppa

Developer ToolsModerate6.5MCP RegistryLocal

Free

Server data from the Official MCP Registry

D2L Brightspace MCP server: grades, due dates, assignments, announcements and files. Any school.

About

D2L Brightspace MCP server: grades, due dates, assignments, announcements and files. Any school.

Security Report

6.5

Moderate6.5Moderate Risk

Valid MCP server (1 strong, 1 medium validity signals). 4 known CVEs in dependencies (1 critical, 0 high severity) Package registry verified. Imported from the Official MCP Registry.

5 files analyzed · 5 issues found

Security scores are indicators to help you make informed decisions, not guarantees. Always review permissions before connecting any MCP server.

Permissions Required

This plugin requests these system permissions. Most are normal for its category.

Shell Command Execution

Runs commands on your machine. Be cautious — only use if you trust this plugin.

file_system

Check that this permission is expected for this type of plugin.

HTTP Network Access

Connects to external APIs or services over the internet.

What You'll Need

Set these up before or after installing:

Your school's Brightspace URL. Default: https://purdue.brightspace.com. Normally set by the setup wizard in ~/.brightspace-mcp/config.json instead.Optional

Environment variable: D2L_BASE_URL

Local root for separate per-school/account directories containing encrypted tokens and browser storage. Encryption keys are kept in the native credential store. Default: ~/.d2l-sessionOptional

Environment variable: D2L_SESSION_DIR

Run browser authentication without a visible window. Set false only for MFA methods that require browser interaction. Default: trueOptional

Environment variable: D2L_HEADLESS

Seconds an access token is used before it is re-minted from the session cookie. Default: 3600Optional

Environment variable: D2L_TOKEN_TTL

Comma separated course (org unit) ids to include. Default: all enrolled courses.Optional

Environment variable: D2L_INCLUDE_COURSES

Comma separated course (org unit) ids to exclude.Optional

Environment variable: D2L_EXCLUDE_COURSES

Only return courses whose enrollment is active. Default: trueOptional

Environment variable: D2L_ACTIVE_ONLY

Only return courses whose Access.StartDate to Access.EndDate window contains now, matching Brightspace's "Current Courses" widget. Default: falseOptional

Environment variable: D2L_CURRENT_ONLY

Set to true to record local tool timestamps and safe authentication outcomes in the account session directory. No arguments, results or credentials are logged. Default: false.Optional

Environment variable: D2L_DEV_MODE

Set to any value to disable the startup check against the npm registry for a newer version.Optional

Environment variable: D2L_NO_UPDATE_CHECK

How to Install

Add this to your MCP configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-github-rohanmuppa-brightspace": {
      "env": {
        "D2L_BASE_URL": "your-d2l-base-url-here",
        "D2L_DEV_MODE": "your-d2l-dev-mode-here",
        "D2L_HEADLESS": "your-d2l-headless-here",
        "D2L_TOKEN_TTL": "your-d2l-token-ttl-here",
        "D2L_ACTIVE_ONLY": "your-d2l-active-only-here",
        "D2L_SESSION_DIR": "your-d2l-session-dir-here",
        "D2L_CURRENT_ONLY": "your-d2l-current-only-here",
        "D2L_EXCLUDE_COURSES": "your-d2l-exclude-courses-here",
        "D2L_INCLUDE_COURSES": "your-d2l-include-courses-here",
        "D2L_NO_UPDATE_CHECK": "your-d2l-no-update-check-here"
      },
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "brightspace-mcp-server"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Documentation

View on GitHub

From the project's GitHub README.

Brightspace MCP Server

By Rohan Muppa, ECE @ Purdue

Lets your AI see your Brightspace classes, so you can just ask:

"What's due this week?" · "Am I passing all my classes?" · "Summarize today's announcements" · "Turn my lecture slides into flashcards"

Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT Desktop, Windsurf, and any other app that supports MCP (the standard way to plug tools into an AI). It only reads your courses — it never submits, edits, or deletes anything.

Get started in 3 steps

Install Node.js (version 20 or newer) if you don't have it. Download, run the installer, done.
Open a terminal and run the setup:
```
npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest setup
```
It asks for your school's Brightspace address, your username and password, and how you normally do two-factor sign-in (phone approval, authenticator code, or a browser window). Your password goes into your computer's own password store (Keychain on Mac, Credential Manager on Windows), never into a file. At the end it connects itself to Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, or Claude Code if you have them.

On a Mac: when Keychain asks whether node may use the saved Brightspace password, choose Always Allow, not just Allow. That lets later sign-ins (the auth command and questions from your AI app) read it without asking again.
Restart your AI app and ask it something — the first question signs you in. If your phone asks you to approve a sign-in, approve it and ask again.

At one of these schools, add the flag and skip typing the address: --purdue, --suny, --western, --tudelft, --cuny, --leiden, --mcgill, --ngeeann, --javeriana.

Rather have the AI install it for you? Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, or Codex:

Install brightspace-mcp-server for me by following
https://github.com/RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server/blob/main/LLMs.md
(use --purdue at Purdue, --suny at SUNY, --tudelft at TU Delft, --cuny at CUNY, --leiden at Leiden, --mcgill at McGill, --ngeeann at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, or --javeriana at Javeriana Cali).

Using a different AI app? Add the command npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest to its MCP settings (on Windows: cmd /c npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest). Exact steps for each app: docs/troubleshooting.md.

Does my school work?

