Introduction to Canvas
A familiar writing tool that understands your content structure, so content can flow directly into the right Studio fields with a single click.
Sanity Studio is where your team manages and publishes content. Canvas is where you write it.
Canvas overview
Canvas is a collaborative writing environment built into Sanity. It gives your team a familiar, distraction-free space to write and collaborate, with AI writing assistance and contextual notes to support the creative process. When your content is ready, field labels connect it to your Studio schema so you can send it directly into the right fields with a single click.
Most content teams write in generic document editors like Google Docs, Word, or Notion, then manually copy and paste the content, field by field, into their CMS. Canvas eliminates that laborious handoff.
With Canvas, you can:
- Write and collaborate in real time, with AI assistance grounded in your notes.
- Label your content against your Studio schema, manually or automatically.
- Send labeled content to Studio as a new document or as an update to a connected one.
- Reuse templates with pre-configured content types and field labels.
Who Canvas is for
Canvas is built for content teams: writers, editors, and content strategists who produce structured content that ends up in Sanity Studio. If your team currently writes in document templates and then manually transfers content into Studio, Canvas replaces that manual transfer: content moves from where it's written to where it's published.
Developers and Studio maintainers configure which content types are available in Canvas and how schema fields surface to writers. See Configure Canvas for your content for setup instructions.
How Canvas works
A content type is the schema for a kind of content, like Article or Blog post. Field labels are inline markers that connect parts of your writing to specific fields in that schema. Together, they let Canvas know where each piece of your content belongs in Studio.
Canvas work happens in three phases: write, structure, and send to Studio.
Write
Start in a clean, distraction-free editor. Use slash commands, Markdown shortcuts, or the formatting toolbar. Collaborate in real time with your team. Add contextual notes to guide AI assistance, and use the built-in ghostwriter to help draft, rewrite, or expand your content.
Learn more in Writing in Canvas.
Structure
Set a content type to connect your document to a Studio schema. Then use field labels to assign each part of your content to a Studio field. Apply labels manually, or let AI label the whole document or a selected range automatically. Choose what to include in Studio and what to keep as annotations or instructions.
Learn more in Structuring content for Studio.
Send to Studio
When your content is structured and reviewed, create or update a Studio document. Content flows into the corresponding Studio fields exactly as structured. Your team's existing publishing workflows in Studio remain unchanged.
Learn more in Structuring content for Studio.
Explore Canvas
Writing in Canvas
Write and collaborate in a familiar document editor with AI assistance, contextual notes, and real-time collaboration.
Structure content for Studio
Connect your content to a Studio schema with field labels. Apply structure manually or automatically, then send to Studio in one click.
Create and use Canvas templates
Create reusable templates with pre-configured content types and field labels for repeatable content workflows.
Configure Canvas for your content
Control how your schema fields surface in Canvas.
Keyboard shortcuts
Look up keyboard shortcuts for formatting, navigation, and Canvas features.
Troubleshooting Canvas
Common issues writers run into when using Canvas, with suggested fixes.
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