How to modify the Login ID for a user?

[MikeBrinkman]

I've been playing around with the API to get a better understanding of how it works.

We have our users log into Canvas with a user ID comprised of their first initial and last name. We will often have students that change their names due to getting married, which changes the login ID. Looking at the documentation for put /v1/users/{id}, I don't see any way to change the login ID. Is there something I'm missing?

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @MikeBrinkman,

I believe there is a different API for that, since a single user can have multiple logins (though in most situations, there is just one).  You'll want to check out https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/logins.html#method.pseudonyms.update for details about editing login information.

-Chris

[dgrobani · Accepted solution]

I was perplexed for a moment until I saw this under Edit a user: "To modify a user's login, see the documentation for logins." I think you want Edit a user login.

Edit: ah, I see Chris beat me to it.

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @MikeBrinkman,

I believe there is a different API for that, since a single user can have multiple logins (though in most situations, there is just one).  You'll want to check out https://canvas.instructure.com/doc/api/logins.html#method.pseudonyms.update for details about editing login information.

-Chris

[dgrobani · Accepted solution]

I was perplexed for a moment until I saw this under Edit a user: "To modify a user's login, see the documentation for logins." I think you want Edit a user login.

Edit: ah, I see Chris beat me to it.

[MikeBrinkman]

Thanks @chriscas & @dgrobani ! I missed that. However, I seem to be at a loss how to format the request.

To update a user, I use:

    api_url = 'https://mycanvasurl/api/v1/users/sis_user_id:'+ str(user_id)
    parameters = {
        'user[name]': first_name + " " + last_name,
        'user[sortable_name]': last_name + ", " + first_name,
        'user[email]': email
    }
    result = requests.put(api_url,headers=header,data=parameters).json()

That works fine.

If I try

    api_url = 'https://mycanvasurl/api/v1/accounts/1/logins/4324'

    parameters = {
        'login[unique_id]': 'newloginname'
    }
    result = requests.put(api_url,headers=header,data=parameters).json()
    print(result)

I get an error 'The specified resource does not exist.' I hard-coded the example just to see if a parameter was not being passed in correctly. In this example, 4324 is the user's Canvas ID number. Any help would be appreciated!

[JamesSekcienski · Accepted solution]

@MikeBrinkman 

You will want to make sure you are using the id of the Login that you want to update rather than the id of the Canvas user.  You may need to use an API call to get the logins for the user so that you can determine the login id.

[MikeBrinkman]

Thanks, @JamesSekcienski ! I guess I'll have to call that, get the value for ID, then pass it along. I just replaced the login ID in the URL and it worked!