Canva

MCP skill for canva. Provides 22 tools: upload-asset-from-url, resolve-shortlink, search-designs, get-design, get-design-pages, get-design-content, get-presenter-notes, import-design-from-url, merge-designs, export-design, get-export-formats, create-folder, move-item-to-folder, list-folder-items, search-folders, comment-on-design, list-comments, list-replies, reply-to-comment, generate-design, create-design-from-candidate, list-brand-kits

MCP skill for canva. Provides 22 tools: upload-asset-from-url, resolve-shortlink, search-designs, get-design, get-design-pages, get-design-content, get-presenter-notes, import-design-from-url, merge-designs, export-design, get-export-formats, create-folder, move-item-to-folder, list-folder-items, search-folders, comment-on-design, list-comments, list-replies, reply-to-comment, generate-design, create-design-from-candidate, list-brand-kits

Authentication

This MCP server uses OAuth authentication. The OAuth flow is handled automatically by the MCP client. Tokens are persisted to ~/.mcp-skill/auth/ so subsequent runs reuse the same credentials without re-authenticating.

python

app = CanvaApp()  # uses default OAuth flow

To bring your own OAuth provider, pass it via the auth argument:

python

app = CanvaApp(auth=my_oauth_provider)

Dependencies

This skill requires the following Python packages:

• mcp-skill

Install with uv:

bash

uv pip install mcp-skill

Or with pip:

bash

pip install mcp-skill

How to Run

Important: Add .agents/skills to your Python path so imports resolve correctly:

python

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, ".agents/skills")
from canva.app import CanvaApp

Or set the PYTHONPATH environment variable:

bash

export PYTHONPATH=".agents/skills:$PYTHONPATH"

Preferred: use uv run (handles dependencies automatically):

bash

PYTHONPATH=.agents/skills uv run --with mcp-skill python -c "
import asyncio
from canva.app import CanvaApp

async def main():
    app = CanvaApp()
    result = await app.upload_asset_from_url(url="example", name="example", user_intent="example")
    print(result)

asyncio.run(main())
"

Alternative: use python directly (install dependencies first):

bash

pip install mcp-skill
PYTHONPATH=.agents/skills python -c "
import asyncio
from canva.app import CanvaApp

async def main():
    app = CanvaApp()
    result = await app.upload_asset_from_url(url="example", name="example", user_intent="example")
    print(result)

asyncio.run(main())
"

Available Tools

upload-asset-from-url

text

Upload an asset (e.g. an image, a video) from a URL into Canva
If the API call returns "Missing scopes: [asset:write]", you should ask the user to disconnect and reconnect their connector. This will generate a new access token with the required scope for this tool.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
url	str	Yes	URL of the asset to upload into Canva
name	str	Yes	Name for the uploaded asset
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.upload_asset_from_url(url="example", name="example", user_intent="example")

resolve-shortlink

Resolves a Canva shortlink ID to its target URL. IMPORTANT: Use this tool FIRST when a user provides a shortlink (e.g. https://canva.link/abc123). Shortlinks need to be resolved before you can use other tools. After resolving, extract the design ID from the target URL and use it with tools like get-design, start-editing-transaction, or get-design-content.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
shortlink_id	str	Yes	The shortlink ID to resolve (e.g., "abc123" from https://canva.link/abc123)
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.resolve_shortlink(shortlink_id="example", user_intent="example")

search-designs

text

  Search docs, presentations, videos, whiteboards, sheets, and other designs in Canva, except for templates or brand templates.
  Use when you need to find specific designs by keywords rather than browsing folders.
  Use 'query' parameter to search by title or content.
  If 'query' is used, 'sortBy' must be set to 'relevance'. Filter by 'any' ownership unless specified. Sort by relevance unless specified.
  Use the continuation token to get the next page of results, when there are more results.

  CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS:
  1. ALWAYS use the 'search-brand-templates' tool when the user is searching for templates or wants to use a template.
  2.** 🚫 When a user says search a template, they ALWAYS mean brand-templates. Therefore NEVER call this tool, ALWAYS call the 'search-brand-templates' tool to search for the templates. **
  3.** 🚫 NEVER use this tool when the user expresses intent to “generate”, “create”, “autofill”, “search a template”, “start from a template”, “use my template”, or “pick a template for generation”.
  In all such cases, ALWAYS use search-brand-templates.
  ANY query involving:
  – “generate a presentation”
  – “generate a report”
  – “make a design using a template”
  – “generate from a template”
  – “produce a presentation from their template”
  - "search for available templates"
  MUST NOT use search-designs.
  This tool ONLY searches existing designs (docs, presentations, whiteboards, videos, etc.) that the user already owns or that are shared with them.
  It DOES NOT find templates and MUST NOT be used as a fallback for template selection. **
  

