Google Slides

Google Slides

Overview

Use this skill when the artifact is a Google Slides deck. Slides is the weakest surface for the local gog CLI: gog slides only supports create/info/copy/export, and the local OAuth token did not even include the Slides scope during testing. So content authoring goes through a conversion or raw-API path, not gog content commands.

Tested-good default: author Markdown -> pandoc PPTX -> Drive import as native Google Slides. In testing this produced a 6-slide deck with correct titles, bullet lists, and numbered lists, verified by exporting the created deck back to PPTX and reading slide XML.

Prerequisites

• gog CLI (steipete/gogcli) installed and authorized: run gog auth login once in the operating-system user's real $HOME. The Drive import path only needs Drive auth; it does not require the Slides API scope.
• python3 on PATH (the helper is stdlib-only — no pip install required).
• pandoc installed for the default Markdown -> PPTX conversion (brew install pandoc on macOS).
• The bundled scripts/gworkspace.py reuses gog's stored OAuth refresh token. If lookup fails with {"error": "missing_credentials"}, see Common Pitfalls for the explicit credential-file escape hatch.

Run helper commands from the skill directory so scripts/gworkspace.py resolves relative to $PWD, or use skills/google-slides/scripts/gworkspace.py from the repo root.

$HOME shadowing: some agent runtimes rewrite $HOME to a sandbox path where gog's auth doesn't exist. If credential lookup fails in that environment, point HOME at the real OS user home before invoking the helper.

When to Use

• User asks for a slide deck, presentation, or pitch.
• User gives an outline or Markdown and wants slides.
• User asks whether to use gog, raw API, or browser for Slides.

Do not use this for Docs or Sheets; load google-docs or google-sheets.

Path A: Markdown -> pptx -> Google Slides (default)

Author the deck as Markdown where each top-level header starts a slide, then convert and import.

# 1. Author deck.md (see authoring rules below)
# 2. Convert to pptx
pandoc deck.md -o deck.pptx

# 3. Import as native Google Slides
python3 scripts/gworkspace.py upload deck.pptx --as slide --name "Product Launch Deck" --parent FOLDER_ID

scripts/gworkspace.py sets source MIME to the pptx type and target MIME application/vnd.google-apps.presentation, producing a native editable deck.

FOLDER_ID is optional; omit --parent to create in My Drive root. To target a folder, copy the ID from its Drive URL (.../folders/<FOLDER_ID>), list folders with gog drive ls --json, or create one with python3 scripts/gworkspace.py mkdir "Decks".

Authoring rules for pandoc slides

pandoc's pptx writer creates a new slide at each level-1 (and level-2) heading. Structure the Markdown accordingly:

% Product Launch Deck % Author Name % June 2026

# Section / Slide Title

Body text for the slide.

# Why Now

- Bullet one
- Bullet two
- Bullet three

# Roadmap

1. Beta in July
2. GA in September
3. Enterprise tier in Q4

• The % title / % author / % date block becomes the title slide.
• Each # heading becomes a new slide.
• Bulleted and numbered lists render as slide bullets.
• Keep each slide to a few bullets; pandoc does not auto-shrink overflowing text.

Path B: md2googleslides (richer markdown decks)

Treat md2gslides (googleworkspace/md2googleslides) as an optional path only when it is already installed and authorized. It supports a richer slide-specific Markdown dialect (speaker notes, columns, image placement, background images), but it maintains its own OAuth in ~/.md2googleslides and can prompt interactively on first use.

md2gslides deck.md --title "Talk Title"

If md2gslides is absent or unauthenticated, fall back to Path A. Do not start an OAuth flow without the user's involvement.

Path C: raw Slides API (precise layout)

For precise control — specific layouts, text boxes at exact positions, shapes, charts, themes — use the Slides API presentations.batchUpdate. Mint a token with python3 scripts/gworkspace.py token and POST to https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/PID:batchUpdate.

