LTIs/External Apps may include a placement setting to appear on the course navigation menu. For various reasons, admins may not want the the app to automatically show by default in the course navigation menu. For example, the tool may be in a pilot phase with only select courses and/or only needed in select courses, so they don't want it to show in courses for which it isn't relevant. As another example, it may be a tool that could be used in all courses, but they want to allow teachers to decide if they plan to use it in their course and if it should be shown.
The following will review some of the options that can be followed to ensure the course navigation placement setting is set to hidden by default.
Account Developer Key - LTI Key
If the set-up for the LTI/external app uses an Account Developer Key - LTI Key, then this setting can be updated in the Developer Key settings. This update can be made while setting up the Developer Key initially or edited after it has been set-up.
An admin will need to go to the Developer Keys in their account (How do I manage developer keys for an account? ).
- If this is for a new Account Developer Key - LTI Key, follow all instructions provided by the vendor to set-up the Developer Key. Be sure to Save those settings and then click Edit to open the settings again.
- If this is for an existing Account Developer Key - LTI Key, click Edit to open the settings.
Once you are on the Key Settings window, make sure the Method is set to "Paste JSON". Even if you originally configured it with Manual Entry, it will load in the JSON representation of the current settings.
Scroll down in the settings and look for the following:
"placement": "course_navigation",
Add the following after that line to set the course navigation to be hidden by default (if this is not already included):
"default": "disabled",
Click Save!
The app that is installed (or already installed) with the corresponding Client ID will now hide the course navigation placement by default.
Inherited Developer Key - LTI Key
Unfortunately, the Inherited Developer Keys are only able to enabled/disabled. Thus, we aren't able to use the same steps as above for Account Developer Key - LTI Keys since we can't edit the key settings.
In order to update the settings for these, an admin will first need to add it as an app to the appropriate account using the Client ID. After it is installed, follow the steps in the next section on Installed Apps to hide it from the course navigation by default.
*Note: Updating the settings for an installed app from an Inherited Developer Key may get overwritten in the future if there is a change/update to the Inherited Developer Key. It will be important to monitor for this since admins don't have direct control over Inherited Developer Key Settings.
Installed LTIs/External Apps
For LTIs/external apps that are already installed, an admin can use the Canvas API to modify the settings.
First, use the List External Tools Canvas API endpoint to find out the ID of the external tool that needs to be updated. It is recommended to use the search_term query parameter with the name of the tool you are looking for so there is less to look through in the result.
After determining the external tool ID, then use the Edit an external tool Canvas API endpoint to update the setting. The following query parameter and value is needed to hide it from the course navigation by default:
course_navigation[default]=disabled
As long as this request is successful, the external tool will now be hidden from the course navigation by default.
Using Postman for Requests
While you can use a variety of tools and/or languages to perform the above requests, Postman can be a user-friendly tool to help with getting started on working with the Canvas API. If you are just getting started with Postman, you can check out the API Testing: Postman blog post. Be sure you have your authorization set-up with a valid access token before sending any requests.
List external tools for account set-up
Update the domain in the below example to your institution's domain. Enter the name of the external tool you are looking for that needs to be updated. Update the account_id to the ID of the account where the external tool is installed. After the request is successful, get the ID of the external tool from the result. *If there are multiple results, make sure you are getting the ID of the correct external tool that needs to be updated.
Edit an external tool
Update the domain in the below example to your institution's domain. Update the account_id to the ID of the account where the external tool is installed. Update the external_tool_id to the ID of the tool that needs to be updated (found in the previous step). After the request is successful, the external tool will now be hidden from the course navigation by default. You can spot check some courses to confirm it is no longer showing by default.
