Canvas LTI 1.3 Integration — Step 1: Registration and Activation

If your institution runs Canvas, Lab.Computer integrates through LTI 1.3 — the standard protocol Canvas uses for external tools. Getting connected is a two-step process: registering and activating the app (this guide), then configuring individual assignments to launch into Lab.Computer (the next guide in this series). This first step is typically a one-time setup handled by a Canvas administrator.

Registering the app in Canvas

There are two ways to kick off registration, and they land in the same place.

Method 1: Dynamic Registration URL

1. In Canvas, go to Admin → Developer Keys, click + Developer Key, and choose LTI Registration.
2. Enter the registration URL: https://lab.computer/lti/register — replacing the domain with your school's actual Lab.Computer URL if it differs — then click Continue.

1. Canvas contacts Lab.Computer directly and comes back with the exact permissions the tool is requesting, what user data it needs, and where it can be placed. Review these — the defaults work for most institutions — and click Enable & Close to finish installation, or Save to leave it disabled until you're ready to turn it on.

Method 2: App search

Alternatively, from Admin → Apps, open the Discover tab and search for “lab.computer.” The listing shows up with its icon, description, and links to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Open the listing and click Install. This starts the exact same Dynamic Registration handshake as Method 1 — Canvas fetches Lab.Computer's configuration directly and shows you the same permissions and placements screen to review before finishing installation.

Clicking Install opens a guided, multi-step wizard rather than dropping you straight into the raw registration screen: Permissions, then Data Sharing, then Placements, then a nickname/description step, ending on a Review screen that summarizes every setting before you commit.

The Placements step lets you control where the tool can be launched from (Link Selection is the only placement Lab.Computer needs), and the final Review screen recaps permissions and data sharing side by side — it will also flag if other Lab.Computer configurations already exist on the same domain, so you can make sure their availability settings don't overlap.

Clicking Install App on that Review screen completes installation immediately — there's no separate activation step for this path the way there can be with a fresh Dynamic Registration handshake.

Requesting activation

New organizations typically start in a pending state. If Canvas shows a pending activation screen after registration:

1. Select Continue registration to finalize the Canvas-side installation.
2. Locate the LTI Client ID shown on the pending activation screen and email it to Lab.Computer support so your organization can be activated.
3. Wait for confirmation from Lab.Computer support that activation is complete before moving on to assignment configuration.

What's next

Once your organization is activated, you're ready to configure individual Canvas assignments to launch into Lab.Computer as External Tool assignments — covered in the next guide, Canvas Assignment Setup & Launch.