How to integrate Canva MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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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 my brand templates for social use, start a folder for this project’s assets, reply to comments on a shared design 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.

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 open-ai-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.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Access user specific brand templates listThis year, brand template ids will change; integrations storing them must update within 6 months.
Create canva design with optional assetCreate 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.
Create comment reply in designThis preview api allows replying to comments within a design on canva, with a limit of 100 replies per comment.
Create design comment in preview apiThis api is in preview and may change without notice; integrations using it won't pass review.
Create user or sub folderThis api creates a folder in a canva user's projects at the top level or within another folder, returning the new folder's id and additional details upon success.
Delete asset by idYou can delete an asset by specifying its `assetid`.
Exchange oauth 2 0 access or refresh tokenThe oauth 2.
Fetch asset upload job statusSummarize asset upload outcome by repeatedly calling the endpoint until a 'success' or 'failed' status is received after using the create asset upload job api.
Fetch canva connect signing public keysThe 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 detailsReturns the user id, team id, and display name of the user account associated with the provided access token.
Fetch design metadata and access informationGets the metadata for a design.
Get design export job resultGet the outcome of a canva design export job; if done, receive download links for the design’s pages.
Initiate canva design autofill jobUpcoming brand template id updates require migration within 6 months.
Initiates canva design export jobCanva's new job feature exports designs in multiple formats using a design id, with provided download links.
List design pages with paginationPreview api for canva: subject to unannounced changes and not for public integrations.
List folder items by type with sortingLists the items in a folder, including each item's `type`.
List User DesignsProvides 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 folderTransfers an item to a different folder by specifying both the destination folder's id and the item's id.
Remove folder and move contents to trashDeletes a folder by moving the user's content to trash and reassigning other users' content to their top-level projects.
Retrieve app public key setReturns the json web key set (public keys) of an app.
Retrieve a specific design commentThis preview api is subject to unannounced changes and can't be used in public integrations.
Retrieve asset metadata by idYou can retrieve the metadata of an asset by specifying its `assetid`.
Retrieve brand template dataset definitionCanva's brand template ids will change later this year, including a 6-month integration migration.
Retrieve canva enterprise brand template metadataUpcoming update will change brand template ids; integrations must migrate within 6 months.
Retrieve design autofill job statusApi 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 statusGets the status and results of design import jobs created using the [create design import job api](https://www.
Retrieve folder details by idGets the name and other details of a folder using a folder's `folderid`.
RetrieveuserprofiledataCurrently, this returns the display name of the user account associated with the provided access token.
Revoke oauth tokensRevoke a refresh token to end its lineage and user consent, requiring re-authentication.
Update asset s name and tags by idYou can update the name and tags of an asset by specifying its `assetid`.
Update folder details by idUpdates a folder's details using its `folderid`.
Validate oauth token propertiesCheck an access token's validity and properties via introspection, requiring authentication.

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

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router 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 Tool Router

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

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router 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

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

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

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

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.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
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.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a Canva Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["canva"]
)

mcp_url = 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.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = 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(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "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 dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute Canva operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
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 Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Canva and open-ai-agents-sdk:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["canva"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = 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(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

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.

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Mastra AI

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CrewAI

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FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Canva MCP?

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.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

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.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Canva while using Tool Router?

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.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

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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