Canva MCP: create, find and export designs from your AI app

Connect Canva to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

1. 1Click Connect Canva free and sign in with your Canva account.
2. 2All tools are on when you connect, and the full list appears then. Keep design creation, search and export; switch off the tools that delete assets or remove folders, since both send content to Canva's trash.
3. 3Add ContextGate to your AI app as a connector or MCP server. The steps for each app are on the Works with page.
4. 4Ask your AI app to find your Canva designs for a product launch and start an export of the newest one, then open Activity to see both calls.

Design tasks Claude or ChatGPT can run in Canva

• Create a new Canva design from a preset or custom dimensions, optionally with an asset from your projects.
• Search your designs, including ones shared with you, and get a design's owner, edit and view links and thumbnail.
• Export a design in the format you need and get download links for its pages.
• Organize your projects: create folders, list what's in them and move items between folders.
• Comment on a design or reply to an existing comment.

Guardrails for your Canva projects

• Switch off the delete tools for assets and folders; your AI app won't see them, and a call to one is refused.
• Brand templates and autofill need Canva Enterprise, so switch those tools off if your team doesn't have it.
• Activity keeps a record of every Canva call, so you can see which designs an AI app created, exported or moved.

What you get with Canva and ContextGate

• Your AI apps can use CanvaClaude, Cursor, ChatGPT and other AI apps reach Canva through the one ContextGate connection you add to them.
• You choose which tools they can useSwitch off any Canva tool you don't want used. It's hidden from your AI apps and refused if called.
• Every call is checked and recordedYour policies check each call (for example, personal data is hidden and secrets are blocked), and Activity keeps a record of it.

ContextGate sees only the tool calls that go through it, not your AI app's built-in tools or your chats.

Canva tools

Examples of what your AI apps can do in Canva. You'll see the exact list of tools after you connect it.

• Revoke oauth tokensRevoke a refresh token to end its lineage and user consent, requiring re-authentication. authenticate using either basic access with base64-encoded credentials or body parameters with client id and se
• Access user specific brand templates listThis year, brand template ids will change; integrations storing them must update within 6 months. also, api use requires canva enterprise membership.
• Create canva design with optional assetCreate a new canva design using a preset or custom dimensions, and add an asset with `asset id` from a user's project using relevant apis.
• Create comment reply in designThis preview api allows replying to comments within a design on canva, with a limit of 100 replies per comment. users should note potential unannounced changes, and that preview apis are not eligible
• Create design comment in preview apiThis api is in preview and may change without notice; integrations using it won't pass review. it allows creating comments on a design, with a limit of 1000 comments per design.
• Create user or sub folderThis api creates a folder in a canva user's projects at the top level or within another folder, returning the new folder's id and additional details upon success.
• Delete asset by idYou can delete an asset by specifying its `assetid`. this operation mirrors the behavior in the canva ui. deleting an item moves it to the trash. deleting an asset doesn't remove it from designs that
• Exchange oauth 2 0 access or refresh tokenThe oauth 2.0 endpoint issues time-limited (4-hour) access tokens of up to 4kb for user authorization via codes or refresh tokens. it requires client id/secret for authentication.
• Fetch asset upload job statusSummarize asset upload outcome by repeatedly calling the endpoint until a 'success' or 'failed' status is received after using the create asset upload job api.
• Fetch canva connect signing public keysThe api for verifying canva webhooks, 'connect/keys,' is in preview, meaning unstable, not for public integrations, and provides a rotating jwk for signature verification to prevent replay attacks. ca
• Fetch current user detailsReturns the user id, team id, and display name of the user account associated with the provided access token.
• Fetch design metadata and access informationGets the metadata for a design. this includes owner information, urls for editing and viewing, and thumbnail information.
• Get design export job resultGet the outcome of a canva design export job; if done, receive download links for the design’s pages. for details, visit the create design export job api documentation.
• Initiate canva design autofill jobUpcoming brand template id updates require migration within 6 months. canva enterprise users can auto-fill designs using various data types, including experimental chart data. monitor jobs with specif
• Initiates canva design export jobCanva's new job feature exports designs in multiple formats using a design id, with provided download links. the export status can be tracked via an api. exports with 'pro' quality may fail if the des
• List design pages with paginationPreview api for canva: subject to unannounced changes and not for public integrations. lists metadata for design pages with optional `offset` and `limit`; not applicable to all design types.
• List folder items by type with sortingLists the items in a folder, including each item's `type`. folders can contain: - other folders. - designs, such as instagram posts, presentations, and documents ([canva docs](https://www.canva.com/cr
• List User DesignsProvides a summary of canva user designs, includes search filtering, and allows showing both self-created and shared designs with sorting options.
• Move item to specified folderTransfers an item to a different folder by specifying both the destination folder's id and the item's id. if the item is in various folders, an error occurs; manual relocation via canva ui is required
• Remove folder and move contents to trashDeletes a folder by moving the user's content to trash and reassigning other users' content to their top-level projects.