Talk to your Brightspace courses with AI.
Brightspace MCP Server
By Rohan Muppa, ECE @ Purdue
Talk to your Brightspace courses with AI. Ask about grades, due dates, announcements, and more. Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and Windsurf.
This is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects your AI to D2L Brightspace so it can pull your grades, assignments, syllabus, and course content on demand.
Works with any school that uses D2L Brightspace, including Purdue, USC, and hundreds more.
Try It
"Download my lecture slides and turn them into interactive flashcards" "Grab every assignment rubric and build me a visual dashboard of what I need to hit for an A"
Install
You need: Node.js 18+ (download the LTS version)
Option 1: Let your AI do it
Paste this into Claude Code, Cursor chat, Windsurf, Copilot, Codex, or any AI coding assistant:
I want to connect my Brightspace LMS to this AI client using the brightspace-mcp-server package on npm. Here's the repo: https://github.com/RohanMuppa/brightspace-mcp-server
Do everything needed to get it working:
1. First, check if Node.js 18+ is installed. If not, tell me how to install it and stop.
2. Run the setup wizard to save my Brightspace credentials:
npx brightspace-mcp-server setup
(If I'm a Purdue student, use: npx brightspace-mcp-server setup --purdue)
This will open a browser for login and MFA. Let me complete that before continuing.
3. After setup finishes, configure this AI client to use the MCP server.
The server command is: npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest
Search the internet for how to configure MCP servers in general for
whatever client I'm using. Every client has a different config format
and file path. On Windows, npx must be wrapped with cmd /c.
4. Tell me to restart this AI client so it picks up the new MCP server.
Option 2: Run it yourself
npx brightspace-mcp-server setup
Purdue students can add --purdue to skip entering the school URL:
npx brightspace-mcp-server setup --purdue
The wizard walks you through login, MFA, and auto configures Claude Desktop and Cursor. Restart your AI client when it finishes.
Using a different client? Configure it manually.
Search your client's docs for how to add an MCP server. The server command to register is:
npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest
On Windows, npx must be wrapped: cmd /c npx -y brightspace-mcp-server@latest
You still need to run npx brightspace-mcp-server setup first to save your credentials.
Session Expired?
Sessions re-authenticate automatically. If auto-reauth fails (e.g., you missed the Duo push):
npx brightspace-mcp-server auth
What You Can Ask About
| Topic | Examples |
|---|---|
| Grades | "Am I passing all my classes?" · "Compare my grades across all courses" |
| Assignments | "What's due in the next 48 hours?" · "Summarize every assignment I haven't turned in yet" |
| Announcements | "Did any professor post something important today?" · "What did my CS prof announce this week?" |
| Course content | "Find the midterm review slides" · "Download every PDF from Module 5" |
| Roster | "Who are the TAs for ECE 264?" · "Get me my instructor's email" |
| Discussions | "What are people saying in the final project thread?" · "Summarize the latest discussion posts" |
| Planning | "Build me a study schedule based on my upcoming due dates" · "Which class needs the most attention right now?" |
Troubleshooting
"Not authenticated" → Run npx brightspace-mcp-server auth
AI client not responding → Quit and reopen it completely (not just close the window)
Need to redo setup → Run npx brightspace-mcp-server setup again
Config location → ~/.brightspace-mcp/config.json (you can edit this directly)
Browser launch times out (Windows) → Open Task Manager, end all Chromium/Chrome processes, and try again. If it persists, add the Playwright Chromium folder to your antivirus exclusion list.
Auth fails in WSL or Docker → Chromium dependencies may be missing. Run npx playwright install-deps chromium to install them. The server automatically adds --no-sandbox for these environments.
Headless login fails (Windows) → SSO login flows can fail in headless mode on Windows. The default is headed (a browser window opens). If you set D2L_HEADLESS=true and auth fails, switch back to headed mode.
Security
- Credentials stay on your machine at
~/.brightspace-mcp/config.json(restricted permissions) - Session tokens are encrypted (AES-256-GCM)
- All traffic to Brightspace is HTTPS
- Nothing is sent anywhere except your school's login page
Contributing &
Tools (1)
brightspace_toolsProvides access to grades, assignments, announcements, course content, rosters, and discussion threads within D2L Brightspace.Environment Variables
D2L_HEADLESSControls whether the browser login flow runs in headless mode (true/false).Configuration
{"mcpServers": {"brightspace": {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "brightspace-mcp-server@latest"]}}}