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

# 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

## 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


    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


      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 | 
            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`