name: google-slides
description: Manage Google Slides presentations. Create presentations, add/delete slides, insert text, shapes, and images. Use when working with Google Slides presentation management.
metadata:
author: odyssey4me
version: "0.1.0"
license: MIT

Google Slides

Interact with Google Slides for presentation creation, slide management, and content insertion.

Installation

1. Install Python dependencies:
   bash pip install --user google-auth google-auth-oauthlib google-api-python-client keyring pyyaml

2. Download the skill from Releases or use directly from this repository.

Setup Verification

After installation, verify the skill is properly configured:

python scripts/google-slides.py check

This will check:
- Python dependencies (google-auth, google-auth-oauthlib, google-api-python-client, keyring, pyyaml)
- Authentication configuration
- Connectivity to Google Slides API

If anything is missing, the check command will provide setup instructions.

Authentication

Google Slides uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. For complete setup instructions, see:

1. GCP Project Setup Guide - Create project, enable Slides API
2. Google OAuth Setup Guide - Configure credentials

Quick Start

1. Create ~/.config/agent-skills/google.yaml:
   yaml oauth_client: client_id: your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com client_secret: your-client-secret

2. Run python scripts/google-slides.py check to trigger OAuth flow and verify setup.

OAuth Scopes

The skill requests granular scopes for different operations:

Scope Errors

If you encounter "insufficient scope" errors, revoke your token and re-authenticate:

1. Revoke at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions
2. Clear token: keyring del agent-skills google-slides-token-json
3. Re-run: python scripts/google-slides.py check

Commands

check

Verify configuration and connectivity.

python scripts/google-slides.py check

This validates:
- Python dependencies are installed
- Authentication is configured
- Can connect to Google Slides API
- Creates a test presentation to verify write access

auth setup

Store OAuth 2.0 client credentials for custom OAuth flow.

python scripts/google-slides.py auth setup \
  --client-id YOUR_CLIENT_ID \
  --client-secret YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET

Credentials are saved to ~/.config/agent-skills/google-slides.yaml.

Options:
- --client-id - OAuth 2.0 client ID (required)
- --client-secret - OAuth 2.0 client secret (required)

presentations create

Create a new Google Slides presentation.

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations create --title "My Presentation"

Options:
- --title - Presentation title (required)
- --json - Output as JSON

Example:

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations create --title "Q4 Review"

# Output:
# ✓ Presentation created successfully
# Title: Q4 Review
# Presentation ID: 1abc...xyz
# Slides: 1
# URL: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1abc...xyz/edit

presentations get

Get presentation metadata and structure.

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations get PRESENTATION_ID

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --json - Output full presentation structure as JSON

Example:

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations get 1abc...xyz

# Output:
# Title: Q4 Review
# Presentation ID: 1abc...xyz
# Slides: 5
# URL: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1abc...xyz/edit
#
# Slides:
# Slide 1:
#   ID: slide_id_1
#   Layout: TITLE
#   Elements: 2 (2 text, 0 shapes, 0 images, 0 other)
# Slide 2:
#   ID: slide_id_2
#   Layout: TITLE_AND_BODY
#   Elements: 3 (2 text, 1 shapes, 0 images, 0 other)

presentations read

Read presentation text content from all slides, or export as PDF.

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations read PRESENTATION_ID

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --format - Output format: text (default) or pdf
- --output, -o - Output file path (used with pdf format)
- --json - Output as JSON with content field (for text format)

Example:

# Read as text (default)
python scripts/google-slides.py presentations read 1abc...xyz

# Export as PDF
python scripts/google-slides.py presentations read 1abc...xyz --format pdf --output presentation.pdf

# Output (text format):
# --- Slide 1 ---
# Welcome to Our Product
# An introduction to key features
#
# --- Slide 2 ---
# Key Metrics
# Revenue: $1.2M
# Users: 50,000
#
# --- Slide 3 ---
# | Quarter | Revenue | Growth |
# | --- | --- | --- |
# | Q1 | $250K | 10% |
# | Q2 | $300K | 20% |

Note: Text format extracts text from all shapes, text boxes, and tables on each slide (tables formatted as markdown). PDF export uses Google's native Drive API export, which requires the drive.readonly scope.

slides create

Add a new slide to a presentation.

python scripts/google-slides.py slides create PRESENTATION_ID --layout BLANK

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --layout - Slide layout (default: BLANK)
- BLANK - Empty slide
- TITLE - Title slide
- TITLE_AND_BODY - Title and body text
- TITLE_ONLY - Title only
- SECTION_HEADER - Section header
- SECTION_TITLE_AND_DESCRIPTION - Section with description
- ONE_COLUMN_TEXT - Single column of text
- MAIN_POINT - Large centered text
- BIG_NUMBER - Large number display
- --index - Insert at specific position (0-based, optional)
- --json - Output API response as JSON

