Authentication

Overview Generate access token Introspect access token Revoke token

Generate an access token

Generate access tokens to access the Connect APIs.

This endpoint implements the OAuth 2.0 token endpoint, as part of the Authorization Code flow with Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE). For more information, see Authentication.

To generate an access token, you must provide one of the following:

An authorization code
A refresh token

Generating a token using either an authorization code or a refresh token allows your integration to act on behalf of a user. You must first obtain user authorization and get an authorization code.

Access tokens may be up to 4 KB in size, and are only valid for a specified period of time. The expiry time (currently 4 hours) is shown in the endpoint response and is subject to change.

Endpoint authentication

Requests to this endpoint require authentication with your client ID and client secret, using one of the following methods:

Basic access authentication (Recommended): For basic access authentication⁠(opens in a new tab or window), the {credentials} string must be a Base64 encoded value of {client id}:{client secret}.
Body parameters: Provide your integration's credentials using the client_id and client_secret body parameters.

This endpoint can't be called from a user's web-browser client because it uses client authentication with client secrets. Requests must come from your integration's backend, otherwise they'll be blocked by Canva's Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)⁠(opens in a new tab or window) policy.

Generate an access token using an authorization code

To generate an access token with an authorization code, you must:

Set grant_type to authorization_code.
Provide the code_verifier value that you generated when creating the user authorization URL.
Provide the authorization code you received after the user authorized the integration.

Generate an access token using a refresh token

Using the refresh_token value from a previous user token request, you can get a new access token with the same or smaller scope as the previous one, but with a refreshed expiry time. You will also receive a new refresh token that you can use to refresh the access token again.

To refresh an existing access token, you must:

Set grant_type to refresh_token.
Provide the refresh_token from a previous token request.

HTTP method and URL path

POST https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token

Authentication and authorization

This endpoint uses HTTP basic access authentication.

Header parameters

Authorizationstring

Optional

Provides credentials to authenticate the request, in the form of basic access authentication⁠(opens in a new tab or window).

For example: Authorization: Basic {credentials}

We recommend that you use basic access authentication instead of specifying client_id and client_secret as body parameters.

Content-Typestring

Required

Indicates the media type of the information sent in the request. This must be set to application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

For example: Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Body parameters

For exchanging an authorization code for an access token.

grant_typestring

Required

For exchanging an authorization code for an access token.

Available values: The only valid value is authorization_code.

code_verifierstring

Required

The code_verifier value that you generated when creating the user authorization URL.

codestring

Required

The authorization code you received after the user authorized the integration.

client_idstring

Optional

Your integration's unique ID, for authenticating the request.

We recommend that you use basic access authentication instead of specifying client_id and client_secret as body parameters.

client_secretstring

Optional

Your integration's client secret, for authenticating the request. Begins with cnvca.

We recommend that you use basic access authentication instead of specifying client_id and client_secret as body parameters.

redirect_uristring

Optional

Only required if a redirect URL was supplied when you created the user authorization URL.

Must be one of those already specified by the client. If not supplied, the first redirect_uri defined for the client will be used by default.

For generating an access token using a refresh token.

grant_typestring

Required

For generating an access token using a refresh token.

Available values: The only valid value is refresh_token.

refresh_tokenstring

Required

The refresh token to be exchanged. You can copy this value from the successful response received when generating an access token.

client_idstring

Optional

Your integration's unique ID, for authenticating the request.

We recommend that you use basic access authentication instead of specifying client_id and client_secret as body parameters.

client_secretstring

Optional

Your integration's client secret, for authenticating the request. Begins with cnvca.

We recommend that you use basic access authentication instead of specifying client_id and client_secret as body parameters.

scopestring

Optional

Optional scope value when refreshing an access token. Separate multiple scopes with a single space between each scope.

The requested scope cannot include any permissions not already granted, so this parameter allows you to limit the scope when refreshing a token. If omitted, the scope for the token remains unchanged.