If your school uses D2L Brightspace, yes. These have automatic sign-in built in:

School	Sign-in	Flag
Purdue	Microsoft (phone approval, authenticator code, or browser)	`--purdue`
SUNY	Shared site with a campus picker	`--suny`
Western University	Microsoft	`--western`
TU Delft	NetID (no two-factor)	`--tudelft`
CUNY	CUNY Login, authenticator code each time	`--cuny`
Leiden University	SURFconext → Microsoft	`--leiden`
McGill University	Microsoft Entra	`--mcgill`
Javeriana Cali	OneGate (password + authenticator code)	`--javeriana`
Ngee Ann Polytechnic	Microsoft Entra	`--ngeeann`
Any other D2L school	Paste your Brightspace address; if the login page isn't recognized, a browser window opens so you can sign in by hand	none

School-specific quirks: docs/sign-in.md.

Things to ask

About	Try
Grades	"Am I passing all my classes?" · "Compare my grades across courses"
Due dates	"What's due in the next 48 hours?" · "Build me a study schedule for the week"
Assignments and rubrics	"What does the lab 4 spec actually ask for?" · "Why did I lose points on the analysis criterion?"
Quizzes and exams	"Which quizzes close this week?" · "Is there a midterm in the gradebook that isn't on my assignments list?"
Announcements	"Did any professor post something important today?" · "Read the file attached to today's announcement"
Course content	"Find the midterm review slides" · "Download every PDF from Module 5" · "Search this course for office hours" · or just read a file inline instead of saving it
People	"Who are the TAs for ECE 264?" · "Who is in my project group?"
Discussions	"Summarize the latest posts in the final project thread"
Lecture videos	"What did the professor say about pinch-off in Tuesday's recording?" (Kaltura and YouTube)
Calendar	"When is my midterm?" · "Is lab cancelled on Thursday?"
For instructors and TAs	"Which students haven't submitted Lab 4 yet?" · "What feedback did I leave on this student's homework?" · "Download that student's submitted PDF" (students see a clear "instructor access required" note)

Prompts

Apps with a prompt picker (like Claude Desktop) also offer four ready-made prompts, so you can start from one click instead of typing a question:

Prompt	Arguments	What it asks for
`weekly_briefing`	—	A 7-day rollup of what's due, what's new, and what changed in your grades, across every course
`grade_audit`	`courseId` (optional)	Analyzes grades for one course, or all of them, and flags missing or low-scoring items
`study_planner`	`daysAhead` (optional, default 7)	Plans study time from upcoming due dates and calendar events
`course_summary`	`courseId` (required)	Syllabus, content outline, assignments, and grades for one course

Settings you might want

All optional, set in your AI app's MCP env config or your shell. The full list is in LLMs.md.

Setting	What it does
`D2L_REMEMBER_MFA=true`	Tick Microsoft's "Don't ask again" box so later sign-ins skip the second factor (off by default; not for shared computers)
`D2L_HEADLESS=false`	Show the browser window during sign-in, for MFA methods that need a click
`D2L_DUO_PASSCODE=1`	On Duo, type a passcode instead of waiting for a push
`D2L_SESSION_COOKIE` / `D2L_ACCESS_TOKEN`	Skip the browser entirely with a pasted cookie or token (how)
`D2L_INCLUDE_COURSES` / `D2L_EXCLUDE_COURSES`	Limit which courses the AI sees, by course id
`D2L_ACTIVE_ONLY=false`	Include courses whose enrollment has ended
`D2L_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1`	Turn off the new-version notice
`D2L_DEV_MODE=true`	Write a local, content-free log of tool calls and sign-in events, for debugging session problems (how)

When it asks you to sign in

There's no separate login — asking a question signs you in, and it stays signed in on its own most days. When your school wants two-factor again, the number to approve shows up right in the answer; approve it on your phone and ask again. If your AI client shows tool progress messages, the number appears while the question is still running instead, and approving within 45 seconds (less if sign-in was slow to reach two-factor) finishes the original answer without asking again. If it ever gets stuck, run this in a terminal:

npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest auth

On a Mac, sign-in first reads your saved password from Keychain. If you picked a one-time Allow at the Keychain prompt, a later sign-in from your AI app or another terminal can fail or hang waiting for an approval nobody sees; pick Always Allow instead. That permission only lets the local Brightspace server read its own saved sign-in password, nothing else in your Keychain.

How often you're asked is up to your school, not this tool. Everything else about sign-in — Duo, authenticator codes, visible-browser mode, and running without a browser at all (Docker, WSL, hardware keys) — is in docs/sign-in.md.

Something not working?

Run npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest doctor first — it checks your Node version, saved setup, credential store, Brightspace connectivity, saved sign-in, and installed version, and tells you exactly what to fix.
Authentication failed: The native credential store is locked or unavailable. Your password store is locked or hasn't let this server read the saved password. Unlock it (on a Mac, log in or unlock Keychain Access), then run npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest auth again, or setup if that still fails, and choose Always Allow when Keychain asks.
It works in the terminal but not in the app: the app starts it separately and may not see your password store yet — see docs/troubleshooting.md.
Which version do I have? Ask your AI "which version of the Brightspace server am I running?"
Still stuck? Open an issue and paste what the terminal printed.

For developers

Tool reference, response fields, and environment variables: LLMs.md. What's safe to build against: STABILITY.md. Licensed under the MIT License.

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Brightspace MCP Server

About

Security Report

Findings (5)Action required

Permissions Required

What You'll Need

How to Install

Documentation

Brightspace MCP Server

Get started in 3 steps

Does my school work?

Things to ask

Prompts

Settings you might want

When it asks you to sign in

Something not working?

For developers

Reviews

No reviews yet

More Developer Tools MCP Servers

Git

Fetch

Worldmonitor

Toleno

mcp-creator-python

MCP Marketplace