Claudeby Anthropic
- Plan
- Free, Pro or Max
- Set up on
- claude.ai
- Then works in
- The desktop and phone apps
Connect your Brightspace
to Claude.
A free Chrome extension. Sign in to your school as usual, type its name once, and your chat can read your slides, syllabus, announcements and grades.
Set up in three steps.
You sign in to your school as usual. Lectern never asks for a password, and there is nothing to register with your school.
One install from the Chrome Web Store.
Type your school's name on Manage and click Connect. Sign in to Brightspace as usual and allow Lectern to read that site.
Ask on lectern.chat, or add your private link to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini from Connect. For Claude, the link is filled in for you.
It reads.
It never writes.
Every request Lectern makes to Brightspace is a read, and it never sees a password. Forget the connection and the stored session and the records tied to it are deleted. What a chat app already received stays with that app.
What is stored, and for how long- Courses and termsWhich courses am I in this term?
- Deadlines and submissionsWhat's due this week?
- GradesHow am I doing in chemistry?
- AnnouncementsWhat did my professors post today?
- Content and filesSummarise this week's slides.
- SyllabusHow much is the midterm worth?
- DiscussionsDid anyone reply to my post?
- CalendarWhen is the statistics midterm?
- RosterWho teaches my Friday section?
Never
- Submit work
- Post or reply
- Mark items complete
- Change a grade
- See a password
Works with the chat you already use.
Your link is a standard MCP connector, so it fits wherever connectors go. Set it up once on the web.
What is MCPChatGPTby OpenAI
- Plan
- Free or paid, personal account
- Set up on
- chatgpt.com, with Developer mode
- Then works in
- The web
Geminiby Google
- Plan
- Gemini Spark, personal Google account, US only
- Set up on
- gemini.google.com
- Then works in
- The phone app
Or skip the chat app.
The same connection answers on lectern.chat, in a browser or on a phone, with deadlines, files and grades drawn as cards.
Or let your AI set it up.
Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini. It reads the set-up guide and walks you through every step.
Questions, answered.
What is Lectern?
Lectern is a Chrome extension that connects a student's Brightspace courses to a chat app. It turns the Brightspace session the browser already has into a private MCP link, which Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini accept as a connector. Every answer is read live from Brightspace at the moment of the question.
Which schools does Lectern work with?
Any school that runs D2L Brightspace: the reading part works the same way on every Brightspace. Lectern keeps you signed in where your school's sign-in allows it, and asks you to sign in to Brightspace again when it cannot.
Does Lectern see my password?
No. Lectern never sees a password. You sign in to Brightspace in the browser as usual, and the extension reads only the session for the one Brightspace site you approve. At schools that sign in through Microsoft, Okta, Duo or a campus single sign-on, it also reads the session for that sign-in site, with Chrome's permission, so you stay signed in.
Can Lectern change anything in Brightspace?
No. Every request Lectern makes to Brightspace is a read. It cannot submit work, post or reply, mark anything complete or change a grade. To keep the session alive it may open your Brightspace home page in a background tab, which Brightspace records as an ordinary visit by you.
Which chat apps does Lectern work with?
Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, and any other app that accepts an MCP connector. Claude works on every plan, including Free. ChatGPT works on Free and paid personal accounts once Developer mode is on. Gemini needs Gemini Spark on a personal Google account, which is US only. School accounts for ChatGPT and Gemini often do not allow custom apps. Each is set up once on the web.
Is my private link a secret?
Yes. Anyone who has the link can read your Brightspace, replace the link or delete the connection. Paste it only into your own chat app. If it leaks, make a new link on the Connect page; the old one stops working at once.
Does my school allow this?
Lectern is independent of your school, and no school has approved it. Connecting sends your Brightspace session to lectern.chat, and many acceptable-use policies treat that as sharing a credential, so read your school's policy and the Brightspace terms before you connect. Your school can see the activity in your account: the reads Lectern makes, the addresses they come from and the sign-ins it keeps going. Lectern does not hide any of that.
What is MCP?
The Model Context Protocol is the open standard chat apps use to connect to outside tools and data. Lectern's private link is an MCP server, so it plugs into any app that supports MCP connectors.
What does Lectern cost?
Nothing. Lectern is free, and it works on the free plans of Claude and ChatGPT. Gemini needs Gemini Spark.