"Insufficient Scope" Error on Annoto Dashboard

What You See

When accessing the Annoto Dashboard from within a Canvas course, the following error is displayed:

Oops, we had trouble to authenticate the activity. Please make sure you have configured the authentication settings, feel free to contact us at [e-mail]. Error: Insufficient scope

Root Cause

This error occurs when a user attempts to access the Annoto Dashboard without being enrolled in the course. Annoto's LTI authentication requires a valid course enrollment context. When the user launching the activity is not enrolled (for example, an LMS admin or instructor who was added to the course without a formal enrollment), the LTI handshake cannot obtain the required scope, and authentication fails.

This is commonly seen when:

• An account-level admin navigates to the Annoto Dashboard directly without being enrolled as a student or instructor in that specific course.

• A user is added to a course via an admin bypass rather than a standard enrollment.

• The user's LMS role does not carry the necessary permissions for LTI scope resolution in that course context.

How to Fix It

1. Enroll in the course using the standard enrollment process in Canvas (or your LMS).

2. Make sure the enrollment is in an active state (not pending or concluded).

3. Once enrolled, navigate back to the course and access the Annoto Dashboard again.

Note for admins: Even if you have account-level admin access, you must be enrolled in the specific course to access Annoto within it. Admin-level access does not substitute for course enrollment in the LTI context.

Still Seeing the Error?

If you are already enrolled and still see this error, please check the following:

• Confirm the Annoto LTI tool is properly configured under the course's External Tools settings.

• Verify that the LTI Consumer Key and Shared Secret are correctly set in the Annoto configuration.

• Check that the LTI launch URL is using the correct environment endpoint (staging vs. production).

If the issue persists, contact [e-mail] and include:

• Your LMS instance URL

• The course ID

• A screenshot of the error

• Your user role in the course