Canva Webhooks & Events

Overview

Receive real-time notifications from Canva via webhooks when users comment on designs, request folder access, share designs, or interact with your integration. Canva sends signed JWT payloads verified with public JWK keys.

Prerequisites

• Canva integration with collaboration:event scope enabled
• HTTPS endpoint accessible from the internet
• JWK verification library (jose recommended)
• Webhook URL configured in your integration settings

Setup

Step 1: Configure Webhooks in Canva

1. Go to your integration settings at canva.dev
2. Under Notifications, enable collaboration:event
3. Enter your webhook URL: https://your-app.com/webhooks/canva
4. Save the configuration

Step 2: Implement JWK Signature Verification

// src/canva/webhooks.ts
import { createRemoteJWKSet, jwtVerify, JWTPayload } from 'jose';

// Canva publishes public keys at this endpoint
// GET https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/connect/keys
const CANVA_JWKS = createRemoteJWKSet(
  new URL('https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/connect/keys')
);

interface CanvaWebhookPayload extends JWTPayload {
  notification_type: string;
  notification: Record<string, any>;
  timestamp: string;
  user_id: string;
  team_id: string;
}

export async function verifyCanvaWebhook(
  rawBody: string
): Promise<CanvaWebhookPayload | null> {
  try {
    const { payload } = await jwtVerify(rawBody, CANVA_JWKS, {
      issuer: 'canva',
    });
    return payload as CanvaWebhookPayload;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Webhook verification failed:', error);
    return null;
  }
}

Step 3: Express Webhook Endpoint

import express from 'express';
import { verifyCanvaWebhook } from './canva/webhooks';

const app = express();

// IMPORTANT: Accept raw text body for JWT verification
app.post('/webhooks/canva',
  express.text({ type: '*/*' }),
  async (req, res) => {
    const payload = await verifyCanvaWebhook(req.body);

    if (!payload) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
    }

    // Must return 200 to acknowledge — other codes = error
    res.status(200).json({ received: true });

    // Process async to avoid timeout
    handleCanvaEvent(payload).catch(console.error);
  }
);

Step 4: Event Handler

// Canva webhook notification types
type CanvaNotificationType =
  | 'comment'                    // New comment on a design
  | 'design_access_requested'   // Someone requests design access
  | 'design_approval_requested' // Approval workflow triggered
  | 'design_approval_response'  // Approval accepted/rejected
  | 'design_mention'            // User @mentioned in a design
  | 'folder_access_requested'   // Folder access request
  | 'design_shared'             // Design shared with user
  | 'folder_shared'             // Folder shared with user
  | 'suggestion'                // Design suggestion made
  | 'team_invite'               // Team invitation
  | 'design_approval_reviewer_invalidated'; // Reviewer removed

const handlers: Record<string, (notification: any) => Promise<void>> = {
  comment: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Comment on design ${data.design_id}: ${data.message}`);
    // Sync comment to your ticketing system, Slack, etc.
  },

  design_access_requested: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Access requested for design ${data.design_id} by user ${data.requesting_user_id}`);
    // Auto-approve or notify admin
  },

  design_shared: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Design ${data.design_id} shared with permissions: ${data.permissions}`);
    // Update your access control records
  },

  folder_access_requested: async (data) => {
    console.log(`Folder access requested: ${data.folder_id}`);
  },
};

async function handleCanvaEvent(payload: CanvaWebhookPayload): Promise<void> {
  const handler = handlers[payload.notification_type];

  if (!handler) {
    console.log(`Unhandled notification type: ${payload.notification_type}`);
    return;
  }

  try {
    await handler(payload.notification);
    console.log(`Processed ${payload.notification_type} at ${payload.timestamp}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Failed to process ${payload.notification_type}:`, error);
  }
}

Required Scopes per Event Type

Event	Required Scopes
comment	collaboration:event, design:meta:read, comment:read
design_access_requested	collaboration:event, design:meta:read
design_shared	collaboration:event, design:meta:read
folder_access_requested	collaboration:event, folder:read
design_mention	collaboration:event, design:meta:read

Scopes are explicit — you must enable each one individually.

Idempotency

import { Redis } from 'ioredis';

const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL);

async function processIdempotent(
  notificationId: string,
  handler: () => Promise<void>
): Promise<void> {
  const key = `canva:webhook:${notificationId}`;
  const alreadyProcessed = await redis.set(key, '1', 'EX', 604800, 'NX'); // 7 days, NX = only if not exists

  if (!alreadyProcessed) {
    console.log(`Duplicate webhook skipped: ${notificationId}`);
    return;
  }

  await handler();
}

Testing Webhooks Locally

# 1. Expose local server via ngrok
ngrok http 3000

# 2. Set the ngrok HTTPS URL in your Canva integration settings
# e.g., https://abc123.ngrok-free.app/webhooks/canva

# 3. Trigger events by commenting on a design shared with the authorized user

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
401 on webhook	JWK verification failed	Check jose library version, key URL
No events received	Webhook URL not configured	Set URL in integration settings
Duplicate events	No idempotency	Implement notification ID tracking
Events delayed	Processing too slow	Return 200 immediately, process async
Missing event types	Scopes not enabled	Enable collaboration:event + per-type scopes

Resources

• Canva Webhooks
• Webhook Keys API
• jose Library

Next Steps

For performance optimization, see canva-performance-tuning.