Canva Hello World

Overview

Minimal working example: authenticate, get user profile, create a design, and export it as PNG. All via the Canva Connect REST API at api.canva.com/rest/v1/*.

Prerequisites

• Completed canva-install-auth — valid OAuth access token
• Scopes enabled: design:meta:read, design:content:write, design:content:read

Instructions

Step 1: Create a Reusable API Helper

// src/canva/client.ts
const CANVA_BASE = 'https://api.canva.com/rest/v1';

export async function canvaAPI(
  path: string,
  accessToken: string,
  options: RequestInit = {}
): Promise<any> {
  const res = await fetch(`${CANVA_BASE}${path}`, {
    ...options,
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      ...options.headers,
    },
  });

  if (!res.ok) {
    const body = await res.text();
    throw new Error(`Canva API ${res.status}: ${body}`);
  }

  return res.status === 204 ? null : res.json();
}

Step 2: Get Your User Profile

// GET /v1/users/me — no scopes required, rate limit: 10 req/min
const me = await canvaAPI('/users/me', accessToken);
console.log(`User ID: ${me.team_user.user_id}`);
console.log(`Team ID: ${me.team_user.team_id}`);

Step 3: Create a Design

// POST /v1/designs — scope: design:content:write, rate limit: 20 req/min
const design = await canvaAPI('/designs', accessToken, {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({
    design_type: { type: 'preset', name: 'presentation' },
    title: 'Hello Canva API',
  }),
});

console.log(`Design created: ${design.design.id}`);
console.log(`Edit URL: ${design.design.urls.edit_url}`);   // expires in 30 days
console.log(`View URL: ${design.design.urls.view_url}`);   // expires in 30 days

Step 4: Export the Design as PNG

// POST /v1/exports — scope: design:content:read, rate limit: 20 req/min
const exportJob = await canvaAPI('/exports', accessToken, {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({
    design_id: design.design.id,
    format: { type: 'png', transparent_background: false },
  }),
});

// Poll for completion — GET /v1/exports/{jobId}
let job = exportJob.job;
while (job.status === 'in_progress') {
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000));
  const poll = await canvaAPI(`/exports/${job.id}`, accessToken);
  job = poll.job;
}

if (job.status === 'success') {
  console.log('Download URLs (valid 24 hours):');
  job.urls.forEach((url: string, i: number) => console.log(`  Page ${i + 1}: ${url}`));
} else {
  console.error('Export failed:', job.error);
}

Step 5: List Your Designs

// GET /v1/designs — scope: design:meta:read, rate limit: 100 req/min
const designs = await canvaAPI('/designs?ownership=owned&limit=5', accessToken);

for (const d of designs.items) {
  console.log(`${d.title} (${d.id}) — ${d.page_count} pages`);
}

Complete Example

import { canvaAPI } from './canva/client';

async function main() {
  const token = process.env.CANVA_ACCESS_TOKEN!;

  // 1. Verify connection
  const me = await canvaAPI('/users/me', token);
  console.log(`Connected as user ${me.team_user.user_id}`);

  // 2. Create a design
  const { design } = await canvaAPI('/designs', token, {
    method: 'POST',
    body: JSON.stringify({
      design_type: { type: 'custom', width: 1080, height: 1080 },
      title: 'My First API Design',
    }),
  });
  console.log(`Created: ${design.id} — edit at ${design.urls.edit_url}`);

  // 3. Export as PDF
  const { job } = await canvaAPI('/exports', token, {
    method: 'POST',
    body: JSON.stringify({
      design_id: design.id,
      format: { type: 'pdf' },
    }),
  });
  console.log(`Export job ${job.id} started — status: ${job.status}`);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Expired or invalid token	Refresh token via /v1/oauth/token
403 Forbidden	Missing required scope	Enable scope in integration settings
404 Not Found	Design doesn't exist or no access	Verify design ID and ownership
429 Too Many Requests	Rate limit exceeded	Respect Retry-After header

Resources

• Canva Connect API Reference
• Designs API
• Exports API

Next Steps

Proceed to canva-local-dev-loop for development workflow setup.