Blackboard
Anthology Adopt powered by Pendo allows institutions to gain insights on Blackboard Learn usage and take action through in-app messages, digital walkthrough guides, and tooltips.
Verdict
Common use cases
- Pull enrollment counts across all sections
- Export gradebook data for accreditation reports
- Post announcements to multiple courses at once
- Audit course content before semester starts
- Generate syllabus drafts from course metadata
Integration
- Vendor
- Blackboard
- Category
- other
- Auth
- OAUTH2
- Tools
- 50
- Composio slug
blackboard
Tools
- Add catalog category by type
Creates a new category in the blackboard catalog system. this endpoint allows administrators to define and organize content categories within the learning management system. use this tool to add a new category with specific properties such
- Add child node in hierarchy
Creates a new child node within the institutional hierarchy of blackboard learn. this endpoint allows administrators to expand and organize the structure of their educational institution by adding new nodes as children of existing ones. it
- Add course content attachment
Adds an attachment to a specific content item within a blackboard learn course. this endpoint allows developers to programmatically upload and associate files with course materials, enhancing the content available to students. it should be
- Add new gradebook column for course
Creates a new grade column in a course's gradebook within the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to set up various types of grade columns, including manual entry, calculated grades, and those based
- Copy course by courseid
This endpoint creates a copy of an existing course in the blackboard learning management system. it allows instructors or administrators to duplicate course content, settings, and structure into a new or existing course. use this endpoint w
- Copy course with specific options
The coursecopytool allows you to create a copy of a blackboard course with fine-grained control over which elements are included in the copy. this endpoint is used when you need to duplicate a course, either creating a new course or overwri
- Course Announcements Access
Retrieves a list of announcements for a specific course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows users to access important messages, updates, or notifications related to a particular course. it should be used when
- Course endpoint entitlement access
Retrieves detailed information about a specific course in the blackboard learn platform using its unique identifier. this endpoint allows users to fetch comprehensive course data, which may include the course name, code, description, enroll
- Create a class course
Creates a new course in the blackboard learn system with specified settings and configurations. this endpoint allows administrators or instructors to set up a course with various parameters including its basic information, availability, enr
- Create adaptive release criteria by rule
This endpoint allows for the creation of new adaptive release criteria for a specific rule within a course's content in blackboard. it is used to define conditions under which course content will be made available to students, such as compl
- Create a new course
Creates a new course in the blackboard learn system with specified attributes and settings. this endpoint allows for the detailed configuration of a course, including its basic information, availability, enrollment options, and localization
- Create assignment in course contents
Creates a new assignment within a specified blackboard course. this endpoint allows instructors to set up detailed assignments with customizable settings for availability, grading, and plagiarism detection. it supports rich text instruction
- Create calendar items
This endpoint creates a new calendar item in the blackboard platform. it allows users to add various types of events, such as course-related activities, personal appointments, or institution-wide events, to specific calendars within the sys
- Create child content in course
Creates a new content item within a specified course and parent content in the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint allows for the creation of various types of content, such as documents, external links, folders, and assignments. it pro
- Create course announcement
Creates a new announcement within a specified course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows instructors or course administrators to post important messages, updates, or notifications to all enrolled students. the
- Create course content in course
Creates new content within a specified blackboard course. this endpoint allows for the addition of various types of content, including documents, external links, folders, and more, with detailed configuration options. it supports rich text
- Create course gradebook schema
Creates a new gradebook schema for a specific course in blackboard learn. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to define custom grading structures tailored to their course needs. it supports various grading scales including pe
- Create course group
Creates a new group within a specified course in the blackboard learn system. this endpoint allows for detailed customization of group properties, including its name, description, availability, and enrollment settings. it's particularly use
- Create course group in course
Creates a new group within a specified course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to set up and configure groups for collaborative work, discussions, or other course-related activ
- Create course meeting
Creates a new meeting for a specific course within the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows you to schedule and define the details of a course meeting, including its title, description, start and end times, and an opt
- Create data source with external id
Creates a new data source in the blackboard learn system. this endpoint is used to establish a unique identifier for an external data source, which can then be referenced in other api calls or integrations. it's particularly useful when set
- Create discussion forum in course
Creates a new discussion forum within a specified course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows instructors or course administrators to set up a discussion topic, define its availability, and optionally make it g
- Create grading period in course gradebook
Creates a new grading period within a specific course's gradebook in the blackboard learn system. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to define and organize temporal segments for grade collection and management. it's particul
- Create group in course
Creates a new group within a specified course group set in the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to set up groups with customizable settings for student collaboration and activities. it provides o
- Create group set
Creates a new group set within a specified course in the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to set up a structured group of students for collaborative work, discussions, or other course activities.
- Create lti domain configuration
Creates or updates an lti (learning tools interoperability) domain configuration in blackboard learn. this endpoint allows administrators to set up and manage integrations with external learning tools, configuring various aspects such as us
- Create system announcement
Creates a new system-wide announcement in the blackboard learn environment. this endpoint allows administrators to compose and configure announcements that can be displayed to users across the platform. the announcement can be customized wi
- Delete course by courseiddestructive
Deletes a specific course from the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint should be used when an administrator or authorized user needs to permanently remove a course from the system, including all associated content, enrollments, and dat
- Delete user from coursedestructive
Removes a specific user from a particular course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint should be used when an administrator or instructor needs to unenroll a student, remove a teaching assistant, or disassociate any us
- Get course announcement by id
Retrieves a specific announcement from a particular course in the blackboard learn system. this endpoint allows users to fetch detailed information about a single announcement, including its content, creation date, and any attachments. it i
- Get oauth2 authorization code
Initiates the oauth 2.0 authorization code flow for the blackboard api. this endpoint is used to obtain an authorization code, which is a crucial step in the oauth 2.0 authentication process. the authorization code can later be exchanged fo
- Get user gradebook for course
Retrieves the gradebook information for a specific user within a particular course in blackboard. this endpoint allows instructors or authorized personnel to access individual student grade data, including assignment scores, overall course
- Modify course content adaptive release group criteria
This endpoint updates the criteria for a specific group within an adaptive release rule for a particular content item in a blackboard course. it allows instructors or course administrators to modify how and when course content is made avail
- Post course message with bbml support
Creates a new message within a specific blackboard course. this endpoint allows users to compose and send messages to course participants, supporting rich text formatting through bbml, file attachments, and flexible recipient management. it
- Post discussion message reply
Creates a reply to a specific message within a blackboard course discussion. this endpoint allows users to contribute to ongoing discussions by posting responses to existing messages. it supports both course-wide and group-specific discussi
- Post grade notation to course gradebook
Creates a new grade notation in the gradebook for a specific course in blackboard. this endpoint allows instructors or administrators to add custom performance codes and their corresponding descriptions to the grading system. it's particula
- Post group attempts for gradebook column
The creategroupattempt endpoint allows for the creation or update of a group attempt for a specific gradebook column in a blackboard learn course. this tool is essential for managing group submissions, tracking their progress, and facilitat
- Retrieve course details by id
Retrieves detailed information about a specific course in the blackboard learning management system. this endpoint allows users to fetch comprehensive data related to a course, such as its title, description, start and end dates, enrollment
- Retrieve course list
Retrieves a list of courses from the blackboard learn platform. this endpoint allows developers to fetch information about courses available in the learning management system. it can be used to integrate course data into external applicatio
- Submit gradebook attempt
Creates a new attempt for a specific gradebook column in a blackboard course. this endpoint allows instructors or authorized users to add a new attempt record for a student's assignment or assessment. it can be used to manually enter grades
- Update child course in parent
This endpoint updates the relationship between a parent course and its child course in the blackboard learning management system. it is used to modify existing course hierarchies, allowing administrators to restructure course organizations
- Update content group association
This endpoint updates the association between a specific content item and a group within a blackboard learn course. it is used to modify existing content-group relationships, enabling instructors or administrators to manage group-specific c
- Update course category details
This endpoint updates an existing course within a specific category in the blackboard catalog. it allows administrators or authorized users to modify course details such as title, description, or other attributes associated with the course.