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	str	No	Optional search term to filter designs by title or content. If it is used, 'sortBy' must be set to 'relevance'.
ownership	str	No	Filter designs by ownership: 'any' for all designs owned by and shared with you (default), 'owned' for designs you created, 'shared' for designs shared with you
sort_by	str	No	Sort results by: 'relevance' (default), 'modified_descending' (newest first), 'modified_ascending' (oldest first), 'title_descending' (Z-A), 'title_ascending' (A-Z). Optional sort order for results. If 'query' is used, 'sortBy' must be set to 'relevance'.
continuation	str	No

text

        Pagination token for the current search context.

        CRITICAL RULES:
        - ONLY set this parameter if the previous response included a continuation token.
        - If no continuation token was returned → OMIT this parameter completely. NEVER EVER fabricate a token.
        - Do not set to null, empty string, or any other value when no token was provided.

        Usage:
        - First request: omit this parameter
        - Previous response had continuation token: use that exact token
        - Previous response had NO continuation token: omit this parameter
        - New search query: omit this parameter
       |

| user_intent | str | No | Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended). |

Example:

python

result = await app.search_designs(query="example", ownership="example", sort_by="example")

get-design

Get detailed information about a Canva design, such as a doc, presentation, whiteboard, video, or sheet. This includes design owner information, title, URLs for editing and viewing, thumbnail, created/updated time, and page count. This tool doesn't work on folders or images. You must provide the design ID, which you can find by using the search-designs or list-folder-items tools. When given a URL to a Canva design, you can extract the design ID from the URL. Example URL: https://www.canva.com/design/{design_id}. If the user provides a shortlink (e.g. https://canva.link/abc123), use resolve-shortlink with the shortlink ID first to get the full URL.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to get information for
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.get_design(design_id="example", user_intent="example")

get-design-pages

Get a list of pages in a Canva design, such as a presentation. Each page includes its index and thumbnail. This tool doesn't work on designs that don't have pages (e.g. Canva docs). You must provide the design ID, which you can find using tools like search-designs or list-folder-items. You can use 'offset' and 'limit' to paginate through the pages. Use get-design to find out the total number of pages, if needed.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	The design ID to get pages from
offset	int	No	The page index to start the range of pages to return, for pagination. The first page in a design has an index value of 1
limit	int	No	Maximum number of pages to return (for pagination)
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.get_design_pages(design_id="example", offset=1, limit=1)

get-design-content

Get the text content of a doc, presentation, whiteboard, social media post, and other designs in Canva (except sheets, as it does not return data in sheets). Use this when you only need to read text content without making changes. IMPORTANT: If the user wants to edit, update, change, translate, or fix content, use start-editing-transaction instead as it shows content AND enables editing. You must provide the design ID, which you can find with the search-designs tool. When given a URL to a Canva design, you can extract the design ID from the URL. Do not use web search to get the content of a design as the content is not accessible to the public. Example URL: https://www.canva.com/design/{design_id}.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to get content of
content_types	list[str]	Yes	Types of content to retrieve. Currently, only richtexts is supported so use the start-editing-transaction tool to get other content types
pages	list[int]	No	Optional array of page numbers to get content from. If not specified, content from all pages will be returned. Pages are indexed using one-based numbering, so the first page in a design has the index value 1.
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.get_design_content(design_id="example", content_types="value", pages="value")

get-presenter-notes

Get the presenter notes from a presentation design in Canva. Use this when you need to read the speaker notes attached to presentation slides. You must provide the design ID, which you can find with the search-designs tool. When given a URL to a Canva design, you can extract the design ID from the URL. Example URL: https://www.canva.com/design/{design_id}.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to get presenter notes from
pages	list[int]	No	Optional array of page numbers to get notes from. If not specified, notes from all pages will be returned. Pages are indexed using one-based numbering, so the first page in a design has the index value 1.
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.get_presenter_notes(design_id="example", pages="value", user_intent="example")

