How to integrate Canva MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6

This guide walks you through connecting Canva to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Canva agent that can create a new instagram post design, list your brand templates for social use, start a folder for this project’s assets through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Canva account through Composio's Canva MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Canva is a drag-and-drop design suite for creating professional graphics, presentations, and marketing materials. It makes it easy for anyone to design with beautiful templates and a vast library of elements.

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Canva to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Canva agent that can create a new instagram post design, list your brand templates for social use, start a folder for this project’s assets through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Canva account through Composio's Canva MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Canva with

ChatGPTOpenAI Agents SDKClaude Agent SDKClaude CodeClaude CoworkCodexOpenCodeCursorVS CodeOpenClawHermesCLIGoogle ADKLangChainMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAI

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • How to set up and configure a Vercel AI SDK agent with Canva integration
  • Using Composio's Tool Router to dynamically load and access Canva tools
  • Creating an MCP client connection using HTTP transport
  • Building an interactive CLI chat interface with conversation history management
  • Handling tool calls and results within the Vercel AI SDK framework

What is Vercel AI SDK?

The Vercel AI SDK is a TypeScript library for building AI-powered applications. It provides tools for creating agents that can use external services and maintain conversation state.

Key features include:

  • streamText: Core function for streaming responses with real-time tool support
  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol via @ai-sdk/mcp
  • Step Counting: Control multi-step tool execution with stopWhen: stepCountIs()
  • OpenAI Provider: Native integration with OpenAI models

What is the Canva MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Canva MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Canva account. It provides structured and secure access to your Canva designs, templates, folders, assets, and user details, so your agent can create designs, organize projects, manage assets, and collaborate on feedback for you.

  • Automated design creation and asset integration: Direct your agent to generate new Canva designs using templates or custom dimensions, and add assets from your projects automatically.
  • Seamless folder and project organization: Have the agent create user or subfolders to keep your Canva projects structured and easily accessible.
  • Asset management and cleanup: Let your agent fetch upload statuses, manage, or delete assets by ID, helping you keep your design library up to date.
  • Collaborative design feedback: Empower your agent to add comments or reply within designs, making it easy to facilitate feedback and teamwork directly in Canva.
  • User and team information retrieval: Quickly obtain user or team details, allowing your agent to personalize interactions and automate workflows based on your Canva account info.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:
  • Node.js and npm installed
  • A Composio account with API key
  • An OpenAI API key
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install required dependencies

bash
npm install @ai-sdk/openai @ai-sdk/mcp @composio/core ai dotenv

First, install the necessary packages for your project.

What you're installing:

  • @ai-sdk/openai: Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider
  • @ai-sdk/mcp: MCP client for Vercel AI SDK
  • @composio/core: Composio SDK for tool integration
  • ai: Core Vercel AI SDK
  • dotenv: Environment variable management
4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's needed:

  • OPENAI_API_KEY: Your OpenAI API key for GPT model access
  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY: Your Composio API key for tool access
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID: A unique identifier for the user session
5

Import required modules and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider and Composio
  • The dotenv/config import automatically loads environment variables
  • The MCP client import enables connection to Composio's tool server
6

Create Tool Router session and initialize MCP client

typescript
async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["canva"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Canva tools
  • The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
  • The returned mcp object contains the URL and authentication headers needed to connect to the MCP server
  • This session provides access to all Canva-related tools through the MCP protocol
7

Connect to MCP server and retrieve tools

typescript
const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
  transport: {
    type: "http",
    url: mcpUrl,
    headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
  },
});

const tools = await mcpClient.tools();
What's happening:
  • We're creating an MCP client that connects to our Composio Tool Router session via HTTP
  • The mcp.url provides the endpoint, and mcp.headers contains authentication credentials
  • The type: "http" is important - Composio requires HTTP transport
  • tools() retrieves all available Canva tools that the agent can use
8

Initialize conversation and CLI interface

typescript
let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
console.log(
  "Ask any questions related to canva, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
);

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();
What's happening:
  • We initialize an empty messages array to maintain conversation history
  • A readline interface is created to accept user input from the command line
  • Instructions are displayed to guide the user on how to interact with the agent
9

Handle user input and stream responses with real-time tool feedback

typescript
rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const stream = streamText({
      model: openai("gpt-5"),
      messages,
      tools,
      toolChoice: "auto",
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
      onStepFinish: (step) => {
        for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
          console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • We use streamText instead of generateText to stream responses in real-time
  • toolChoice: "auto" allows the model to decide when to use Canva tools
  • stopWhen: stepCountIs(10) allows up to 10 steps for complex multi-tool operations
  • onStepFinish callback displays which tools are being used in real-time
  • We iterate through the text stream to create a typewriter effect as the agent responds
  • The complete response is added to conversation history to maintain context
  • Errors are caught and displayed with helpful retry suggestions

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Canva and Vercel AI SDK:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});

async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["canva"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
    transport: {
      type: "http",
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
    },
  });

  const tools = await mcpClient.tools();

  let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

  console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
  console.log(
    "Ask any questions related to canva, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
  );

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
    const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

    if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log("\nGoodbye!");
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!trimmedInput) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
    console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

    try {
      const stream = streamText({
        model: openai("gpt-5"),
        messages,
        tools,
        toolChoice: "auto",
        stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
        onStepFinish: (step) => {
          for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
            console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Canva agent using the Vercel AI SDK with streaming capabilities! This implementation provides a powerful foundation for building AI applications with natural language interfaces and real-time feedback.

