Canva Skill

Create, export, and manage Canva designs via the Connect API.

When to Use

• "Create an Instagram post about [topic]"
• "Export my Canva design as PNG"
• "List my recent designs"
• "Create a carousel from these points"
• "Upload this image to Canva"

Prerequisites

Create a Canva Integration:

- Go to
- Create a new integration
- Get your Client ID and Client Secret

Set Environment Variables:

export CANVA_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
   export CANVA_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"

Authenticate (first time):

Run the auth flow to get access tokens (stored in ~/.canva/tokens.json)

API Base URL

Authentication

Canva uses OAuth 2.0. The skill handles token refresh automatically.

# Get access token (stored in ~/.canva/tokens.json)
ACCESS_TOKEN=$(cat ~/.canva/tokens.json | jq -r '.access_token')

Core Operations

List Designs

curl -s "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

Get Design Details

curl -s "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

Create Design from Template

curl -X POST "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "brand_template_id": "TEMPLATE_ID",
    "data": {
      "title": {"type": "text", "text": "Your Title"},
      "body": {"type": "text", "text": "Your body text"}
    }
  }'

Export Design

# Start export job
curl -X POST "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "design_id": "DESIGN_ID",
    "format": {"type": "png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080}
  }'

# Check export status
curl -s "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

Upload Asset

curl -X POST "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
  -H 'Asset-Upload-Metadata: {"name": "my-image.png"}' \
  --data-binary @image.png

List Brand Templates

curl -s "" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

Export Formats

Format

Options

PNG	width, height, lossless
JPG	width, height, quality (1-100)
PDF	standard, print
MP4	(for video designs)
GIF	(for animated designs)

Common Workflows

Create Instagram Post

List brand templates: GET /brand-templates

Find Instagram post template

Autofill with content: POST /autofills

Export as PNG 1080x1080: POST /exports

Download the exported file

Create Carousel

Create multiple designs using autofill

Export each as PNG

Combine for posting

Batch Export

List designs: GET /designs

Loop through and export each

Download all files

Rate Limits

• Most endpoints: 100 requests/minute
• Upload/Export: 30 requests/minute

Error Handling

Common errors:

• 401 - Token expired, refresh needed


• 403 - Missing required scope


• 429 - Rate limit exceeded


• 404 - Design/template not found

Scopes Required

• design:content:read - Read designs
• design:content:write - Create/modify designs
• asset:read - Read assets
• asset:write - Upload assets
• brandtemplate:content:read - Read brand templates

Tips

Use Brand Templates - Pre-designed templates are faster than creating from scratch

Batch Operations - Group exports to avoid rate limits

Cache Template IDs - Store commonly used template IDs locally

Check Job Status - Exports are async; poll until complete

Resources

• [Canva Connect API Docs]()
• [OpenAPI Spec]()
• [Starter Kit]()

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