Canvas

Canvas Admins API

The Admins API from Canvas — 3 operation(s) for admins.

GitHub OpenAPI

Operations 4

Each operation below carries the questions people ask an LLM about it and the instructions they give an agent to run it. Generated by API Evangelist overlay

GET /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins List an account's admins · List account admins #
Ask an LLM
“Who are the admins on my Canvas account?”
“Can I search account admins by name or include removed ones?”
Tell an agent
List the admins in account {account_id}.
Find admins in account {account_id} matching {search_term}.
POST /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins Make a user an account admin · Make an account admin #
Ask an LLM
“How do I give an existing user admin rights on an account?”
“Can I assign a specific admin role and skip the confirmation email?”
Tell an agent
Make user {user_id} an admin of account {account_id}.
Grant user {user_id} the {role_id} admin role in account {account_id}.
DELETE /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins/{user_id} Remove a user's account admin role · Remove account admin #
Ask an LLM
“How do I revoke someone's admin rights on an account?”
“Do I need the role id to remove an account admin?”
Tell an agent destructive · confirm first
Remove admin role {role_id} from user {user_id} in account {account_id}.
Revoke user {user_id}'s admin rights on account {account_id} for role {role_id}.
GET /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins/self List my own admin roles in an account · List my admin roles #
Ask an LLM
“What admin roles do I have on an account?”
“Can I check my own admin permissions without listing every admin?”
Tell an agent
List my admin roles in account {account_id}.
Show which admin roles I hold on account {account_id}.

Documentation

📖
Documentation
https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/
📖
Authentication
https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.oauth.html
📖
APIReference
https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/
📖
RateLimits
https://artifacts.apis.io/canvas/rate-limits/canvas-rate-limits.yml

Specifications

⚙
OpenAPI
https://artifacts.apis.io/canvas/openapi/canvas-admins-api-openapi.yml

SDKs

📦
GitHubRepository
https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms

Other Resources

🔗
Pagination
https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.pagination.html
🔗
Swagger
https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/api-docs.json
🔗
OAuthScopes
https://artifacts.apis.io/canvas/scopes/canvas-scopes.yml
🔗
ErrorCatalog
https://artifacts.apis.io/canvas/errors/canvas-problem-types.yml
🔗
DataModel
https://artifacts.apis.io/canvas/data-model/canvas-data-model.yml

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OpenAPI Specification

canvas-admins-api-openapi.yml Raw ↑ 
openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: Canvas LMS REST Admins API
  version: v1
  summary: The complete Canvas LMS REST API, converted from the Swagger 1.2 documents Instructure publishes under https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/.
  description: The Canvas LMS REST API covers courses, assignments, quizzes, grades, users, enrollments, accounts, files, modules, rubrics, submissions, SIS imports, LTI, analytics and account administration.
  contact:
    name: Instructure Canvas
    url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/
  license:
    name: AGPL-3.0
    url: https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms/blob/master/LICENSE
servers:
- url: https://canvas.instructure.com/api
  description: Instructure-hosted Canvas (canvas.instructure.com)
- url: https://{canvas_host}/api
  description: Any Canvas instance; Canvas is multi-tenant and self-hostable, so the host is the institution's Canvas domain.
  variables:
    canvas_host:
      default: canvas.instructure.com
      description: Your institution's Canvas hostname, e.g. school.instructure.com
security:
- bearerAuth: []
- oauth2: []
tags:
- name: Admins
  x-resource: admins
  externalDocs:
    url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/admins.html
paths:
  /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins:
    get:
      tags:
      - Admins
      operationId: list_account_admins
      summary: List account admins
      description: A paginated list of the admins in the account
      parameters:
      - name: account_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      - name: user_id
        in: query
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: array
            items:
              type: integer
        required: false
        description: Scope the results to those with user IDs equal to any of the IDs specified here.
      - name: search_term
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
        required: false
        description: 'The partial name or full ID of the admins to match and return in the

