Install Maia in Canvas

Set up automatically

A Canvas admin of the whole school gives Maia one access token. Maia does the Canvas steps itself. Teachers then open Maia from a course and click Authorize once.

1. 1

   Make an access token in Canvas

   Sign in as a Canvas admin who can open Admin → Developer Keys. Open Account → Settings, click + New Access Token, enter Maia setup as the purpose, leave the expiry empty, and click Generate Token. Copy the token straight away. Canvas shows it only once.

2. 2

   Paste it into Maia

   In Maia, open School → Canvas & LMS, enter your Canvas address, paste the token, and click Set up Canvas.

   Maia installs itself, switches itself on, makes itself available in every course, removes duplicate Maia installs, makes the API key teachers use to connect, and checks that a teacher can connect. Each step shows as done, or says exactly what Canvas refused.

3. 3

   Each teacher allows Maia once

   Open Maia from a course, then click Connect Canvas and Authorize. There is no second secret. Import, grading, and publishing use that connection.

Maia keeps the token encrypted and uses it only to check and repair this setup, every night. If someone switches Maia off or changes its key in Canvas, Maia puts it back, and emails you if it can’t. You can make Maia forget the token on the same page, or delete it in Canvas.

Before you start

• You need to be a Canvas administrator of the school’s top-level account: someone who can open Admin → Developer Keys.
• Someone at your school needs a Maia school workspace with the admin role. They paste the token, or make the registration link.
• Maia uses LTI 1.3 with Dynamic Registration. There is no XML or key file to paste.

Install Maia by hand

1. 1

   Make a registration link in Maia

   In Maia, open School → Canvas & LMS and choose Make a registration link. The link works once and expires after 7 days. Anyone holding it can connect a Canvas to your school, so send it only to your Canvas administrator.

2. 2

   Register Maia in Canvas

   In Canvas, go to Admin, choose your school, then Apps → Manage → Install a New App. Choose LTI 1.3 → Dynamic Registration, paste the link, and approve the requested placements.

   Older or self-hosted Canvas?

   Use Admin → Developer Keys → + Developer Key → LTI Registration, paste the link, follow the prompts, and switch the resulting key on. Then finish availability under Admin → Apps.

3. 3

   Make Maia available and verify it

   Go to Admin → Apps → Manage and click the Maia name. On/Off being On does not put Maia in a course. Where the page says Not Available, click the pencil, choose Available, and save. Do that for each Maia row. Then open a course and click Maia in the left menu.

4. 4

   Add the API key

   Import, grading Canvas submissions, and publishing use a second key. The Maia row already on Developer Keys is the install. It says View in Canvas Apps and has no secret. Leave it.

   1. Click + Developer Key and choose API Key. Not LTI Registration.
   2. Name it Maia API. Paste the Redirect URI from Maia’s Canvas & LMS page into Redirect URIs.
   3. Turn Enforce Scopes off. Leave every scope unticked. Save.
   4. Switch that new row ON. Under its number, click Show Key. That button is only on an API Key. Paste the number and the secret into Maia.

   Maia checks the key with Canvas before saving it. If Enforce Scopes is on or the key is off, Maia says so and names the key.

5. 5

   Each teacher allows Maia once

   Open Maia from a course, then click Connect Canvas and Authorize. That uses the API key from the previous step. There is no second secret.

Where teachers find Maia

• Each course’s left menu, and Canvas’s left-hand bar.
• Create Maia Assignments on the Modules page, in each module’s menu, and on the Assignments page.
• Syllabus Studio on the Modules page and in each module’s menu.
• Create Maia Assignment in an assignment, page, discussion, quiz, or file menu.
• Grade with Maia in an assignment’s menu.
• The assignment and module pickers, and the page editor.

What Maia reads and writes

• On launch: name, email, course role, course and term, as Canvas sends them.
• Grades: a score for each Maia assignment, written to the gradebook column Maia created. Grading with Maia writes the grade, rubric and one comment only when a teacher presses Send.
• Lessons: a teacher adds them with Create Maia Assignments or Syllabus Studio. Maia only changes items it made, and never deletes anything in Canvas.

See Security for how Maia stores and protects data.

If something isn’t working

• “Your browser blocked Maia’s sign-in.” Some browsers block cookies inside Canvas. Maia offers to open in a new tab, signed in. Students on the Canvas mobile app always get a new tab.
• Grades or rosters stop syncing. Maia’s Canvas & LMS page lists what Canvas refused and when. The usual cause is the Maia developer key being switched off or Maia being removed from Apps.
• A new Maia placement doesn’t appear. Canvas fixes placements when Maia is installed. Contact support and we’ll update your installation without losing any links.
• Maia was removed in Canvas. It disappears from Maia’s Canvas & LMS page. Install it again from a new registration link. Classes already created stay.

Still stuck? Contact support.