How to integrate Canva MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

This guide walks you through connecting Canva to the OpenAI Agents SDK 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 OpenAI Agents 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 the OpenAI Agents SDK 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 OpenAI Agents 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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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Canva
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Canva as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Canva operations

What is OpenAI Agents SDK?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

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 starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Canva project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript
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
3

Install dependencies

npm install @composio/openai-agents @openai/agents dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Canva.
6

Set up the Composio instance

dotenv.config();

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv.config() loads your .env file so COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.
7

Create a Tool Router session

// Create Tool Router session for Canva
const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
  toolkits: ['canva'],
});
const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only canva.
  • The router checks the user's Canva connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Canva.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Canva tools only when needed during the conversation.
8

Configure the agent

// Configure agent with MCP tool
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'Assistant',
  model: 'gpt-5',
  instructions:
    'You are a helpful assistant that can access Canva. Help users perform Canva operations through natural language.',
  tools: [
    hostedMcpTool({
      serverLabel: 'tool_router',
      serverUrl: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
      requireApproval: 'never',
    }),
  ],
});
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Canva and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a hostedMcpTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers object includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • requireApproval: 'never' means the agent can execute Canva operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.
9

Start chat loop and handle conversation

// Keep conversation state across turns
const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

// Simple CLI
const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: 'You: ',
});

console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

try {
  const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
  console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
} catch (e) {
  console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
}

rl.prompt();

rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
  const text = userInput.trim();

  if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log('Goodbye!');
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

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

  try {
    const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();
});

rl.on('close', () => {
  console.log('\n👋 Session ended.');
  process.exit(0);
});
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Canva.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using run().
  • The responses are printed to the console.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Canva and OpenAI Agents SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { OpenAIAgentsProvider } from '@composio/openai-agents';
import { Agent, hostedMcpTool, run, OpenAIConversationsSession } from '@openai/agents';
import * as readline from 'readline';

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key');
}
if (!userId) {
  throw new Error('USER_ID is not set');
}

// Initialize Composio
const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioApiKey,
  provider: new OpenAIAgentsProvider(),
});

async function main() {
  // Create Tool Router session
  const session = await composio.create(userId as string, {
    toolkits: ['canva'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  // Configure agent with MCP tool
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: 'Assistant',
    model: 'gpt-5',
    instructions:
      'You are a helpful assistant that can access Canva. Help users perform Canva operations through natural language.',
    tools: [
      hostedMcpTool({
        serverLabel: 'tool_router',
        serverUrl: mcpUrl,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': composioApiKey },
        requireApproval: 'never',
      }),
    ],
  });

  // Keep conversation state across turns
  const conversationSession = new OpenAIConversationsSession();

  // Simple CLI
  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: ',
  });

  console.log('\nComposio Tool Router session created.');
  console.log('\nChat started. Type your requests below.');
  console.log("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n");

  try {
    const first = await run(agent, 'What can you help me with?', { session: conversationSession });
    console.log(`Assistant: ${first.finalOutput}\n`);
  } catch (e) {
    console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
  }

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on('line', async (userInput) => {
    const text = userInput.trim();

    if (['exit', 'quit', 'q'].includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log('Goodbye!');
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

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

    try {
      const result = await run(agent, text, { session: conversationSession });
      console.log(`\nAssistant: ${result.finalOutput}\n`);
    } catch (e) {
      console.error('Error:', e instanceof Error ? e.message : e, '\n');
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on('close', () => {
    console.log('\nSession ended.');
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

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

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Canva MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Canva.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
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

Claude Agent SDK logo

Claude Agent SDK

Use Canva MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

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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

CLI logo

CLI

Use Canva MCP with CLI

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

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. OpenAI Agents SDK 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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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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Co-founder, Opennote

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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.

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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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