Troubleshooting Canvas

Common issues writers run into when using Canvas, with suggested fixes.

Common issues writers run into when using Canvas, with suggested fixes.

Make sure your studio is set up for Canvas. Canvas reads content types from the deployed studio, so the studio must be deployed with Sanity Studio v3.88.1 or later. You also need read access to the studio and to the relevant content types. If you don't maintain the studio, ask your studio developer to update and deploy it, and ask your administrator for access.

Check that the relevant fields aren't excluded from Canvas in your studio schema with options.canvasApp.exclude: true. Removing the exclusion requires a studio schema update and redeployment. Also confirm that the studio has been redeployed since the fields were added to the schema. For details, see Configure Canvas for your content. If you don't maintain the studio, ask your studio developer to check the schema and redeploy the studio.

A few things to try:

• Simplify your document. Remove placeholder copy, draft notes, or inline instructions before running AI labeling.
• Use clear content breaks. Separate content for different fields into distinct paragraphs or sections.
• Add field name hints. Include a plain-text heading like "Title" or "Excerpt" above the relevant content.
• Label manually. If results are still off, use the =l command to label the problematic fields yourself.

Field labels follow your schema's field order. When labels are applied, content reorders to match the structure defined in your content type. This is expected behavior: it ensures your document mirrors the studio field order. The exceptions are modular content blocks and array items, where you control the order.

The @ reference shortcut requires at least read access to the connected studio, and referenced documents need to be in the same dataset as that studio. If you have Canvas-only access, you can work with field labels but won't be able to insert content references. If your workflow requires references, request access through the Canvas UI or ask your administrator for read access to the studio.

When you add a reference inside a field label, the search results include only the document types that field allows in your schema.