Does Google Classroom Support LTI® 1.3?
The short answer
No. Google Classroom does not act as an LTI® platform, and an LTI® 1.3 tool cannot be installed into it. Google built its own integration framework instead — Classroom add-ons — and Google's own documentation states that the two are not directly compatible.
This is the one major platform where the answer is no, which is why the question gets asked so often.
What Classroom uses instead
Classroom add-ons cover a similar user journey to LTI® — a teacher attaches third-party content to an assignment, a student opens it, a grade comes back — but the mechanics are different.
An add-on creates and reads resources through the Google Classroom REST API rather than receiving a signed launch. There is no ID Token, no OIDC login initiation, no key set to publish. It is a Google API integration that happens to sit where an LTI® tool would.
The practical consequence: your LTI® implementation does not transfer. What transfers is everything underneath it — your content, your grading logic, your accounts. The integration layer is new work.
Add-ons also carry edition requirements. They are not available on every Google Workspace for Education tier, so some of your prospective customers cannot use one even if you build it. Check the current requirements before committing, since these have changed more than once.
Google Workspace LTI® is the other direction
This is the source of most of the confusion, because Google does have an LTI® product — it just points the other way.
Google Workspace LTI® lets an LMS such as Canvas, Moodle or Brightspace launch Google — Assignments, Drive files, Docs — from inside a course. There, Google is the tool and the LMS is the platform.
That does nothing for you. It is Google being launched, not Google launching you.
| Direction | Useful to you? | |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom add-ons | Classroom launches third-party content | Yes, but a separate build |
| Google Workspace LTI® | An LMS launches Google | No |
What to tell a customer who asks
If a school on Classroom asks whether your LTI® tool works there, the honest answer is that Classroom does not support LTI®, and reaching it means a separate Classroom add-on.
Worth checking first, though: many institutions run Classroom alongside another LMS rather than instead of one. If they also have Canvas, Moodle or Schoology, your existing integration already reaches them, and that is often the faster answer for both sides.
Is it worth building an add-on?
The question is one of demand rather than engineering.
Build one if Classroom customers are asking, if their editions support it, and if the volume justifies maintaining a second integration against a proprietary API that only reaches one platform.
Do not build one speculatively. An LTI® integration reaches every compliant LMS at once; a Classroom add-on reaches Classroom. The return on the second is much narrower, and it is a standing maintenance commitment.
LTIAAS covers LTI® 1.3, so it does not reach Google Classroom — nothing that implements LTI® does. We have no setup guide for Classroom because there is no LTI® setup to document.
Common questions
Does Google Classroom support LTI® 1.3?
No. Google Classroom does not act as an LTI® platform. It has its own add-ons framework built on the Google Classroom REST API, and Google's own documentation states the two are not directly compatible.
Can I convert my LTI® tool into a Classroom add-on?
Not by configuration. The user journeys are similar but the mechanics differ — add-ons use the Classroom REST API rather than a signed launch — so it is a separate integration sharing your application underneath.
What is Google Workspace LTI then?
That is Google acting as the tool rather than the platform. It lets an LMS such as Canvas or Moodle launch Google Assignments and Drive, which is the opposite direction from launching your tool inside Classroom.
Should I build a Classroom add-on?
Only if your customers are on Classroom and asking. It is a separate integration against a proprietary API with its own edition requirements, so treat it as a second project rather than an extension of your LTI® work.
Next
- Tool, platform, provider, consumer — why the direction matters
- LTI® or an LMS API? — the same trade-off in general
- What is LTI® 1.3?