- Update course information
Updates an existing course in the blackboard learn system. this endpoint allows modification of various course attributes including basic information, availability settings, enrollment options, and localization preferences. it's used to adj
- Update course information by courseid
The patchcourse endpoint allows for updating specific details and settings of an existing course in the blackboard learn system. it is used when modifications to course properties such as name, description, availability, enrollment options,
- Update group details by course and group id
Updates the properties of a specific group within a blackboard learn course. this endpoint allows modification of group details such as name, description, availability, and enrollment settings. it's particularly useful for adjusting group c
- Update user criterion in adaptive rule
This endpoint updates a user-specific criterion within an adaptive release rule for a particular content item in a blackboard course. it allows for fine-tuning of content visibility based on individual user conditions. use this endpoint whe
- Update user in course group
This endpoint updates a user's information within a specific group in a blackboard course. it allows administrators or instructors to modify user details, roles, or permissions for a particular user in the context of a course group. use thi
- Update user meeting attendance status
Adds a user to a specific meeting within a blackboard course and sets their attendance status. this endpoint is essential for managing attendance and user participation in course meetings. it allows instructors or authorized users to update
- Upload file to attempt in gradebook
This endpoint allows for the upload and attachment of files to a specific attempt within a course's gradebook in the blackboard learning management system. it is used to associate submitted work, supporting documents, or any relevant files
Setup
Setup guide
- 11. In Switchy, navigate to Settings → Integrations → Add MCP and select Blackboard. 2. Click Connect and you'll be redirected to your institution's Blackboard OAuth consent screen. 3. Sign in with your Blackboard admin or instructor credentials. 4. Review the requested scopes: read/write access to courses, announcements, gradebook, content, and user data. 5. Approve the connection; Switchy will redirect you back and confirm the integration is active. 6. Open any Space and type '@Blackboard list my courses' to verify the connection works. 7. If the MCP doesn't respond, check that your Blackboard role has API access enabled—some institutions restrict this to admins. 8. To invoke a tool, @mention Blackboard in a message and describe the task in plain language, like '@Blackboard create a gradebook column named Participation in MATH101'.
What teammates see: by default, memories from Blackboard are scoped to the Space (PROJECT visibility) - you can mark any memory PRIVATE or share it ORG-wide.
Works well with
Top models
Compatibility data appears once enough Spaces have used this MCP together with a given model.
How Switchy teams use it
Starter prompts
List Active Courses
@Blackboard show me all active courses I have access to, including course IDs and enrollment counts.Open in a Space →
Create Gradebook Column
@Blackboard add a gradebook column called 'Midterm Project' worth 100 points to course BIOL202, due date March 15.Open in a Space →
Post Announcement
@Blackboard post an announcement to HIST301 titled 'Office Hours Moved' with the body 'This week's office hours are now Thursday 2-4pm.'Open in a Space →
Export Grade Report
@Blackboard export the full gradebook for CHEM150 as a CSV, including student names, IDs, and all assignment scores.Open in a Space →
Copy Course Structure
@Blackboard copy course ENG101-Fall23 to a new course ENG101-Spring24, including syllabus and assignments but excluding student data.Open in a Space →
Example outputs
Illustrative - representative of the model's voice and quality, not literal recordings.
@blackboard list all announcements from my PSYCH101 course posted in the last week
Found 4 announcements from PSYCH101 in the past 7 days: 1. **Midterm Exam Schedule** (posted 2 days ago) – Exam will be held in Room 204 on March 15th, 2:00-4:00 PM. Bring a blue book and calculator. 2. **Guest Lecture Tomorrow** (posted 3 days ago) – Dr. Sarah Chen from Stanford will discuss cognitive behavioral therapy applications. 3. **Assignment 3 Deadline Extended** (posted 5 days ago) – Due date moved to March 20th to accommodate spring break. 4. **Office Hours Change** (posted 6 days ago) – Thursday office hours moved from 3-5 PM to 1-3 PM this week only. This is an illustrative example based on typical Blackboard announcement structures.
This example demonstrates read-only course content access. Requires OAuth2 authorization with course.announcements.VIEW scope for the specific course. The MCP can only retrieve announcements from courses where the authenticated user has enrollment or instructor permissions. Date filtering capabilities depend on Blackboard's API query parameters.
@blackboard create a new gradebook column called 'Participation' worth 10% of the final grade in my HIST202 course
Successfully created gradebook column in HIST202: **Column Name:** Participation **Weight:** 10% of final grade **Points Possible:** 100 **Column Type:** Manual entry **Visibility:** Visible to students **Column ID:** _12345_1 The column is now available in your gradebook. You can begin entering scores immediately. Students will see this column in their grade view once scores are posted. This is an illustrative example of the column creation response.
This write operation requires course.gradebook.MODIFY permissions and instructor-level access to the target course. The MCP creates the column but does not populate it with scores—that requires separate grade entry operations. Be aware that gradebook modifications are immediately visible to students if the column visibility is set to 'visible', which may create expectations for timely grading.
@blackboard summarize the course structure and recent activity across all my enrolled courses this semester
You're enrolled in 4 courses this semester. Here's a synthesis: **PSYCH101** (87 students) – Most active course with 12 announcements and 8 assignments posted in the last 2 weeks. Next deadline: Research Paper Draft due March 18th. **HIST202** (34 students) – Moderate activity. Midterm grades posted yesterday (class average: 78%). One upcoming quiz on March 16th. **MATH210** (52 students) – Quiet period. Last content update was 9 days ago. No upcoming deadlines in the next week. **ENG105** (28 students) – New discussion board opened 3 days ago with 47 student posts. Peer review assignment due March 20th. This synthesis combines data from multiple Blackboard API endpoints with AI reasoning about patterns and priorities.
