Canvas: How to fix a "Forbidden (403)" Error

First things first, don't delete the Classwork.com or TeacherMade app from Canvas in an attempt to fix this. Doing so can cause Canvas to get confused and refuse our attempts to send scores. If you need to fix the installation of the app as directed below, just edit it. Do not delete and re-install it.


There are actually two different Forbidden pages. The first looks like this:



That generally implies you've posted the wrong kind of link into your External Tool Assignment in Canvas. Either you've generated the Assignment with a Classwork.com Assignment delivery option, or you copied the URL from the browser toolbar or a Share link from Classwork.com.


To fix this kind of Forbidden (403) error, just make sure you use the Copy button to grab the Canvas-style link (which always has /lti/ in it).




Always use that link to paste into the URL field of the External Tool Assignment in Canvas (and don't click the Find button).


The other Forbidden page looks like this:


This one implies there's a problem with the External Tool installation in your course, such as needing to recopy the consumer key and secret or possibly the launch URL. In those cases, the Classwork.com link (or Teachermade link if you're old school) that gets installed in the left-hand column of the course would also not work.

To fix that, you'll want to edit the External Tool installation in your course.

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