> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.canva.dev/docs/apps/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Capabilities

Capabilities are features or permissions associated with a user's account, and are often tied to a user's Canva plan. Capabilities are used to control access to premium Canva functionality, and to help apps expose features in a responsive and user-friendly way.

For example, the [resize API](https://www.canva.dev/docs/apps/rest-apis/reference/resizes/) requires the `resize` capability. If a user doesn't have the capability, any request on behalf of the user to that API fails with an error response. An app can pre-check whether or not a user has the `resize` capability before making a request to the resize API.

## APIs that require capabilities

Not all APIs require a capability. If an API requires a capability, it's listed in the reference documentation for the API operation, as well as in its [OpenAPI specification](https://www.canva.dev/docs/apps/rest-apis/#openapi-description), under the `x-required-capabilities` property.

NOTE: If an API operation lists multiple capabilities, only one capability is required for a user to access the API. This allows for flexible access control across different Canva plans.

## Check user capabilities

Before making a request to an API that requires a capability, apps should use the [Get user capabilities API](https://www.canva.dev/docs/apps/rest-apis/reference/users/get-user-capabilities/) to check whether a user has a required capability.

After checking a user's capabilities, apps can make informed decisions on the user experience, such as:

* Showing or hiding UI elements
* Informing the user that a feature is unavailable
* Avoiding unnecessary API calls that would result in errors

## Error handling

If an app attempts to access an API on behalf of a user that doesn't have a required capability, the API returns a `403 Forbidden` error with a descriptive error message indicating the required capabilities. For example:

```
Not allowed to access getResizeJob, requires one of capabilities ["resize"]
```