Example:

# Add blank slide at the end
python scripts/google-slides.py slides create 1abc...xyz --layout BLANK

# Add title slide at position 0
python scripts/google-slides.py slides create 1abc...xyz --layout TITLE --index 0

# Output:
# ✓ Slide created successfully
#   Slide ID: slide_abc123
#   Layout: TITLE

See references/layouts-guide.md for layout details.

slides delete

Delete a slide from a presentation.

python scripts/google-slides.py slides delete PRESENTATION_ID --slide-id SLIDE_ID

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --slide-id - Slide object ID to delete (required, not the index!)
- --json - Output API response as JSON

Example:

# Get slide IDs first
python scripts/google-slides.py presentations get 1abc...xyz --json | jq '.slides[].objectId'

# Delete a slide
python scripts/google-slides.py slides delete 1abc...xyz --slide-id slide_abc123

# Output:
# ✓ Slide deleted successfully

Warning: Cannot delete the last remaining slide in a presentation.

text insert

Insert text into a slide.

python scripts/google-slides.py text insert PRESENTATION_ID \
  --slide-id SLIDE_ID \
  --text "Hello World"

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --slide-id - Slide object ID (required)
- --text - Text to insert (required)
- --x - X position in points (default: 100)
- --y - Y position in points (default: 100)
- --width - Text box width in points (default: 400)
- --height - Text box height in points (default: 100)
- --json - Output API response as JSON

Example:

# Insert text at default position
python scripts/google-slides.py text insert 1abc...xyz \
  --slide-id slide_abc123 \
  --text "Hello World"

# Insert text at custom position
python scripts/google-slides.py text insert 1abc...xyz \
  --slide-id slide_abc123 \
  --text "Q4 Results" \
  --x 50 --y 50 --width 500 --height 80

# Output:
# ✓ Text inserted successfully
#   Text: Q4 Results
#   Position: (50.0, 50.0) points
#   Size: 500.0 x 80.0 points

Note: Coordinates are in points (1 point = 1/72 inch). Origin (0,0) is top-left.

shapes create

Create a shape on a slide.

python scripts/google-slides.py shapes create PRESENTATION_ID \
  --slide-id SLIDE_ID \
  --shape-type RECTANGLE

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --slide-id - Slide object ID (required)
- --shape-type - Shape type (required)
- RECTANGLE, ELLIPSE, TRIANGLE, PENTAGON, HEXAGON
- STAR_5, STAR_8, STAR_24, STAR_32
- CLOUD, HEART, LIGHTNING_BOLT, MOON, SUN
- ARROW_NORTH, ARROW_EAST, ARROW_SOUTH, ARROW_WEST
- And many more (see references/shapes-guide.md)
- --x - X position in points (default: 100)
- --y - Y position in points (default: 100)
- --width - Shape width in points (default: 200)
- --height - Shape height in points (default: 200)
- --json - Output API response as JSON

Example:

# Create rectangle
python scripts/google-slides.py shapes create 1abc...xyz \
  --slide-id slide_abc123 \
  --shape-type RECTANGLE

# Create star with custom size
python scripts/google-slides.py shapes create 1abc...xyz \
  --slide-id slide_abc123 \
  --shape-type STAR_5 \
  --x 300 --y 200 --width 150 --height 150

# Output:
# ✓ Shape created successfully
#   Type: STAR_5
#   Position: (300.0, 200.0) points
#   Size: 150.0 x 150.0 points

See references/shapes-guide.md for all shape types.

images create

Insert an image into a slide.

python scripts/google-slides.py images create PRESENTATION_ID \
  --slide-id SLIDE_ID \
  --image-url "https://example.com/image.png"

Arguments:
- presentation_id - The Google Slides presentation ID

Options:
- --slide-id - Slide object ID (required)
- --image-url - Image URL (required, must be publicly accessible)
- --x - X position in points (default: 100)
- --y - Y position in points (default: 100)
- --width - Image width in points (default: 300)
- --height - Image height in points (default: 200)
- --json - Output API response as JSON

Example:

python scripts/google-slides.py images create 1abc...xyz \
  --slide-id slide_abc123 \
  --image-url "https://example.com/chart.png" \
  --x 50 --y 150 --width 400 --height 300

# Output:
# ✓ Image created successfully
#   URL: https://example.com/chart.png
#   Position: (50.0, 150.0) points
#   Size: 400.0 x 300.0 points

Note: The image URL must be publicly accessible or authenticated with Google.