Note: the Slides API requires the Slides scope. The local gog token did not include it in testing; you may need a token from a credential set authorized for https://www.googleapis.com/auth/presentations. Verify scope before relying on this path.

When to use browser automation

• Visual QA of the rendered deck.
• Applying a theme or template that is awkward via API.
• Final manual polish.

Not the primary creation backend.

Verification

python3 scripts/gworkspace.py meta PRESENTATION_ID      # native Slides MIME?
gog slides export --help >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "gog slides export unavailable"; exit 1; }
gog slides export PRESENTATION_ID --format pptx --output /tmp/deck-check.pptx --json --no-input
python3 - <<'PY'
import zipfile, re
with zipfile.ZipFile('/tmp/deck-check.pptx') as z:
    for n in sorted(z.namelist()):
        if n.startswith('ppt/slides/slide') and n.endswith('.xml'):
            t = re.findall(r'<a:t>(.*?)</a:t>', z.read(n).decode('utf-8','replace'))
            if t: print(n, t)
PY

Confirm:

• mimeType is application/vnd.google-apps.presentation.
• Slide count matches the number of headings.
• Titles and bullets appear in the exported slide XML.
• For visual fidelity, open the webViewLink in the browser.

Safety and Approval

• "Create a deck" is approval to create the new Drive file.
• Ask before sharing, deleting, moving, or overwriting an existing presentation.
• Prefer creating a new deck over overwriting a human-edited one.

Common Pitfalls

1. Expecting gog to author slide content. Local gog slides only does create/info/copy/export — no content or layout editing. Authoring goes through conversion or the Slides API.

2. Slides API not enabled (403 accessNotConfigured). gog slides commands require the Slides API to be enabled on the OAuth project backing the gog credentials. The error reads Google Slides API has not been used in project <project> before or it is disabled, with a console URL to enable it. Fix: whoever owns the OAuth project opens that URL, clicks Enable, and waits a couple of minutes for propagation. This is a one-time setup step per OAuth project. Drive-only commands (gog drive upload/download) keep working without it, which is why the pptx import path is the default.

3. Missing Slides scope. The local gog OAuth token lacked the Slides scope in testing. Raw Slides API calls need a token authorized for https://www.googleapis.com/auth/presentations. Drive import of a pptx does not need the Slides scope, only Drive — another reason the pptx import path is the default.

4. Uploading pptx without conversion. gog drive upload deck.pptx keeps it a PowerPoint file. Use target MIME application/vnd.google-apps.presentation to get native Slides.

5. Overstuffed slides. pandoc does not auto-fit text. Keep slides short; split dense content across multiple headings.

6. Wrong heading levels. If everything lands on one slide, your Markdown probably lacks # per-slide headings. Each slide needs its own top-level heading.

7. Credential lookup fails (missing_credentials). If the helper can't find gog's token, pass credentials explicitly: export gog's refresh token to a 0600 file with gog auth tokens export <account> --output /tmp/tok.json --force (newer releases also accept --out / --overwrite; check gog auth tokens export --help). Then run the helper with --refresh-token-file /tmp/tok.json --client-secret-file <gog credentials.json>. The helper refuses explicit credential files that are group/world-readable or not owned by you — chmod 600 them. These flags work before or after the subcommand. For a gog named client or a non-default gog home, use --gog-client <name> / --gog-home <dir> (or the GOG_CLIENT / GOG_HOME env vars).

8. Sharing is externally consequential. Permissions can be revoked, but scripts/gworkspace.py share PRESENTATION_ID --email... --role... grants real Drive access. Confirm recipient and role with the user before using it.

One-Shot Recipe

cat > /tmp/deck.md <<'MD'
% Demo Deck
% Your Name
% Today

# Overview

- Point one
- Point two

# Next Steps

1. Do the thing
2. Ship it
MD
pandoc /tmp/deck.md -o /tmp/deck.pptx
python3 scripts/gworkspace.py upload /tmp/deck.pptx --as slide --name "Demo Deck"

Return the resulting webViewLink to the user.