Canva Skill

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

When to Use

Prerequisites

1. **Create a Canva Integration:**

- Go to https://www.canva.com/developers/

- Create a new integration

- Get your Client ID and Client Secret

2. **Set Environment Variables:**

```bash

export CANVA_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"

export CANVA_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"

```

3. **Authenticate (first time):**

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

API Base URL

```

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

```

Authentication

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

```bash

Get access token (stored in ~/.canva/tokens.json)

ACCESS_TOKEN=$(cat ~/.canva/tokens.json | jq -r '.access_token')

```

Core Operations

List Designs

```bash

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs" \

-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

```

Get Design Details

```bash

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/designs/{designId}" \

-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

```

Create Design from Template

```bash

curl -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/autofills" \

-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

```bash

Start export job

curl -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/exports" \

-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 "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/exports/{jobId}" \

-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" | jq .

```

Upload Asset

```bash

curl -X POST "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/asset-uploads" \

-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

```bash

curl -s "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/brand-templates" \

-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

1. List brand templates: `GET /brand-templates`

2. Find Instagram post template

3. Autofill with content: `POST /autofills`

4. Export as PNG 1080x1080: `POST /exports`

5. Download the exported file

Create Carousel

1. Create multiple designs using autofill

2. Export each as PNG

3. Combine for posting

Batch Export

1. List designs: `GET /designs`

2. Loop through and export each

3. Download all files

Rate Limits

Error Handling

Common errors:

Scopes Required

Tips

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

2. **Batch Operations** - Group exports to avoid rate limits

3. **Cache Template IDs** - Store commonly used template IDs locally

4. **Check Job Status** - Exports are async; poll until complete

Resources

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