Canva Connect API Scopes Explained: Permissions Guide

A scope for Canva Connect API is a permission. It tells Canva what your app is allowed to see or do in a user’s account. Scopes control what your integration is allowed to access or do in a user’s Canva PRO account.

Think of scopes like keys to different rooms in a house. Your integration should only receive the keys it actually needs.

In, the first lesson in this series, we learned about What is Canva Connect API. In second lesson, we learned how to create your first Canva API integration. Then, in third lesson, we learned what is Canva Connect API Authentication and how to get client id and client secret. Now in this 4th, lesson we will understand what are Canva Connect API scopes and permissions.

Step 1: Open your Canva Integration app created from lesson 1.

Step 2: Open Configuration.

Step 3: Select Permission/Scopes

Read vs. Write permissions

The basic idea is:

• Read = your integration can retrieve information.
• Write = your integration can make changes.

For example, if an integration only needs to view information, it may only need read access. If it needs to create, update, or manage something, it may require write access.

Which scopes should you select?

Don’t select every available scope just because it is available.

Choose the minimum permissions your automation actually needs.

For example, if you’re building an automation that works with Canva folders, the folder scope is relevant because it allows the integration to work with folders and their contents.

If your automation also needs to manage folder access, then folder:permission becomes relevant.

If you don’t need to manage permissions or receive webhook events, you don’t need to enable those scopes.

You might want to learn first what is Canva Connect API and how Canva PRO subscribers can benefit from it.

A simple way to remember it

Integration → Scopes → Authorization → API access

Your integration identifies the application.
Scopes define what it is asking permission to do.
The user authorizes those requested permissions.
Your application can then make API requests within those granted permissions.

How do you choose scopes?

Only choose the scopes your app actually needs.

For example, if your app only needs to see information about designs, you can use:

design:meta:read

If your app needs to read design information and make changes to folders, you would use:

design:meta:read + folder:write

Important: Read and Write are separate

This is very important when setting up your Canva integration.

A write permission does not automatically give your app read permission.

For example:

asset:write does not include asset:read.

If your app needs to both see assets and change them, you need to select both:

• asset:read
• asset:write

You also need to request both permissions during the authentication process.

Simple rule to remember

Choose only the permissions your automation needs.

Read = see information
Write = make changes

The scopes you select tell Canva exactly what your app is asking permission to do.