# History

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Welcome to Our New API Docs!** This is the new home for all things API (previously at [Canvas LMS REST API Documentation](https://api.instructure.com)).
{% endhint %}

## History API

**A HistoryEntry object looks like:**

```js
// Information about a recently visited item or page in Canvas
{
  // The asset string for the item viewed
  "asset_code": "assignment_123",
  // The name of the item
  "asset_name": "Test Assignment",
  // The icon type shown for the item. One of 'icon-announcement',
  // 'icon-assignment', 'icon-calendar-month', 'icon-discussion', 'icon-document',
  // 'icon-download', 'icon-gradebook', 'icon-home', 'icon-message',
  // 'icon-module', 'icon-outcomes', 'icon-quiz', 'icon-user', 'icon-syllabus'
  "asset_icon": "icon-assignment",
  // The associated category describing the asset_icon
  "asset_readable_category": "Assignment",
  // The type of context of the item visited. One of 'Course', 'Group', 'User', or
  // 'Account'
  "context_type": "Course",
  // The id of the context, if applicable
  "context_id": 123,
  // The name of the context
  "context_name": "Something 101",
  // The URL of the item
  "visited_url": "https://canvas.example.com/courses/123/assignments/456",
  // When the page was visited
  "visited_at": "2019-08-01T19:49:47Z",
  // The estimated time spent on the page in seconds
  "interaction_seconds": 400
}
```

### [List recent history for a user](#method.history.index) <a href="#method.history.index" id="method.history.index"></a>

[HistoryController#index](https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms/blob/master/app/controllers/history_controller.rb)

**`GET /api/v1/users/:user_id/history`**

**Scope:** `url:GET|/api/v1/users/:user_id/history`

Return a paginated list of the user’s recent history. History entries are returned in descending order, newest to oldest. You may list history entries for yourself (use `self` as the user\_id), for a student you observe, or for a user you manage as an administrator. Note that the `per_page` pagination argument is not supported and the number of history entries returned per page will vary.

Returns a list of [HistoryEntry](#historyentry) objects.

***

This documentation is generated directly from the Canvas LMS source code, available [on Github](https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms).


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://developerdocs.instructure.com/services/canvas/resources/history.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.