Example request

Examples for using the /v1/oauth/token endpoint:

curl --request POST 'https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token' \
--header 'Authorization: Basic {credentials}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
--data-urlencode 'grant_type=authorization_code' \
--data-urlencode 'code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4' \
--data-urlencode 'code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8=vu1tnjp7sz' \
--data-urlencode 'redirect_uri=https://example.com/process-auth'

const fetch = require("node-fetch");
const { URLSearchParams } = require("url");

fetch("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Basic {credentials}",
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
  },
  body: new URLSearchParams("grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth"),
})
  .then(async (response) => {
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log(data);
  })
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.*;

public class ApiExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token"))
            .header("Authorization", "Basic {credentials}")
            .header("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
            .method("POST", HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString("grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth"))
            .build();

        HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(
            request,
            HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString()
        );
        System.out.println(response.body());
    }
}

JAVA

import requests

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Basic {credentials}",
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
}

data = {
    "grant_type": "authorization_code",
    "code_verifier": "i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4"
    "code": "kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8=vu1tnjp7sz",
    "redirect_uri": "https://example.com/process-auth",
}

response = requests.post("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token",
    headers=headers,
    data=data
)
print(response.json())

using System.Net.Http;

var client = new HttpClient();
var request = new HttpRequestMessage
{
  Method = HttpMethod.Post,
  RequestUri = new Uri("https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token"),
  Headers =
  {
    { "Authorization", "Basic {credentials}" },
  },
  Content = new StringContent(
    "grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth",
    Encoding.UTF8,
    "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
  ),
};

using (var response = await client.SendAsync(request))
{
  response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
  var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
  Console.WriteLine(body);
};

CSHARP

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"strings"
)

func main() {
	payload := strings.NewReader("grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth")

	url := "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token"
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic {credentials}")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token",
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Basic {credentials}',
    'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
  ),
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => "grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth"
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);
curl_close($curl);

if (empty($err)) {
  echo $response;
} else {
  echo "Error: " . $err;
}

PHP

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

url = URI('https://api.canva.com/rest/v1/oauth/token')
http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request['Authorization'] = 'Basic {credentials}'
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
request.body = "grant_type=authorization_code&code_verifier=i541qdcfkb4htnork0w92lnu43en99ls5a48ittv6udqgiflqon8vusojojakbq4&code=kp8nnroja7qnx00.opyc1p76rcbyflsxbycjqfp3ub8vzsvltpzwafy9q5l45dn5fxzhe7i7a6mg1i2t8jpsa6sebdeumkzzhicskabgevrxsssec4dvjwfvhq4gs3ugghguar0voiqpfb7axsapiojoter8v3w2s5s3st84jpv2l06h667iw241xngy9c8%3Dvu1tnjp7sz&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2Fprocess-auth"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

RUBY

Success response

If successful, the endpoint returns a 200 response with a JSON body with the following parameters:

access_tokenstring

The bearer access token to use to authenticate to Canva Connect API endpoints. If requested using a authorization_code or refresh_token, this allows you to act on behalf of a user.

refresh_tokenstring

The token that you can use to refresh the access token.

token_typestring

The token type returned. This is always Bearer.

expires_ininteger

The expiry time (in seconds) for the access token.

scopestring

Optional

The scopes that the token has been granted.

Example response

{
  "access_token": "JagALLazU0i2ld9WW4zTO4kaG0lkvP8Y5sSO206ZwxNF4E1y3xKJKF7TzN17BXTfaNOeY0P88AeRCE6cRF7SJzvf3Sx97rA80sGHtFplFo",
  "refresh_token": "JABix5nolsk9k8n2r0f8nq1gw4zjo40ht6sb4i573wgdzmkwdmiy6muh897hp0bxyab276wtgqkvtob2mg9aidt5d6rcltcbcgs101",
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "expires_in": 14400,
  "scope": "asset:read design:meta:read design:permission:read folder:read"
}

JSON