Google Slides

Google Slides

Read and edit Google Slides presentations through the Google Drive connector.

Official docs: https://developers.google.com/workspace/slides/api/reference/rest

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Read presentation structure, slide content, or speaker notes
• Create presentations or slides
• Insert, replace, delete, or format presentation text
• Update speaker notes without changing slide content or design
• Generate slide thumbnails

Prerequisites

Connect the Google Drive connector at app.okou.ai/connectors.

Troubleshooting: If requests fail, run okou doctor check-connector --env-name GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN or okou doctor check-connector --url https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id> --method GET

The Slides API reuses $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN. Reading presentations is allowed by default. Creating or modifying presentations requires the presentations.create or presentations.write Google Drive connector permission.

How to Use

Base URL: https://slides.googleapis.com/v1

The presentation ID is in the URL:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/<presentation-id>/edit

1. Read a Presentation

Read the presentation structure, slides, page elements, and notes pages:

curl -s "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" | jq '{presentationId, title, revisionId, slides}'

2. List Speaker Notes

Read every slide's speaker notes object ID and current text:

curl -s "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" | jq '[.slides[] | .slideProperties.notesPage as $notes | {slideObjectId: .objectId, speakerNotesObjectId: $notes.notesProperties.speakerNotesObjectId, text: ([$notes.pageElements[]? | select(.objectId == $notes.notesProperties.speakerNotesObjectId) | .shape.text.textElements[]?.textRun.content] | join(""))}]'

Always read the presentation immediately before editing. Object IDs can change when a presentation is edited in the Google Slides UI.

3. Replace Existing Speaker Notes

Use the speakerNotesObjectId returned by the previous request. Write to /tmp/google_slides_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "deleteText": {
        "objectId": "<speaker-notes-object-id>",
        "textRange": {
          "type": "ALL"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "insertText": {
        "objectId": "<speaker-notes-object-id>",
        "insertionIndex": 0,
        "text": "Updated speaker notes"
      }
    }
  ],
  "writeControl": {
    "requiredRevisionId": "<revision-id>"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>:batchUpdate" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/google_slides_request.json | jq '{presentationId, writeControl}'

When updating multiple slides, include each slide's deleteText and insertText requests in the same requests array. A batch update is atomic: if one request is invalid, none of the changes are applied.

4. Add Speaker Notes to an Empty Notes Shape

If the speaker notes shape has no text, omit deleteText. Write to /tmp/google_slides_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "insertText": {
        "objectId": "<speaker-notes-object-id>",
        "insertionIndex": 0,
        "text": "New speaker notes"
      }
    }
  ],
  "writeControl": {
    "requiredRevisionId": "<revision-id>"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>:batchUpdate" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/google_slides_request.json | jq '{presentationId, writeControl}'

The Slides API creates the speaker notes shape automatically when it receives a valid text operation using a speakerNotesObjectId that does not yet have a shape.

5. Create a Presentation

Write to /tmp/google_slides_request.json:

{
  "title": "Quarterly Review"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/google_slides_request.json | jq '{presentationId, title, url: ("https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/" + .presentationId + "/edit")}'

6. Replace Text Throughout a Presentation

Write to /tmp/google_slides_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "replaceAllText": {
        "containsText": {
          "text": "Old text",
          "matchCase": true
        },
        "replaceText": "New text"
      }
    }
  ],
  "writeControl": {
    "requiredRevisionId": "<revision-id>"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>:batchUpdate" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/google_slides_request.json | jq '.replies[0].replaceAllText'

7. Create a Slide

Write to /tmp/google_slides_request.json:

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "createSlide": {
        "insertionIndex": 1,
        "slideLayoutReference": {
          "predefinedLayout": "TITLE_AND_BODY"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "writeControl": {
    "requiredRevisionId": "<revision-id>"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>:batchUpdate" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/google_slides_request.json | jq '.replies[0].createSlide.objectId'

8. Get a Slide Thumbnail

curl -s "https://slides.googleapis.com/v1/presentations/<presentation-id>/pages/<page-object-id>/thumbnail" --header "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_DRIVE_TOKEN" | jq '{contentUrl, width, height}'

Guidelines

1. Read the latest presentation and revision ID immediately before writing.
2. Use writeControl.requiredRevisionId to avoid overwriting concurrent edits.
3. Batch related changes so dependent requests succeed or fail together.
4. Only the text inside the speaker notes shape is editable; other notes-page properties are read-only.
5. Preserve slide content and design when the request only concerns speaker notes.
6. Request presentations.write only when a mutation is required.