          results list. Must be at least 2 characters.'
      - name: include_deleted
        in: query
        schema:
          type: boolean
        required: false
        description: When set to true, returns admins who have been deleted
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/Admin'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/admins.html
    post:
      tags:
      - Admins
      operationId: make_account_admin
      summary: Make an account admin
      description: Flag an existing user as an admin within the account.
      parameters:
      - name: account_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      requestBody:
        required: false
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                user_id:
                  type: integer
                  format: int64
                  description: The id of the user to promote.
                role:
                  type: string
                  description: '[DEPRECATED] The user''s admin relationship with the account will be

                    created with the given role. Defaults to ''AccountAdmin''.'
                role_id:
                  type: integer
                  format: int64
                  description: The user's admin relationship with the account will be created with the given role. Defaults to the built-in role for 'AccountAdmin'.
                send_confirmation:
                  type: boolean
                  description: 'Send a notification email to

                    the new admin if true. Default is true.'
              required:
              - user_id
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                user_id:
                  type: integer
                  format: int64
                  description: The id of the user to promote.
                role:
                  type: string
                  description: '[DEPRECATED] The user''s admin relationship with the account will be

                    created with the given role. Defaults to ''AccountAdmin''.'
                role_id:
                  type: integer
                  format: int64
                  description: The user's admin relationship with the account will be created with the given role. Defaults to the built-in role for 'AccountAdmin'.
                send_confirmation:
                  type: boolean
                  description: 'Send a notification email to

                    the new admin if true. Default is true.'
              required:
              - user_id
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Admin'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/admins.html
  /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins/{user_id}:
    delete:
      tags:
      - Admins
      operationId: remove_account_admin
      summary: Remove account admin
      description: Remove the rights associated with an account admin role from a user.
      parameters:
      - name: account_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      - name: user_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      - name: role
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
        required: false
        description: '[DEPRECATED] Account role to remove from the user.'
      - name: role_id
        in: query
        schema:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        required: true
        description: The id of the role representing the user's admin relationship with the account.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Admin'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/admins.html
  /v1/accounts/{account_id}/admins/self:
    get:
      tags:
      - Admins
      operationId: list_my_admin_roles
      summary: List my admin roles
      description: 'A paginated list of the current user''s roles in the account. The results are the same

        as those returned by the {api:AdminsController#index List account admins} endpoint with

        +user_id+ set to +self+, except the "Admins - Add / Remove" permission is not required.'
      parameters:
      - name: account_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/Admin'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/admins.html
components:
  schemas:
    Admin:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
          example: 1023
          description: The unique identifier for the account role/user assignment.
        role:
          type: string
          example: AccountAdmin
          description: The account role assigned. This can be 'AccountAdmin' or a user-defined role created by the Roles API.
        user:
          type: string
          description: The user the role is assigned to. See the Users API for details.
        workflow_state:
          type: string
          example: deleted
          description: The status of the account role/user assignment.
      required:
      - id
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: 'Canvas OAuth2 access token sent as "Authorization: Bearer <token>". See https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.oauth.html'
    oauth2:
      type: oauth2
      description: Canvas OAuth2. See https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.oauth.html and https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/file.oauth_endpoints.html
      flows:
        authorizationCode:
          authorizationUrl: https://canvas.instructure.com/login/oauth2/auth
          tokenUrl: https://canvas.instructure.com/login/oauth2/token
          refreshUrl: https://canvas.instructure.com/login/oauth2/token
          scopes: {}
externalDocs:
  description: Canvas LMS REST API Documentation
  url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/
x-generated-from: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/api-docs.json
x-provenance:
  method: derived
  derived_by: API Evangelist enrichment pipeline (Swagger 1.2 -> OpenAPI 3.1 conversion)
  source: openapi/_original/swagger-1.2/*.json (144 verbatim first-party Swagger 1.2 documents)
  source_url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/api-docs.json
  fetched: '2026-09-05'
  http_status: 200