This example showcases the MCP's ability to aggregate data across multiple courses and pair it with AI-driven summarization. Requires course.VIEW permissions for all enrolled courses. The synthesis quality depends on what course data Blackboard exposes via API—some institutions restrict access to enrollment counts or grade distributions. Expect API rate limits when querying multiple courses simultaneously.
Use-case deep-dives
When Blackboard MCP handles bulk course setup for new terms
A 12-person academic ops team at a regional university needs to clone 200+ courses for the spring semester, each with customized gradebook columns and updated announcements. The Blackboard MCP is the right call here because it exposes the copy-course and gradebook-column tools through OAuth2, letting the team script the entire rollover in Switchy instead of clicking through the LMS 200 times. The representative tools show fine-grained copy options and column creation, which map directly to this workflow. The threshold: if your institution runs on a different LMS or uses Blackboard's legacy SOAP APIs, this MCP won't help. But for schools on modern Blackboard Learn with OAuth2 enabled, this MCP turns a two-week manual slog into a half-day scripting session. Worth the setup if you're rolling courses more than once a year.
Why this MCP is overkill for frontline help desk work
A 3-person student services team fields 50+ tickets a day about course access, missing grades, and broken content links. The Blackboard MCP technically gives them read access to course announcements and hierarchy nodes, but it's the wrong tool for this scenario. The MCP's 50 tools are built for administrative workflows—copying courses, adding catalog categories, managing institutional hierarchies—not for quick lookups during a live support chat. The OAuth2 setup adds friction, and none of the representative tools surface the student-facing data (enrollment status, submission history) that support teams actually need. If your team is troubleshooting individual student issues, you're better off with Blackboard's native support dashboard or a lighter integration that hits the student-record APIs. Save this MCP for the ops team doing bulk course management.
When this MCP speeds up accreditation documentation
A 5-person compliance team at a nursing school needs to document that 80 courses meet accreditation standards for content structure, grading policies, and announcement cadence. The Blackboard MCP is a strong fit because it exposes read access to course content attachments, gradebook columns, and announcements—exactly the artifacts auditors want to see. The team can script a Switchy workflow that pulls this data across all 80 courses in one pass, then generates a summary report for the accreditation board. The OAuth2 auth means the script runs with proper institutional permissions, not a workaround. The catch: if your audit also requires student outcome data or assignment submissions, this MCP's tool set won't cover it—you'll need a second integration. But for structural compliance checks, this MCP cuts a month-long manual review down to a week.
Frequently asked
What does the Blackboard MCP let me do in Switchy?
It connects your Blackboard Learn instance to Switchy so AI agents can read course data, manage gradebook columns, post announcements, copy courses, and attach files to content items. You can automate routine LMS admin tasks—like bulk-creating grade columns or duplicating course structures—without logging into Blackboard's web UI. The MCP exposes 50 tools covering catalog management, institutional hierarchy, and course content operations.
Do I need admin access to connect Blackboard via OAuth?
Yes, you'll need an account with sufficient privileges to authorize the OAuth flow. Blackboard's OAuth scopes typically require instructor or administrator roles, depending on which operations you want Switchy to perform. If you only need read access to course announcements, instructor permissions may suffice. For creating gradebook columns, copying courses, or modifying the institutional hierarchy, you'll need admin-level entitlements in your Blackboard instance.
Can the Blackboard MCP enroll students or grade assignments?
The MCP can create gradebook columns and retrieve course data, but it doesn't directly enroll users or submit grades to existing columns. Blackboard's API historically separates enrollment management from content operations. If you need to automate grading workflows, you'll likely still use Blackboard's native Grade Center or a separate enrollment API. The MCP is strongest for content setup and course duplication tasks.
How is this different from using Blackboard's REST API directly?
The MCP wraps Blackboard's REST API in a format Switchy's AI agents understand, so you don't write HTTP requests or parse JSON responses yourself. Instead, you describe what you want in natural language, and the agent picks the right tool—like "copy this course" or "add an announcement". You skip the OAuth token refresh logic and endpoint documentation. The trade-off: you're limited to the 50 tools the MCP exposes, not the full API surface.
Who on my team should connect the Blackboard MCP?
Whoever owns your Blackboard instance and has admin credentials. Typically that's an instructional technologist, LMS administrator, or IT staff member with course-management responsibilities. Once connected, you can share the Switchy workspace with instructors who need to automate course setup or announcements. The connection itself doesn't consume per-user licenses in Blackboard—it's a single OAuth app registration tied to one admin account.