Canvas Comm Messages API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: Canvas LMS REST Comm Messages 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: Comm Messages
  x-resource: comm_messages
  externalDocs:
    url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/comm_messages.html
paths:
  /v1/comm_messages:
    get:
      tags:
      - Comm Messages
      operationId: list_of_commmessages_for_user
      summary: List of CommMessages for a user
      description: Retrieve a paginated list of messages sent to a user.
      parameters:
      - name: user_id
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: The user id for whom you want to retrieve CommMessages
      - name: start_time
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        required: false
        description: 'The beginning of the time range you want to retrieve message from.

          Up to a year prior to the current date is available.'
      - name: end_time
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        required: false
        description: 'The end of the time range you want to retrieve messages for.

          Up to a year prior to the current date is available.'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/CommMessage'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/comm_messages.html
components:
  schemas:
    CommMessage:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
          example: 42
          description: The ID of the CommMessage.
        created_at:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          example: '2013-03-19T21:00:00Z'
          description: The date and time this message was created
        sent_at:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          example: '2013-03-20T22:42:00Z'
          description: The date and time this message was sent
        workflow_state:
          type: string
          example: sent
          description: 'The workflow state of the message. Possible values: ''created'' : The message has been created, but not yet processed. ''staged'' : The message is queued for sending. ''sending'' : The message is being sent currently. ''sent'' : The message has been successfully sent. ''bounced'' : An error occurred during the sending of the message.''dashboard'' : The message has been sent to the dashboard. ''closed'' :  The message has been sent and closed, typically for dashboard messages or messages sent to deleted users. ''cancelled'' : The message was cancelled before it could be sent.'
        from:
          type: string
          example: notifications@example.com
          description: The address that was put in the 'from' field of the message
        from_name:
          type: string
          example: Instructure Canvas
          description: The display name for the from address
        to:
          type: string
          example: someone@example.com
          description: 'The address the message was sent to:'
        reply_to:
          type: string
          example: notifications+specialdata@example.com
          description: The reply_to header of the message
        subject:
          type: string
          example: example subject line
          description: The message subject
        body:
          type: string
          example: This is the body of the message
          description: The plain text body of the message
        html_body:
          type: string
          example: <html><body>This is the body of the message</body></html>
          description: The HTML body of the message.
  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