Integrations / Online Courses
Connect Canvas to WhatsApp: files, folders and pages by chat
Flann is an AI agent your business talks to on WhatsApp. Connect Canvas once, then ask Flann to look things up in it or get work done in it, by text or voice note. Sometimes the job is simply staying informed. Flann can read Canvas and give you the short version over breakfast: what is new, what changed and what you might want to act on.
567 actions in Canvas. 316 only look things up, and 251 create, update, send or delete. You connect with your API key.
What you can ask Flann to do in Canvas
Send any of these on WhatsApp, in your own words. Flann finds the right Canvas action and fills in the details from the conversation.
“Show me my planner items in Canvas.”
“Look up the file in Canvas.”
“Look up the page in Canvas.”
“Assign the unassigned members in Canvas.”
“Create files in Canvas.”
“Create a page in Canvas.”
What Flann can work with in Canvas
Canvas gives Flann 567 actions across 202 kinds of record. These are the ones you are most likely to use.
| Record | What Flann can do | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Folders | copycreatedeletelook upupdate | 12 |
| Files | copycreatedeletelook upupdateupload | 10 |
| Submissions | look upmark | 10 |
| Pages | createdeletelook upupdate | 9 |
| Conversations | createdeleteupdatelook upmark | 7 |
| Users | addupdatelook up | 7 |
| Calendar events | createdeletelook upupdate | 6 |
| Planner notes | createdeletelook upupdate | 5 |
Doing it yourself, wiring up a rule, or asking an agent: here is how they compare for Canvas.
| Compare | In Canvas yourselfYou click through each job | A fixed workflowTriggers built in advance | Flann on CanvasYou ask, Flann does the clicking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asking for something | Log in and click through the screens | Only what was wired up in advance | Text or voice note, in your own words |
| Looking things up about files | By hand, screen by screen | Only the look-ups someone built | 316 look-ups, answered straight away |
| Creating and updating | Typed in by hand | Run unchecked once built | 251 changes, made from a message |
| Canvas records | All of them, one screen at a time | Only the ones you wire up | 202 kinds, from one chat |
| Set-up | Nothing new to set up | Someone builds and maintains each flow | Your Canvas API key, once |
YesPartlyNo
Step by step: Canvas jobs you can hand to Flann
Each step below names the Canvas action Flann actually runs.
Create a file from a voice note
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Create a file in Canvas with these details.”
- Flann runs
List Filesin Canvas and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Create Filesin Canvas. - Flann creates it in Canvas and confirms in the chat.
Fix a folder without opening Canvas
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Change the folder in Canvas: here is what is different.”
- Flann runs
List all foldersin Canvas and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Update Folderin Canvas. - Flann makes the change in Canvas and confirms in the chat.
Clean up pages you no longer need
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Which pages in Canvas are out of date? Remove the ones I confirm.”
- Flann runs
List pages for a coursein Canvas and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Delete page for a groupin Canvas. - Each removal is confirmed in the chat.
Repetitive Canvas work Flann takes off your plate
These are the jobs that come back every day or every week. Message Flann instead, and keep the decisions for yourself.
Class timetable questions
Today
Members ask whether a class is on, full or moved. Each answer means checking the timetable and replying by hand.
With Flann
“Is Tuesday’s spin class full? How many spaces are left?”
Flann reads the timetable and bookings in Canvas and answers immediately. If a member is waiting to hear back, it drafts a reply for you.
What you stop doing: Member questions no longer send you into the timetable.
Moving a session at short notice
Today
When an instructor is ill, you change the session in Canvas and then tell everyone booked, one message at a time.
With Flann
“Move Thursday’s yoga to 7pm and let the people booked know.”
Flann prepares the time change in Canvas and drafts a short note for each person booked, giving the new time. You see the change and the messages together.
What you stop doing: A session change no longer means rebuilding it by hand across two apps.
More on this: how to hand repetitive tasks to an AI agent on WhatsApp.
How Flann connects to Canvas
- Search for Canvas in Flann’s Connectors.
- Paste your Canvas API key into the secure form Flann opens. You will find the key in your Canvas account settings.
- Ask Flann for what you need on WhatsApp, by text or voice note. It picks the right Canvas action itself.
Look-ups run as soon as you ask and change nothing in Canvas. You can disconnect Canvas from Connectors at any time.
Ways to use Canvas with Flann
Ask instead of opening it
Ask Flann for what you need from Canvas. It looks it up and answers in the chat.
Part of a bigger job
Flann can use Canvas alongside your other apps when a request needs more than one.
Make changes safely
Tell Flann what to do.
Everything Flann can do in Canvas
The full list of Canvas actions available to Flann once you connect it.
Looks up 316
- Fetch Data
- Get assignments for a specific course (requires course_id)
- Get Current User
- Get Status of Last Report
- Get user activity stream summary
- List assignments for user in course
- List counts for todo items
- List courses
- List environment features
- List Environment Settings
- List favorite courses
- List planner items for a user
- List the activity stream
- List the current user's TODO items
- List users in course
- Show User Details
- Batch retrieve assignment overrides
- Export content
- Export group content
- Export user content
- Find recipients
- Get a content migration for group
- Get a content migration for user
- Get a group
- Get a late policy
- Get a new quiz
- Get a quiz item
- Get a quiz report
- Get a single account
- Get a single assignment override
and 286 more
Changes 251
- Assign unassigned members to group category
- Create a course
- Create Learning Outcome
- Update course settings
- Abort Quiz Report Generation
- Add conversation message
- Add course to favorites
- Add group to favorites
- Add last attended date
- Add recipients to conversation
- Add users to content share
- Answer quiz questions
- Batch create overrides in a course
- Bulk update custom gradebook column data
- Clear Course Nicknames
- Close notification for user
- Conclude, deactivate, or delete an enrollment
- Copy File to Folder
- Copy Folder
- Create a content migration for group
- Create a custom gradebook column
- Create a group
- Create a group category in a course
- Create a group set
- Create a membership
- Create a new quiz
- Create a new quiz report
- Create a page for a course
- Create a page for a group
- Create a planner note
and 221 more
More Online Courses apps Flann works with
Common questions
What can Flann do with folders in Canvas?
Flann can copy, create, delete, look up and update folders in Canvas, using 12 actions (Copy Folder, Create folder, Create Folder in Group, Delete a folder and more). Looking up runs straight away and changes nothing. The other actions create or change folders in Canvas.
What can Flann do with files in Canvas?
Flann can copy, create, delete, look up and update files in Canvas, using 10 actions (Copy File to Folder, Create Files, Delete file, Get file and more). Looking up runs straight away and changes nothing. The other actions create or change files in Canvas.
How does Flann connect to Canvas?
Open Connectors in Flann, choose Canvas and paste your Canvas API key into a secure form. You will find the key in your Canvas account settings. Once it is connected, Flann can use 567 actions in Canvas.
Can I use Canvas from WhatsApp?
Yes. You talk to Flann on WhatsApp or in the Flann app, by text or voice note, and Flann works in Canvas for you. You do not need to open Canvas.
Is Canvas included in my Flann plan?
Yes. Every Flann plan includes every app, Canvas included.