Agent Skills: Canva API

Canva API

Use the Canva Connect API via direct curl calls to manage designs, folders, assets, and comments.

Official docs: https://www.canva.dev/docs/connect/

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• List and search designs in a Canva account
• Create new designs (documents, presentations, whiteboards, or custom sizes)
• Export designs as PDF, PNG, JPG, or other formats
• Upload assets (images, videos) to Canva
• Manage folders and organize designs
• Add comments to designs for collaboration
• Get user profile information

Prerequisites

Rate Limits

Canva API has per-user rate limits that vary by endpoint. Most read endpoints allow 100 requests/user, write endpoints allow 20-30 requests/user.

How to Use

All examples below assume you have CANVA_TOKEN set.

Base URL: https://api.canva.com/rest/v1

1. Get Current User Profile

Get your user profile information:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/users/me/profile" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.profile'

2. List Designs

List designs in your account:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs?limit=20" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.items[] | {id, title, created_at, updated_at}'

To search designs by query:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs?query=marketing&limit=10" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.items[] | {id, title}'

Save a design ID from the results for use in subsequent commands.

3. Get Design Details

Get metadata for a specific design. Replace <design-id> with an actual design ID:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs/<design-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.design | {id, title, owner, urls, created_at, updated_at, page_count}'

4. Create a New Design

Create a new document:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "design_type": {
    "type": "preset",
    "name": "doc"
  },
  "title": "My New Document"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.design | {id, title, urls}'

Preset names: doc, presentation, whiteboard

To create a design with custom dimensions (in pixels, 40-8000):

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "design_type": {
    "type": "custom",
    "width": 1080,
    "height": 1080
  },
  "title": "Instagram Post"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.design | {id, title, urls}'

5. Export Design as PDF

Export a design as PDF. Replace <design-id> with an actual design ID:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "design_id": "<design-id>",
  "format": {
    "type": "pdf",
    "size": "a4"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/exports" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '{id: .job.id, status: .job.status}'

Then poll for completion. Replace <export-id> with the job ID from above:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/exports/<export-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '{status: .job.status, urls: .job.urls}'

When status is success, download URLs are valid for 24 hours.

6. Export Design as PNG

Export a design as PNG. Replace <design-id> with an actual design ID:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "design_id": "<design-id>",
  "format": {
    "type": "png",
    "width": 1024,
    "transparent_background": true
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/exports" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '{id: .job.id, status: .job.status}'

Poll with the same export status endpoint as above.

7. List Design Pages

Get all pages of a design. Replace <design-id> with an actual design ID:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs/<design-id>/pages" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.items[] | {index: .index, title: .title, width: .width, height: .height}'

8. Create a Folder

Create a new folder to organize designs:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "name": "Marketing Assets",
  "parent_folder_id": "root"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/folders" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.folder | {id, name}'

9. List Folder Items

List items in a folder. Replace <folder-id> with an actual folder ID:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/folders/<folder-id>/items?limit=20" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.items[] | {type, id: .design.id // .folder.id, name: .design.title // .folder.name}'

10. Move Item to Folder

Move a design or folder to another folder. Replace <item-id> and <target-folder-id>:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "item_id": "<item-id>",
  "to": {
    "folder_id": "<target-folder-id>"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/folders/move" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json

11. Get Asset Details

Get metadata for an uploaded asset. Replace <asset-id> with an actual asset ID:

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/assets/<asset-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.asset | {id, name, tags, created_at, updated_at, thumbnail}'

12. Update Asset

Update an asset's name and tags. Replace <asset-id> with an actual asset ID:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "name": "Updated Logo",
  "tags": ["logo", "brand", "2025"]
}

Then run:

curl -s -X PATCH "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/assets/<asset-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.asset | {id, name, tags}'

13. Delete Asset

Delete an asset (moves to trash). Replace <asset-id> with an actual asset ID:

curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/assets/<asset-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)"

14. Create Comment Thread

Add a comment to a design. Replace <design-id>:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "message": "Can we adjust the colors here to match the brand guidelines?",
  "attached_to": {
    "type": "design"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs/<design-id>/comments" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.thread | {id, message}'

15. Reply to Comment Thread

Reply to an existing comment thread. Replace <design-id> and <thread-id>:

Write to /tmp/canva_request.json:

{
  "message": "Updated the colors. Please review."
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs/<design-id>/comments/<thread-id>/replies" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/canva_request.json | jq '.reply | {id, message}'

16. List Brand Templates

List available brand templates (requires Canva Enterprise):

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/brand-templates?limit=20" --header "Authorization: Bearer $(printenv CANVA_TOKEN)" | jq '.items[] | {id, title, created_at}'

Guidelines

• Async jobs: Export, import, upload, autofill, and resize operations are asynchronous. Start the job with POST, then poll the status with GET using the returned job ID until status is success or failed.
• Pagination: List endpoints return a continuation token. Pass it as a query parameter to get the next page of results.
• Design URLs: The urls.edit_url and urls.view_url fields in design responses are valid for 30 days.
• Export URLs: Download URLs from export jobs are valid for 24 hours.
• Custom dimensions: Width and height must be between 40 and 8000 pixels.
• Asset uploads: For binary file uploads, use Content-Type: application/octet-stream with an Asset-Upload-Metadata header containing base64-encoded name.
• Rate limits: Read endpoints: ~100 req/user. Write endpoints: ~20-30 req/user. Export polling: ~120 req/user.