Implementing Canvas Session Timeout

[Schwendner, Joanne]

Thanks Tim,

We aren't having a problem per se...  but rather our Canvas administrators
were wanting us to impose idle and session lengths different from what we
have configured in our IdP.  It's my understanding that such per-service
settings are expected to be controlled at the SP, not the IdP.

I am surprised that Instructure, being tailored to higher ed, would not
support this in its Canvas implementation.

Joanne

On Mon, Jul 27, 2026 at 4:36 PM Timothy Spear <n614cd at gmail.com> wrote:

> Joanne,
>
> I do not use Canvas, so for me I believe there there are a number of
> variables in play for that question.
> In terms of session timeout. Which one? Is Canvas hitting a session
> timeout, redirects to the IdP which recalls the user authentication from
> before and automatically redirects them back?
>
> How is the IdP configured? Does it recall a previous authentication?
> How is Canvas configured? Does it require a new authentication request or
> allow for recalling a previous one?
> And in both cases, what does the meta-data say?
>
> Define which session and where you believe you have an issue.
>
> Tim
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 27, 2026 at 3:46 PM Schwendner, Joanne via users <
> users at shibboleth.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm sure this is an old question, so I apologize ahead of time.
>>
>> Our users want us to implement session timeouts specifically for Canvas.
>> Instructure tells us they do not support any session timeouts, and that
>> this is totally controlled at the IdP.
>>
>> Is this what they have told all of their customers?  I am interested in
>> what others' experiences with Canvas have been with respect to session
>> settings.
>>
>> Joanne
>>
>> ---
>>
>> Joanne Schwendner
>> Identity Services
>> Office of Information Technology
>> Brown University
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> For Consortium Member technical support, see
>> https://shibboleth.atlassian.net/wiki/x/ZYEpPw
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>
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