Canva CLI for AI Agents

CLIs are eating MCPs. The industry is converging on the very same idea. MCPs for all their merit can be token hungry, slow, and unreliable for complex tool chaining. However, coding agents have become incredibly good at working with CLIs, and in fact they are far more comfortable working with CLI tools than MCP. With Composio's Universal CLI, your coding agents can talk to over 1000+ SaaS applications. With Canva, agents can create a new instagram post design, list your brand templates for social use, start a folder for this project’s assets, and more — all without worrying about authentication. This guide walks you through Composio Universal CLI and explains how you can connect it with coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, etc, for end-to-end Canva automation.

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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

CLIs are eating MCPs. The industry is converging on the very same idea. MCPs for all their merit can be token hungry, slow, and unreliable for complex tool chaining. However, coding agents have become incredibly good at working with CLIs, and in fact they are far more comfortable working with CLI tools than MCP.

With Composio's Universal CLI, your coding agents can talk to over 1000+ SaaS applications. With Canva, agents can create a new instagram post design, list your brand templates for social use, start a folder for this project’s assets, and more — all without worrying about authentication.

This guide walks you through Composio Universal CLI and explains how you can connect it with coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, etc, for end-to-end Canva automation.

Also integrate Canva with

ChatGPTOpenAI Agents SDKClaude Agent SDKClaude CodeClaude CoworkCodexOpenCodeCursorVS CodeOpenClawHermesGoogle ADKLangChainVercel AI SDKMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAI

What is Universal CLI and why use it?

The idea behind building the universal CLI is to give agents a single command interface to interact with all your external applications. Here's what you'll get with it:

  • Agent-friendly: Coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode can use CLI tools natively — no MCP setup required.
  • Authentication handled: Connect once via OAuth or API Key, and all CLI commands work with your credentials automatically.
  • Tool discovery: Search, inspect, and execute 20,000+ tools across 1000+ apps from one interface.
  • Trigger support: Use triggers to listen for events across your apps, powered by real-time webhooks or polling under the hood.
  • Type generation: Generate typed schemas for autocomplete and type safety in your projects.

Prerequisites

Install the Composio CLI, authenticate, and initialize your project:

bash
# Install the Composio CLI
curl -fsSL https://composio.dev/install | bash

# Authenticate with Composio
composio login

During login you'll be redirected to sign in page, finish the complete flow and you're all set.

Composio CLI authentication flow

Connecting Canva to Coding Agents via Universal CLI

Once it is installed, it's essentially done. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, or any other agent will be able to access the CLI. A few steps to give agents access to your apps.

  1. Launch your Coding Agent — Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, anything you prefer.
  2. Prompt it to "Authenticate with Canva"
  3. Complete the authentication and authorization flow and your Canva integration is all set.
  4. Start asking anything you want.

Universal CLI Commands for Canva

You can also manually execute CLI commands to interact with your Canva.

Connect your Canva account

Link your Canva account and verify the connection:

bash
# Connect your Canva account (opens OAuth flow)
composio connected-accounts link canva

# Verify the connection
composio connected-accounts list --toolkits canva

Discover Canva tools

Search and inspect available Canva tools:

bash
# List all available Canva tools
composio tools list --toolkit canva

# Search for Canva tools by action
composio tools search "canva"

# Inspect a tool's input schema
composio tools info CANVA_ACCESS_USER_SPECIFIC_BRAND_TEMPLATES_LIST

Common Canva Actions

Access user specific brand templates list — This year, brand template ids will change; integrations storing them must update within 6 months

bash
composio tools execute CANVA_ACCESS_USER_SPECIFIC_BRAND_TEMPLATES_LIST \
  --query "<string>" \
  --dataset "<string>" \
  --sort_by "<string>" \
  --ownership "<string>"

Create canva design with optional asset — Create 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

bash
composio tools execute CANVA_CREATE_CANVA_DESIGN_WITH_OPTIONAL_ASSET \
  --title "<string>" \
  --asset_id "<string>"

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

bash
composio tools execute CANVA_CREATE_COMMENT_REPLY_IN_DESIGN \
  --message "<string>" \
  --commentId "<string>"

Create design comment in preview api — This api is in preview and may change without notice; integrations using it won't pass review

bash
composio tools execute CANVA_CREATE_DESIGN_COMMENT_IN_PREVIEW_API \
  --message "<string>"

Generate Type Definitions

Generate typed schemas for Canva tools to get autocomplete and type safety in your project:

bash
# Auto-detect language
composio generate --toolkits canva

# TypeScript
composio ts generate --toolkits canva

# Python
composio py generate --toolkits canva

Tips & Tricks

  • Always inspect a tool's input schema before executing: composio tools info <TOOL_NAME>
  • Pipe output with jq for better readability: composio tools execute TOOL_NAME -d '{}' | jq
  • Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY as an environment variable for CI/CD pipelines
  • Use composio dev logs tools to inspect execution logs and debug issues

Next Steps

  • Try asking your coding agent to perform various Canva operations
  • Explore cross-app workflows by connecting more toolkits
  • Set up triggers for real-time automation
  • Use composio generate for typed schemas in your projects
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

How to build Canva MCP Agent with another framework

ChatGPT logo

ChatGPT

Use Canva MCP with ChatGPT

OpenAI Agents SDK logo

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Canva MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK logo

Claude Agent SDK

Use Canva MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Canva MCP with Claude Code

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use Canva MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex logo

Codex

Use Canva MCP with Codex

Cursor logo

Cursor

Use Canva MCP with Cursor

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Canva MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Canva MCP with Hermes

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Canva MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Canva MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK logo

Vercel AI SDK

Use Canva MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Canva MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Canva MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Canva MCP with CrewAI

OpenCode logo

OpenCode

Use Canva MCP with OpenCode

VS Code logo

VS Code

Use Canva MCP with VS Code

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The Composio Universal CLI is a single command-line interface that lets coding agents and developers interact with 1000+ SaaS applications. It handles authentication, tool discovery, action execution, and trigger setup — all from the terminal, without needing to configure MCP servers.

Any coding agent that can run shell commands works with the Composio CLI — including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, and others. Once the CLI is installed, agents automatically discover and use the composio commands to interact with Canva and other connected apps.

MCP servers require configuration and can be token-heavy for complex workflows. The CLI gives agents a direct, lightweight interface — no server setup needed. Agents simply call composio commands like any other shell tool. It's faster to set up, more reliable for multi-step tool chaining, and works natively with how coding agents already operate.

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. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials for full control.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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