Canvas History API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: Canvas LMS REST History 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: History
  x-resource: history
  externalDocs:
    url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/history.html
paths:
  /v1/users/{user_id}/history:
    get:
      tags:
      - History
      operationId: list_recent_history_for_user
      summary: List recent history for a user
      description: 'Return a paginated list of the user''s recent history. History entries are returned in descending order,

        newest to oldest. You may list history entries for yourself (use +self+ as the user_id), for a student you observe,

        or for a user you manage as an administrator. Note that the +per_page+ pagination argument is not supported

        and the number of history entries returned per page will vary.'
      parameters:
      - name: user_id
        in: path
        schema:
          type: string
        required: true
        description: ID
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/HistoryEntry'
      externalDocs:
        url: https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/history.html
components:
  schemas:
    HistoryEntry:
      type: object
      properties:
        asset_code:
          type: string
          example: assignment_123
          description: The asset string for the item viewed
        asset_name:
          type: string
          example: Test Assignment
          description: The name of the item
        asset_icon:
          type: string
          example: icon-assignment
          description: The icon type shown for the item. One of 'icon-announcement', 'icon-assignment', 'icon-calendar-month', 'icon-discussion', 'icon-document', 'icon-download', 'icon-gradebook', 'icon-home', 'icon-message', 'icon-module', 'icon-outcomes', 'icon-quiz', 'icon-user', 'icon-syllabus'
        asset_readable_category:
          type: string
          example: Assignment
          description: The associated category describing the asset_icon
        context_type:
          type: string
          example: Course
          description: The type of context of the item visited. One of 'Course', 'Group', 'User', or 'Account'
        context_id:
          type: integer
          format: int64
          example: 123
          description: The id of the context, if applicable
        context_name:
          type: string
          example: Something 101
          description: The name of the context
        visited_url:
          type: string
          example: https://canvas.example.com/courses/123/assignments/456
          description: The URL of the item
        visited_at:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          example: '2019-08-01T19:49:47Z'
          description: When the page was visited
        interaction_seconds:
          type: integer
          format: int64
          example: 400
          description: The estimated time spent on the page in seconds
      required:
      - asset_code
      - asset_name
      - visited_url
      - visited_at
      description: Information about a recently visited item or page in Canvas
  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