Canvas Entities

Design paragraph and taxonomy term layouts visually in Drupal Canvas, not just nodes.

Drupal Canvas lets you drag Single Directory Components (SDCs) onto a canvas
and map an entity's fields to component props. No Twig, no preprocess code. Out of the box,
this only works for nodes.

Most sites build pages out of Paragraphs too, using things like hero banners,
callouts, and card grids, and reference other entities, like taxonomy terms,
that Canvas can't design either. Those types still render through hand-written Twig.

Canvas Entities fixes that: it makes paragraph and taxonomy term types
first-class in the Canvas editor. Design a Content Template for a paragraph type or a
taxonomy vocabulary just like you would for a node, and every entity of that type renders
through it automatically, everywhere it's used.

Not a migration tool

This module doesn't replace Paragraphs or change your content model. It just lets you author
view modes for paragraphs and taxonomy terms visually with Canvas, while your existing
entities keep working exactly as they do today.

Features

• Content Template tab on a paragraph type's or taxonomy vocabulary's Manage
  Display page, with a "Create with Canvas" shortcut when no template exists.
• Full visual editing: drag components, map fields to props, preview live.
• Paragraph Field component: renders a paragraph reference field from a parent
  node/paragraph's template. Each referenced paragraph renders through its own template, so
  designs nest as deep as you need.
• Entity Reference Field component: renders a plain entity reference field
  (e.g. a field_tags field targeting taxonomy_term) the same way.
  Each referenced term renders through its own template.
• Admin screen at Structure > Content Templates (Non-node) to open,
  generate sample content, or delete any bridged template in one click.
• Drush commands for bulk template creation, listing bundles/templates, and
  generating sample content, handy for CI/build pipelines.
• Enum field fix: list_string/list_integer fields
  (e.g. button variants) now map cleanly to SDC enum props, which Canvas can't normally do.
• Clean markup: drops the default wrapper markup (e.g.
  .paragraph.paragraph--type--X) when a template is active, so your component's
  own root element (<section>, <a>, etc.) becomes the
  real DOM root. Matters for flex/grid layouts.
• Safe by default: every template starts disabled. Nothing changes for
  visitors until you explicitly publish it in the Canvas editor.

Setup

1. Enable it:

   drush en canvas_entities

2. Define fields on your paragraph type or taxonomy vocabulary (Structure >
   Paragraph types / Taxonomy) to match your design system's component props, e.g.
   field_heading, field_body, field_image,
   field_variant.
3. Create a Content Template, using any of these three ways:
   • UI: Structure > Content Templates (Non-node) → pick entity type, bundle,
     view mode → Create.
   • The "Create with Canvas" button on Manage Display.
   • Drush:

     drush canvas-entities:create-template paragraph hero_banner default
     drush canvas-entities:create-template paragraph --all
     drush canvas-entities:create-template taxonomy_term tags default

4. Design it at /canvas/template/{entity_type}/{bundle}/{view_mode}.
   No content yet? Generate placeholders:

   drush canvas-entities:create-sample paragraph <bundle>

5. Render nested paragraph or entity reference fields from a node or parent
   paragraph template: add the Paragraph Field or Entity Reference
   Field component, set field_name to your reference field (e.g.
   field_content_sections or field_tags), optionally set
   view_mode (default: default).

   Same thing in Twig:

   {{ sdc_render_field('field_content_sections', 'default') }}

6. Publish when ready. Until then, the entity renders as before.

Other Drush commands:

drush canvas-entities:list-templates
# list all bridged templates

drush canvas-entities:list-bundles paragraph
# list bundles/view modes

Roadmap

Once Canvas (core issue #3498525) natively supports an entity type, that entity's
bridge here becomes unnecessary and gets removed.

• Phase 1 (current): Paragraphs and taxonomy terms.
• Phase 2 (planned): block_content support.
• Phase 3 (planned): Admin-configurable bridged entity types.

Requirements

• Drupal 10.3+ or Drupal 11
• PHP 8.3+
• Canvas (provides Content Templates)
• Paragraphs
• Field UI, Taxonomy, and Navigation (all included in Drupal core)

Project status

Experimental, matches Canvas's own alpha status. The API and supported entity types may change
as Canvas evolves.