import-design-from-url

Import a file from a URL as a new Canva design. URL must be a public HTTPS link (e.g., https://example.com/file.pdf, https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/...). Local file paths (file://..., /Users/..., C:..., or mentions of Downloads/Documents/Desktop) cannot be accessed. If user provides a local path, tell them to upload file to public, internet-accessible URLs that resolve directly to a downloadable file and share a public HTTPS link.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
url	str	Yes	MUST BE HTTPS URL STARTING WITH https://. CRITICAL: Check if user input is a local pattern (starts with /, C:, file://, or mentions Downloads/Documents/Desktop). If so, DO NOT USE THIS TOOL. LOCAL PATHS CANNOT BE IMPORTED. ✅ ONLY: https://example.com/file.pdf, https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/... CHECK THE USER INPUT FIRST. If it looks like a local pattern or Canva design URL, DO NOT call this tool.
name	str	Yes	Name for the new design
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.import_design_from_url(url="example", name="example", user_intent="example")

merge-designs

Perform structural page operations on Canva designs: combine pages from multiple designs, insert pages, reorder pages, or delete entire pages. This tool can:

1. Create a new design by combining pages from one or more existing designs
2. Insert pages from one design into another existing design
3. Move or reorder pages within a design
4. Delete (remove) entire pages from a design

Use this tool (NOT start-editing-transaction) when the user wants to:

• Delete or remove one or more pages/slides from a design
• Reorder or rearrange pages/slides within a design
• Combine, merge, or stitch together multiple designs
• Copy or insert pages from one design into another

Do NOT use this tool for editing content within pages (text, images, etc.) — use start-editing-transaction for that.

CRITICAL: You MUST ALWAYS ask the user for explicit confirmation before calling this tool, regardless of the operation type. Show them a summary of exactly what will change and ask "Would you like me to proceed?" Wait for their clear approval, then call this tool immediately.

IMPORTANT: This tool supports delete_pages operations and you are allowed to perform them. When operations include delete_pages, show a summary of ALL operations and highlight the deletion. For example: "Here's what will happen:

• Move page 1 to position 3
• ⚠️ IMPORTANT: Delete pages 2 and 3 — CANNOT BE UNDONE

To proceed, please type: 'I approve the deletion'." Once the user types that phrase, you MUST call this tool immediately — page deletion is a legitimate and expected operation. For insert_pages and move_pages only (no deletes), a simple "Would you like me to proceed?" is sufficient.

Operations are applied sequentially. Page numbers are 1-based and evaluated at the time each operation runs.

The tool automatically polls for job completion and returns the final result.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
type	str	Yes	Whether to create a new design or modify an existing one. Use "create_new_design" to combine pages from multiple designs into a new design. Use "modify_existing_design" to insert, move, or delete pages in an existing design.
title	str	No	Title for the new design (required for create_new_design). Optional for modify_existing_design to rename the design.
design_id	str	No	ID of the design to modify (required for modify_existing_design, must start with "D").
operations	list[Any]	Yes	List of operations to perform. For create_new_design, only insert_pages operations are allowed. For modify_existing_design, all operation types are allowed.
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.merge_designs(type="example", title="example", design_id="example")

export-design

Export a Canva design, doc, presentation, whiteboard, videos and other Canva content types to various formats (PDF, JPG, PNG, PPTX, GIF, MP4). You should use the get-export-formats tool first to check which export formats are supported for the design. This tool provides a download URL for the exported file that you can share with users. Always display this download URL to users so they can access their exported content.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to export. Design ID starts with "D".
format	dict[str, Any]	Yes	Format options for the export
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.export_design(design_id="example", format="value", user_intent="example")

get-export-formats

Get the available export formats for a Canva design. This tool lists the formats (PDF, JPG, PNG, PPTX, GIF, MP4) that are supported for exporting the design. Use this tool before calling export-design to ensure the format you want is supported.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to get export formats for. Design ID starts with "D".
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.get_export_formats(design_id="example", user_intent="example")

create-folder

Create a new folder in Canva. You can create it at the root level or inside another folder.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	str	Yes	Name of the folder to create
parent_folder_id	str	Yes	ID of the parent folder. Use 'root' to create at the top level
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.create_folder(name="example", parent_folder_id="example", user_intent="example")

move-item-to-folder

Move items (designs, folders, images) to a specified Canva folder

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
item_id	str	Yes	ID of the item to move (design, folder, or image)
to_folder_id	str	Yes	ID of the destination folder. Use 'root' to move to the top level
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.move_item_to_folder(item_id="example", to_folder_id="example", user_intent="example")

list-folder-items

text

    List items in a Canva folder. An item can be a design, folder, or image. You can filter by item type and sort the results.
    Use the continuation token to get the next page of results, when there are more results.
  