Examples

Create a simple presentation

# Create presentation
PRES_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py presentations create \
  --title "Team Update" --json | jq -r '.presentationId')

# Get the default slide ID
SLIDE_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py presentations get $PRES_ID --json | \
  jq -r '.slides[0].objectId')

# Add title text
python scripts/google-slides.py text insert $PRES_ID \
  --slide-id $SLIDE_ID \
  --text "Q4 Team Update" \
  --x 50 --y 50 --width 600 --height 100

# Add subtitle
python scripts/google-slides.py text insert $PRES_ID \
  --slide-id $SLIDE_ID \
  --text "December 2024" \
  --x 50 --y 180 --width 600 --height 50

Build a multi-slide presentation

#!/bin/bash
PRES_ID="your-presentation-id"

# Add content slide
SLIDE_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py slides create $PRES_ID \
  --layout TITLE_AND_BODY --json | jq -r '.replies[0].createSlide.objectId')

# Add title
python scripts/google-slides.py text insert $PRES_ID \
  --slide-id $SLIDE_ID \
  --text "Key Metrics" \
  --x 50 --y 30 --width 600 --height 60

# Add chart image
python scripts/google-slides.py images create $PRES_ID \
  --slide-id $SLIDE_ID \
  --image-url "https://example.com/metrics.png" \
  --x 100 --y 120 --width 500 --height 350

# Add another slide with shapes
SLIDE2_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py slides create $PRES_ID \
  --layout BLANK --json | jq -r '.replies[0].createSlide.objectId')

# Add decorative shape
python scripts/google-slides.py shapes create $PRES_ID \
  --slide-id $SLIDE2_ID \
  --shape-type STAR_5 \
  --x 550 --y 30 --width 80 --height 80

Create presentation from data

#!/bin/bash

# Create presentation
PRES_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py presentations create \
  --title "Sales Report" --json | jq -r '.presentationId')

# Add slide for each region
for region in "North" "South" "East" "West"; do
  SLIDE_ID=$(python scripts/google-slides.py slides create $PRES_ID \
    --layout TITLE_AND_BODY --json | jq -r '.replies[0].createSlide.objectId')

  python scripts/google-slides.py text insert $PRES_ID \
    --slide-id $SLIDE_ID \
    --text "$region Region Sales" \
    --x 50 --y 30 --width 600 --height 80
done

Coordinate System

Google Slides uses points for positioning and sizing:
- 1 point = 1/72 inch
- 1 inch = 72 points
- Origin (0, 0) is at the top-left corner
- Standard slide size: 720 x 540 points (10 x 7.5 inches)

Common reference positions:

(0, 0)                                    (720, 0)
  ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  Title area                           │
  │  (50, 50, 620, 80)                    │
  │                                       │
  │  Content area                         │
  │  (50, 150, 620, 350)                  │
  │                                       │
  │                                       │
  └───────────────────────────────────────┘
(0, 540)                                (720, 540)

Troubleshooting

"Insufficient scope" errors

You need to revoke and re-authenticate to grant additional permissions:

1. Go to https://myaccount.google.com/permissions
2. Find "Agent Skills" and remove access
3. Delete stored token: keyring del agent-skills google-slides-token-json
4. Run python scripts/google-slides.py check to re-authenticate

Cannot find presentation

Make sure you're using the correct presentation ID from the URL:
- URL: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1abc...xyz/edit
- Presentation ID: 1abc...xyz

Cannot find slide ID

Slide IDs are object IDs, not indices. Get them with:

python scripts/google-slides.py presentations get $PRES_ID --json | \
  jq -r '.slides[] | "\(.objectId) (index \(.slideProperties.slideIndex))"'

Image not appearing

The image URL must be:
- Publicly accessible (no authentication required), OR
- Accessible to the Google account you're using

Test the URL in a browser. If it requires authentication, you'll need to:
1. Upload the image to Google Drive
2. Make it publicly accessible or share it with your Google account
3. Use the Google Drive URL

Slide position/size issues

Remember:
- Coordinates are in points, not pixels
- Standard slide: 720 x 540 points
- Elements outside slide boundaries won't be visible
- Use --x, --y, --width, --height to position elements

Dependencies not found

Install required dependencies:

pip install --user google-auth google-auth-oauthlib google-api-python-client keyring pyyaml

OAuth flow fails

Ensure your GCP project has:
1. Google Slides API enabled (slides.googleapis.com)
2. OAuth 2.0 credentials created
3. OAuth consent screen configured
4. Your email added as a test user (if app is in testing mode)

See docs/gcp-project-setup.md for detailed instructions.

Related Skills

• Google Drive - File management (Drive manages file metadata, Slides manages content)
• Google Docs - Document creation and editing
• Google Sheets - Spreadsheet management

API Reference

For advanced usage, see:
- Google Slides API Documentation
- Working with presentations
- Layouts guide
- Shapes guide