Content Querying API

Content querying allows apps to retrieve and edit all text content on the design, and then make edits. It's a simplified API that enables useful capabilities such as improving your user's design typography. Common use cases for content querying include, but aren't limited to:

• Translation apps.
• Design assistants.
• Spell checker services.
• SEO keyword checkers.

For spell checker services and translation apps, it's advisable to consider the following:

• Do highlight the text to replace in the object panel, and clearly show the suggested text.
• Do use a checkbox if there are multiple suggestions.
• Do use a call-to-action (CTA) that explains the action. For example, to fix spelling or typography.

• Don't use a generic CTA that's unclear, or omits an explanation of the action.
• Don't make edits to the design without giving context of what's being changed and why.

• Do replace the source text automatically once the user interacts with the CTA button or element.

• Do preserve rich text formatting until the user changes the formatting option.

• Query all text in the current page plus the entire design.
• Carry out transformation operations on the text such as:
  • Replace the whole text.
  • Replace part of the text.
  • Make part of the text bold, or edit any rich text.
  • Update the text color.

• It can't provide any information about which element contains a given piece of text, such as text located in a table, shape, or native text element.
• It can't provide the ability to position elements on pages (See Design Editing API for information on positioning elements). When using content querying, the app does not read the text in a linear way, and instead reads the text randomly.
• Text highlighting on the design is not possible. Future updates may include text highlighting.
• It's not currently available in Canva Docs.

The following shows an example of content querying limitations: