This project is no longer being maintained. Consider using https://github.com/aik2mlj/canvas-downloader, which is a maintained fork of the project with additional features.

Downloads files from all courses in canvas.

1. Create a credential json file, eg cred.json

{
  "canvasUrl": "https://canvas.nus.edu.sg",
  "canvasToken": "12345~jfkdlejoiferjiofu"
}

• canvasUrl should include "https://"
• canvasToken can be created from Account > Settings > New Access Token

2. Get Term IDs by running canvas-downloader with the credential file, eg

$ canvas-downloader --credential-file cred.json
Please provide the Term ID(s) to download via -t
Term IDs  | Courses
115       | ["CS1101S", "CS1231S"]
120       | ["CS2040S", "CS2030"]
125       | ["CS3230"]

3. Rerun canvas-downloader with the terms you are interested in downloading, eg

$ canvas-downloader --credential-file cred.json -t 115 120
Courses found:
  * CS1101S
  * CS1231S
  ...

• To explore more options, use --help or -h

$ canvas-downloader --help
Usage: canvas-downloader [OPTIONS] --credential-file <FILE>

Options:
  -c, --credential-file <FILE>       
  -d, --destination-folder <FOLDER>  [default: .]
  -n, --download-newer               
  -t, --term-ids <ID>...             
  -h, --help                         Print help
  -V, --version                      Print version

• If you want to download files updated on canvas, use --download-newer or -n. By default, files updated on canvas will not overwrite already downloaded files.
• If you want to specify where to download files into, use --destination-folder or -d. By default, files will be downloaded to the folder in which the program is called.

• To use the executable downloaded from Releases, use xattr to remove the quarantine
  • e.g. xattr -d com.apple.quarantine canvas-downloader
• This occurs because the executable has not been signed with an apple developer account
• If it is not showing up as an executable
  • chmod +x canvas-downloader
  • This should make it executable