Google Slides (Cloud Presentation Skill)

Access the Google Slides API (v1) with managed OAuth authentication via Maton. Create presentations, inspect slide layouts, insert shapes/text/images, and update slide content.

⚠️ Cloud vs. Local File Scope Distinction:

• google-slides (This Skill): Exclusively for online Google Slides cloud presentations (docs.google.com/presentation/d/{presentationId}). Interacts directly with Google's cloud servers via Maton OAuth API proxy.
• pptx Skill: For reading, creating, or editing local .pptx / .ppt files stored on the local disk.

Quick Start

CLI:

# Get Presentation structure & slides
maton api '/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>'

# Create a new Google Presentation
maton api -X POST /google-slides/v1/presentations -d '{"title": "Q3 Keynote Pitch"}'

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/{native-api-path}

Maton proxies requests to slides.googleapis.com and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Note: Unlike Calendar, Tasks, Docs, and Sheets, Maton CLI currently accesses Google Slides via the generic maton api proxy command (maton api /google-slides/v1/...).

CLI Installation (optional — agent decides)

Maton CLI is optional. Agent can decide whether to install it based on the environment.

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://maton.ai/install.sh | bash

Windows

irm https://maton.ai/install.ps1 | iex

npm (cross-platform)

npm install -g @maton/cli

Homebrew (macOS)

brew install maton-ai/cli/maton

After installation, verify with:

maton --version

Authentication

CLI:

maton login                          # Opens browser for API key
maton login --interactive            # Skip browser, paste API key directly
maton whoami                         # Show current auth state

Manual:

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key
4. Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Connection Management

Manage your Google Slides OAuth connections at https://api.maton.ai.

List Connections

CLI:

maton connection list google-slides --status ACTIVE

maton api -X GET /connections -f app=google-slides -f status=ACTIVE

Create Connection

CLI:

maton connection create google-slides

maton api /connections -f app=google-slides

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "{connection_id}",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "google-slides"
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Get Connection

CLI:

maton connection get {connection_id}                 # alias: maton connection view

maton api /connections/{connection_id}

Delete Connection

CLI:

maton connection delete {connection_id} --yes

maton api -X DELETE /connections/{connection_id}

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Google Slides connections, specify which one to use:

CLI:

maton api /google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId> --connection {connection_id}

Python:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '{connection_id}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If you have multiple connections, always specify the connection to ensure requests go to the intended account.

Security & Permissions

• Access is scoped to Google Slides within the connected Google account.
• All write, update, create slide, and delete operations require explicit user approval. Confirm target presentation ID and modification details with the user before executing.

API Reference

1. Get Presentation

Retrieve presentation metadata, total slides count, page elements (shapes, text frames, images, tables), and slide dimensions.

GET /google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentationId}

Example CLI:

maton api '/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>'

2. Create Presentation

Create a blank presentation.

POST /google-slides/v1/presentations
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Product Roadmap 2026"
}

Example CLI:

maton api -X POST /google-slides/v1/presentations -d '{"title": "Product Roadmap 2026"}'

3. Batch Update Slides & Page Elements

Add slides, delete slides, insert text, create shapes, add images, or transform element positioning on pages.

POST /google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentationId}:batchUpdate
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "createSlide": {
        "objectId": "slide_page_02",
        "insertionIndex": 1,
        "slideLayout": {
          "predefinedLayout": "TITLE_AND_BODY"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Example CLI:

maton api -X POST /google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>:batchUpdate \
  -d '{"requests":[{"createSlide":{"objectId":"slide_page_02","insertionIndex":1,"slideLayout":{"predefinedLayout":"TITLE_AND_BODY"}}}]}'

Common Request Types for batchUpdate:

1. createSlide: Add a new slide page with a layout (TITLE, TITLE_AND_BODY, SECTION_HEADER, BLANK).
2. createShape: Add shapes (rectangles, text boxes, callouts) to a slide page.
3. insertText: Insert text into a shape or text box by objectId.
4. replaceAllText: Search and replace text across all slides in the deck.

   {
     "replaceAllText": {
       "containsText": {
         "text": "{{COMPANY}}",
         "matchCase": true
       },
       "replaceText": "Acme Corp"
     }
   }

5. createImage: Add an image element to a slide given an image URL.
6. deleteObject: Delete a slide, shape, image, or table element by ID.

Code Examples

CLI

# Create a presentation
maton api -X POST /google-slides/v1/presentations -d '{"title": "Demo Pitch"}'

# Get presentation details
maton api '/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>'

JavaScript

// Get presentation details
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    }
  }
);
const pres = await response.json();
console.log('Title:', pres.title);
console.log('Slide Count:', pres.slides?.length);

// Create new presentation
const createRes = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      title: 'Q3 All-Hands'
    })
  }
);
const newPres = await createRes.json();
console.log('Presentation ID:', newPres.presentationId);

Python: List Slide Titles in a Presentation

import os, json, urllib.request

presentation_id = "<presentationId>"
url = f"https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentation_id}"

req = urllib.request.Request(url)
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')

pres = json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req))
slides = pres.get('slides', [])

print(f"Presentation Title: {pres.get('title')}")
print(f"Total Slides: {len(slides)}")

for idx, slide in enumerate(slides, 1):
    slide_id = slide.get('objectId')
    page_elements = slide.get('pageElements', [])
    print(f"Slide {idx} (ID: {slide_id}): {len(page_elements)} elements")

Notes

• Presentation IDs are opaque strings (extracted from https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/<presentationId>/edit).
• Slides modifications require batchUpdate. Each modification request inside requests is processed atomically.
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets to disable glob parsing.
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments. You may get "Invalid API key" errors when piping.

Error Handling

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

CLI:

maton whoami
maton connection list google-slides

Manual:

echo $MATON_API_KEY
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

1. Ensure your URL path starts with google-slides. For example:

• Correct: https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>
• Incorrect: https://api.maton.ai/slides/v1/presentations/<presentationId>

Resources

• Google Slides REST API v1 Reference
• Slides API Structural Overview
• Maton CLI Manual
• Maton Community
• Maton Support