Canva Webhooks & Events Skill

Canva Webhooks & Events

Overview

Receive real-time notifications from Canva via webhooks when users comment on designs, request folder access, share designs, or interact with your integration. Canva sends signed JWT payloads verified with public JWK keys.

Prerequisites

Canva integration with collaboration:event scope enabled
HTTPS endpoint accessible from the internet
JWK verification library (jose recommended)
Webhook URL configured in your integration settings

Setup

Step 1: Configure Webhooks in Canva

Go to your integration settings at canva.dev
Under Notifications, enable collaboration:event
Enter your webhook URL: https://your-app.com/webhooks/canva
Save the configuration

Step 2: Implement JWK Signature Verification

// src/canva/webhooks.ts
import { createRemoteJWKSet, jwtVerify, JWTPayload } from 'jose';

// Canva publishes public keys at this endpoint
// GET https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/connect/keys
const CANVA_JWKS = createRemoteJWKSet(
  new URL('https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/connect/keys')
);

interface CanvaWebhookPayload extends JWTPayload {
  notification_type: string;
  notification: Record<string, any>;
  timestamp: string;
  user_id: string;
  team_id: string;
}

export async function verifyCanvaWebhook(
  rawBody: string
): Promise<CanvaWebhookPayload | null> {
  try {
    const { payload } = await jwtVerify(rawBody, CANVA_JWKS, {
      issuer: 'canva',
    });
    return payload as CanvaWebhookPayload;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', error);
    return null;
  }
}

Step 3: Express Webhook Endpoint

import express from 'express';
import { verifyCanvaWebhook } from './canva/webhooks';

const app = express();

// IMPORTANT: Accept raw text body for JWT verification
app.post('/webhooks/canva',
  express.text({ type: '*/*' }),
  async (req, res) => {
    const payload = await verifyCanvaWebhook(req.body);

    if (!payload) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
    }

    // Must return 200 to acknowledge — other codes = error
    res.status(200).json({ received: true });

    // Process async to avoid timeout
    handleCanvaEvent(payload).catch(console.error);
  }
);

Step 4: Event Handler

// Canva webhook notification types
type CanvaNotificationType =
  | 'comment'                    // New comment on a design
  | 'design_access_requested'   // Someone requests design access
  | 'design_approval_requested' // Approval workflow triggered
  | 'design_approval_response'  // Approval accepted/rejected
  | 'design_mention'            // User @mentioned in a design
  | 'folder_access_requested'   // Folder access request
  | 'design_shared'             // Design shared with user
  | 'folder_shared'             // Folder shared with user
  | 'suggestion'                // Design suggestion made
  | 'team_invite'               // Team invitation
  | 'design_approval_reviewer_invalidated'; // Reviewer removed

const handlers: Record<string, (notification: any) => Promise<void>> = {
  comment: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Comment on design ${data.design_id}: ${data.message}`);
    // Sync comment to your ticketing system, Slack, etc.
  },

  design_access_requested: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Access requested for design ${data.design_id} by user ${data.requesting_user_id}`);
    // Auto-approve or notify admin
  },

  design_shared: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Design ${data.design_id} shared with permissions: ${data.permissions}`);
    // Update your access control records
  },

  folder_access_requested: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Folder access requested: ${data.folder_id}`);
  },
};

async function handleCanvaEvent(payload: CanvaWebhookPayload): Promise<void> {
  const handler = handlers[payload.notification_type];

  if (!handler) {
    console.log(`Unhandled notification type: ${payload.notification_type}`);
    return;
  }

  try {
    await handler(payload.notification);
    console.log(`Processed ${payload.notification_type} at ${payload.timestamp}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Failed to process ${payload.notification_type}:`, error);
  }
}

Required Scopes per Event Type

| Event | Required Scopes | |-------|----------------| | comment | collaboration:event, design:meta:read, comment:read | | design_access_requested | collaboration:event, design:meta:read | | design_shared | collaboration:event, design:meta:read | | folder_access_requested | collaboration:event, folder:read | | design_mention | collaboration:event, design:meta:read |

Scopes are explicit — you must enable each one individually.

Idempotency

import { Redis } from 'ioredis';

const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL);

async function processIdempotent(
  notificationId: string,
  handler: () => Promise<void>
): Promise<void> {
  const key = `canva:webhook:${notificationId}`;
  const alreadyProcessed = await redis.set(key, '1', 'EX', 604800, 'NX'); // 7 days, NX = only if not exists

  if (!alreadyProcessed) {
    console.log(`Duplicate webhook skipped: ${notificationId}`);
    return;
  }

  await handler();
}

Testing Webhooks Locally

# 1. Expose local server via ngrok
ngrok http 3000

# 2. Set the ngrok HTTPS URL in your Canva integration settings
# e.g., https://abc123.ngrok-free.app/webhooks/canva

# 3. Trigger events by commenting on a design shared with the authorized user

Error Handling

| Issue | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | 401 on webhook | JWK verification failed | Check jose library version, key URL | | No events received | Webhook URL not configured | Set URL in integration settings | | Duplicate events | No idempotency | Implement notification ID tracking | | Events delayed | Processing too slow | Return 200 immediately, process async | | Missing event types | Scopes not enabled | Enable collaboration:event + per-type scopes |

Resources

Next Steps

For performance optimization, see canva-performance-tuning.

Agent Skills: Canva Webhooks & Events

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