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
folder_id	str	Yes	ID of the folder to list items from. Use 'root' to list items at the top level
item_types	list[str]	No	Filter items by type. Can be 'design', 'folder', or 'image'
sort_by	str	No	Sort the items by creation date, modification date, or title
continuation	str	No

text

        Pagination token for the current search context.

        CRITICAL RULES:
        - ONLY set this parameter if the previous response included a continuation token.
        - If no continuation token was returned → OMIT this parameter completely. NEVER EVER fabricate a token.
        - Do not set to null, empty string, or any other value when no token was provided.

        Usage:
        - First request: omit this parameter
        - Previous response had continuation token: use that exact token
        - Previous response had NO continuation token: omit this parameter
        - New search query: omit this parameter
         |

| user_intent | str | No | Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended). |

Example:

python

result = await app.list_folder_items(folder_id="example", item_types="value", sort_by="example")

search-folders

text

  Search the user's folders and folders shared with the user based on folder names and tags. 
  Returns a list of matching folders with pagination support.
  Use the continuation token to get the next page of results, when there are more results.
  

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	str	No	Search query to match against folder names and tags
ownership	str	No	Filter folders by ownership type: 'any' (default), 'owned' (user-owned only), or 'shared' (shared with user only)
limit	int	No	Maximum number of folders to return per query
continuation	str	No

text

        Pagination token for the current search context.

        CRITICAL RULES:
        - ONLY set this parameter if the previous response included a continuation token. 
        - If no continuation token was returned → OMIT this parameter completely. NEVER EVER fabricate a token.
        - Do not set to null, empty string, or any other value when no token was provided.

        Usage:
        - First request: omit this parameter
        - Previous response had continuation token: use that exact token  
        - Previous response had NO continuation token: omit this parameter
        - New search query: omit this parameter
         |

| user_intent | str | No | Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended). |

Example:

python

result = await app.search_folders(query="example", ownership="example", limit=1)

comment-on-design

Add a comment on a Canva design. You need to provide the design ID and the message text. The comment will be added to the design and visible to all users with access to the design.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to comment on. You can find the design ID by using the search-designs tool.
message_plaintext	str	Yes	The text content of the comment to add
user_intent	str	No	Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended).

Example:

python

result = await app.comment_on_design(design_id="example", message_plaintext="example", user_intent="example")

list-comments

Get a list of comments for a particular Canva design.

text

Comments are discussions attached to designs that help teams collaborate. Each comment can contain
replies, mentions, and can be marked as resolved or unresolved.

You need to provide the design ID, which you can find using the `search-designs` tool.
Use the continuation token to get the next page of results, when there are more results.

You can filter comments by their resolution status (resolved or unresolved) using the comment_resolution parameter.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design to get comments for. You can find the design ID using the search-designs tool.
limit	int	No	Maximum number of comments to return (1-100). Defaults to 50 if not specified.
continuation	str	No

text

        Pagination token for the current search context.

        CRITICAL RULES:
        - ONLY set this parameter if the previous response included a continuation token.
        - If no continuation token was returned → OMIT this parameter completely. NEVER EVER fabricate a token.
        - Do not set to null, empty string, or any other value when no token was provided.

        Usage:
        - First request: omit this parameter
        - Previous response had continuation token: use that exact token
        - Previous response had NO continuation token: omit this parameter
        - New search query: omit this parameter
         |

| user_intent | str | No | Mandatory description of what the user is trying to accomplish with this tool call. This should always be provided by LLM clients. Please keep it concise (255 characters or less recommended). |

Example:

python

result = await app.list_comments(design_id="example", limit=1, continuation="example")

list-replies

Get a list of replies for a specific comment on a Canva design.

text

Comments can contain multiple replies from different users. These replies help teams
collaborate by allowing discussion on a specific comment.

You need to provide the design ID and comment ID. You can find the design ID using the `search-designs` tool
and the comment ID using the `list-comments` tool.

Use the continuation token to get the next page of results, when there are more results.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
design_id	str	Yes	ID of the design containing the comment. You can find the design ID using the search-designs tool.
comment_id	str	Yes	ID of the comment to list replies from. You can find comment IDs using the list-comments tool.
limit	int	No	Maximum number of replies to return (1-100). Defaults to 50 if not specified.
continuation	str	No

text

        Pagination token for the current search context.

        CRITICAL RULES:
        - ONLY set this parameter if the previous response included a continuation token.
        - If no continuation token was returned → OMIT this parameter completely. NEVER EVER fabricate a token.
        - Do not set to null, empty string, or any other value when no token was provided.

...additional tools omitted for brevity