Google Slides

Access the Google Slides API with managed OAuth authentication. Create and manage presentations, add slides, insert text and images, and control formatting.

Quick Start

# Create a new presentation
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'title': 'My Presentation'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
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.

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

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

Connection Management

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

List Connections

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

Create Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'google-slides'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

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

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "{connection_id}",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "google-slides",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

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

Delete Connection

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

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Google Slides connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'title': 'My Presentation'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
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 include this header to ensure requests go to the intended account.

Security & Permissions

• Access is scoped to presentations, slides, and slide content within the connected Google Slides account.
• All write operations require explicit user approval. Before executing any create, update, or delete call, confirm the target resource and intended effect with the user.

API Reference

Presentations

Create Presentation

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

{
  "title": "My Presentation"
}

Get Presentation

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

Pages (Slides)

Get Page

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

Get Page Thumbnail

GET /google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentationId}/pages/{pageId}/thumbnail

With custom size:

GET /google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentationId}/pages/{pageId}/thumbnail?thumbnailProperties.mimeType=PNG&thumbnailProperties.thumbnailSize=LARGE

Batch Update

The batchUpdate endpoint is used for most modifications. It accepts an array of requests that are applied atomically.

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

{
  "requests": [...]
}

Create Slide

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "createSlide": {
        "objectId": "slide_001",
        "slideLayoutReference": {
          "predefinedLayout": "TITLE_AND_BODY"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Available predefined layouts:

• BLANK
• TITLE
• TITLE_AND_BODY
• TITLE_AND_TWO_COLUMNS
• TITLE_ONLY
• SECTION_HEADER
• ONE_COLUMN_TEXT
• MAIN_POINT
• BIG_NUMBER

Insert Text

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "insertText": {
        "objectId": "{shapeId}",
        "text": "Hello, World!",
        "insertionIndex": 0
      }
    }
  ]
}

Delete Text

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "deleteText": {
        "objectId": "{shapeId}",
        "textRange": {
          "type": "ALL"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Create Shape

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "createShape": {
        "objectId": "shape_001",
        "shapeType": "TEXT_BOX",
        "elementProperties": {
          "pageObjectId": "{slideId}",
          "size": {
            "width": {"magnitude": 300, "unit": "PT"},
            "height": {"magnitude": 100, "unit": "PT"}
          },
          "transform": {
            "scaleX": 1,
            "scaleY": 1,
            "translateX": 100,
            "translateY": 100,
            "unit": "PT"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Create Image

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "createImage": {
        "objectId": "image_001",
        "url": "https://example.com/image.png",
        "elementProperties": {
          "pageObjectId": "{slideId}",
          "size": {
            "width": {"magnitude": 200, "unit": "PT"},
            "height": {"magnitude": 200, "unit": "PT"}
          },
          "transform": {
            "scaleX": 1,
            "scaleY": 1,
            "translateX": 200,
            "translateY": 200,
            "unit": "PT"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Delete Object

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "deleteObject": {
        "objectId": "{objectId}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Update Text Style

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "updateTextStyle": {
        "objectId": "{shapeId}",
        "textRange": {
          "type": "ALL"
        },
        "style": {
          "bold": true,
          "fontSize": {"magnitude": 24, "unit": "PT"},
          "foregroundColor": {
            "opaqueColor": {
              "rgbColor": {"red": 0.2, "green": 0.4, "blue": 0.8}
            }
          }
        },
        "fields": "bold,fontSize,foregroundColor"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Replace All Text

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

{
  "requests": [
    {
      "replaceAllText": {
        "containsText": {
          "text": "{{placeholder}}",
          "matchCase": true
        },
        "replaceText": "Actual Value"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Code Examples

JavaScript

// Create a presentation
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ title: 'My Presentation' })
  }
);

const presentation = await response.json();
const presentationId = presentation.presentationId;

// Add a slide
await fetch(
  `https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/${presentationId}:batchUpdate`,
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      requests: [
        {
          createSlide: {
            slideLayoutReference: { predefinedLayout: 'TITLE_AND_BODY' }
          }
        }
      ]
    })
  }
);

Python

import os
import requests

headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'
}

# Create a presentation
response = requests.post(
    'https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations',
    headers=headers,
    json={'title': 'My Presentation'}
)
presentation = response.json()
presentation_id = presentation['presentationId']

# Add a slide
requests.post(
    f'https://api.maton.ai/google-slides/v1/presentations/{presentation_id}:batchUpdate',
    headers=headers,
    json={
        'requests': [
            {
                'createSlide': {
                    'slideLayoutReference': {'predefinedLayout': 'TITLE_AND_BODY'}
                }
            }
        ]
    }
)

Notes

• Object IDs must be unique within a presentation
• Use batchUpdate for all modifications (adding slides, text, shapes, etc.)
• Multiple requests in a batchUpdate are applied atomically
• Sizes and positions use PT (points) as the unit (72 points = 1 inch)
• Use replaceAllText for template-based presentation generation
• 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

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

1. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

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
• Incorrect: https://api.maton.ai/slides/v1/presentations

Resources

• Slides API Overview
• Presentations
• Pages
• BatchUpdate Requests
• Page Layouts
• Maton Community
• Maton Support