Key features of this implementation:

  • Real-time streaming responses for a better user experience with typewriter effect
  • Live tool execution feedback showing which tools are being used as the agent works
  • Dynamic tool loading through Composio's Tool Router with secure authentication
  • Multi-step tool execution with configurable step limits (up to 10 steps)
  • Comprehensive error handling for robust agent execution
  • Conversation history maintenance for context-aware responses

You can extend this further by adding custom error handling, implementing specific business logic, or integrating additional Composio toolkits to create multi-app workflows.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Canva action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Access user specific brand templates list

Lists brand templates available to the user (Canva Enterprise only).

Create Asset Upload Job

Uploads an asset file to the user's Canva content library.

Create comment reply in design

This preview API allows replying to comments within a design on Canva, with a limit of 100 replies per comment.

Create design comment in preview api

Creates a new comment thread on a Canva design.

Create Design Import Job

Imports an external file as a new Canva design.

Create Design Resize Job

Creates a resized copy of an existing design (Canva Pro/Enterprise only).

Create URL Asset Upload Job

Tool to create an asynchronous Canva asset import job from a public URL.

Delete asset by id

You can delete an asset by specifying its `assetId`.

Exchange oauth 2 0 access or refresh token

The OAuth 2.

Fetch asset upload job status

Polls for asset upload job completion status.

Fetch canva connect signing public keys

The 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.

Fetch current user details

Returns the User ID, Team ID, and display name of the user account associated with the provided access token.

Fetch design metadata and access information

Gets the metadata for a design.

Get design comment thread replies

Retrieves a list of replies for a comment or suggestion thread on a design.

Get specific design comment reply

Retrieves a specific reply to a comment or suggestion thread on a design.

Get design export job result

Polls for design export job completion status.

Get designs designid comments threadid

Retrieves metadata for a comment or suggestion thread on a design.

Get design export formats

Lists available file formats for exporting a design.

Get URL asset upload job status

Tool to retrieve the status and result of a URL-based asset upload job.

Get URL import job status

Polls for URL import job completion status.

Get user capabilities

Lists the API capabilities for the user account associated with the provided access token.

Initiate canva design autofill job

Upcoming brand template ID updates require migration within 6 months.

List design pages with pagination

Preview API for Canva: subject to unannounced changes and not for public integrations.

List folder items by type with sorting

Lists the items in a folder, including each item's `type`.

List User Designs

Provides 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 folder

Transfers an item to a different folder by specifying both the destination folder's ID and the item's ID.

Create new Canva design

Creates a new Canva design with preset type or custom dimensions.

Post designs designid comments

Creates a comment thread on a Canva design.

Create reply to comment thread

Tool to create a reply to a comment or suggestion thread on a Canva design.

Start design export job

Starts a new asynchronous job to export a Canva design file.

Create folder

Tool to create a folder in Canva.

Create URL Import Job

Tool to start an asynchronous job to import an external file from a URL as a new design in Canva.

Remove folder and move contents to trash

Deletes a folder by moving the user's content to Trash and reassigning other users' content to their top-level projects.

Retrieve app public key set

Returns the Json Web Key Set (public keys) of an app.

Retrieve asset metadata by id

You can retrieve the metadata of an asset by specifying its `assetId`.

Retrieve brand template dataset definition

Canva's brand template IDs will change later this year, including a 6-month integration migration.

Retrieve canva enterprise brand template metadata

Upcoming update will change brand template IDs; integrations must migrate within 6 months.

Retrieve design autofill job status

API users with Canva Enterprise membership can retrieve design autofill job results, potentially requiring multiple requests until a `success` or `failed` status is received.

Retrieve design import job status

Polls for design import job completion status.

Retrieve Design Resize Job Status

Retrieves the status and results of a design resize job.

Retrieve folder details by id

Gets the name and other details of a folder using a folder's `folderID`.

Retrieveuserprofiledata

Currently, this returns the display name of the user account associated with the provided access token.

Revoke oauth tokens

Revoke a refresh token to end its lineage and user consent, requiring re-authentication.

Update asset s name and tags by id

You can update the name and tags of an asset by specifying its `assetId`.

Update folder details by id

Updates a folder's details using its `folderID`.

Validate oauth token properties

Check an access token's validity and properties via introspection, requiring authentication.

FRAMEWORKS

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Claude Cowork

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Codex logo

Codex

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Cursor logo

Cursor

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OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

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Hermes logo

Hermes

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CLI logo

CLI

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Google ADK logo

Google ADK

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LangChain logo

LangChain

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Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

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LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

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CrewAI logo

CrewAI

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OpenCode logo

OpenCode

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VS Code logo

VS Code

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Canva MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Canva tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Canva and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Vercel AI SDK v6 fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Canva tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Canva scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Canva data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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Karan skipped his own birthday party to fix our critical issue. It was 10pm and he diverted his Waymo to help us instead. This really sets the bar — it shows the commitment you need when users rely on your software.

Harsha Gaddipati
Harsha Gaddipati
Co-founder, Slashy

A lot of students tell us that the moment their connected tools start talking to each other inside Opennote feels almost magical. The agent just knows them, and it's immensely helped keep new users on the platform.

Abhi Arya
Abhi Arya
Co-founder, Opennote

We chose Composio over Pipedream because it delivered depth where it mattered — niche tools and tricky edge cases other platforms simply ignored. That gave us confidence to scale without compromising.

Nirman Dave
Nirman Dave
CEO, Zams

As a solo builder, shipping fast is life or death. The only way I can outcompete incumbents is by outmanoeuvring them. Getting bogged down managing agent auth would have been a death sentence.

Ryan Yu
Ryan Yu
Founder, Extra Thursday

Before Composio, adding tool integrations was slow and resource-intensive. Each one could take weeks of engineering time, and maintaining them meant constantly keeping up with API changes.

Tomisin Jenrola
Tomisin Jenrola
Founder & CEO, SwarmZero

With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

Jerome Leclanche
Jerome Leclanche
Co-Founder, Ingram Technologies