Pearsight reads from Canvas with an access token.

A Canvas access token is a long random string Canvas issues from your account settings. It carries the same permissions your Canvas account already has — Pearsight only uses the read-only ones, so it can pull assignments and grades but cannot submit work, message teachers, or change anything inside Canvas.

You generate the token once during Pearsight setup. The token only appears in Canvas the moment you create it (that’s a Canvas rule), so paste it into Pearsight right away. If you lose it, regenerate; no harm done.

Canvas tokens have a built-in 120-day idle expiration. About a week before yours expires, Pearsight emails you to regenerate. If a token expires unexpectedly, your existing dashboard data stays put — only new Canvas updates pause until you reconnect.

Key facts

• One token per Canvas account; reuse it for every kid on that account.
• Encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Never written to logs.
• Read-only access — Pearsight can’t change anything in Canvas.
• Refresh prompt appears about a week before the 120-day expiry.