Google Slides

Google Slides is a connector: it links a MeDo app to one Google account, so the app can create a presentation from text, add slides to an existing deck, copy a template deck and fill its placeholders, find a deck by its exact title, read slide text, and show slide preview images. Deleting or reordering slides, choosing a folder, exporting PDF or PowerPoint files, and changing sharing are not included.

#What you can build

• A deck viewer. Type a presentation's exact title and see each slide's preview image and text.
• A pitch deck generator. Turn a project brief into a new presentation with a title slide and bullet slides, then open the link.
• A proposal builder. Copy your template deck and fill in the client name, date, and total from a form after you review the values.
• A weekly report tool. Add a summary slide with this week's numbers to an existing presentation at the click of a button.

Google Slides fits when the result should be a real presentation in your Google account — proposals, reports, pitch decks, certificates. It does not replace the Slides editor: layout, images inside existing slides, and speaker notes cannot be edited, see Limits.

#Build examples

Copy one of these into the prompt box. The first one is the smallest useful starting point and only reads data.

Use @Google Slides to build a private deck viewer where I type a presentation's exact title and see each slide's preview image and text.

Use @Google Slides to build a private pitch deck generator that turns a project brief I paste into a new presentation with a title slide and bullet slides, then shows the link.

Use @Google Slides to build a private proposal builder that copies my template deck and fills {{client_name}}, {{date}}, and {{total}} from a form after I review the values.

Use @Google Slides to build a private weekly report tool that adds a summary slide with this week's numbers to an existing presentation when I click Add.

Say who may use the app. "Private", "internal", or "only I can sign in" asks for a sign-in; "public" or "visitors do not sign in" asks for an open page. MeDo states the choice it made at the end of its reply. Check it, and ask for a change if it does not match what you meant.

#Prepare and connect

You need a Google account that can open the presentations the app should use, or that will hold the new ones. No API key, no Google Cloud project, and no billing setup are involved.

1. Open Skills & Connectors in the sidebar and search for Google Slides.
2. Open the Google Slides card and click Connect.
3. Sign in to the Google account. On the access page, tick both the Google Drive and the Google Slides boxes — Google leaves them unticked — and continue.
4. The button changes to Connected.

Both permissions are needed: finding a presentation by title and copying a template use Google Drive access. If reading a deck works but finding or copying one fails, disconnect Google Slides on its card, connect again, and tick both boxes.

If you start building before connecting, MeDo shows a Google Slides connection button under its reply. You can connect there instead.

#Use it in your app

• The app uses your connected account, not each visitor's Google account. Every presentation it creates or copies is a file in your Google Drive.
• Decide who can use it. A private app should have its own sign-in, limited to the intended people. A public page — a certificate generator, for example — works when the app itself fixes the template and the placeholders, and visitors only type the values. Each submission then creates a copy in your Drive, and its calls count toward the daily limit shared by all your connectors.
• Two ways to make a deck. From content: the app writes title, bullet, table, quote, image, and two-column slides into a new presentation, or adds them to an existing one. From a template: the app copies your branded deck, keeps its theme and layouts, and fills placeholders. Use the template route when the design matters.
• Pick placeholders that cannot collide. Text such as {{client_name}} is replaced on every slide, and the match ignores upper and lower case, so a plain word like Date would also change ordinary text. Ask the app to tell you which placeholders it did not find.
• Choose the presentation once. Paste its link or type its exact title. For a deck the app uses every time, such as a template or a weekly report, ask it to remember that deck instead of searching again.
• Review before writing. Ask the app to show the values or the new slide before it writes, as the proposal example does. Each create or copy makes a real file, and each append changes a real deck.
• New files land in My Drive. Who can open a deck follows its sharing in Google Drive; the app does not change it.
• Previews are short-lived. Slide preview images expire after about 30 minutes, so the app fetches them when the page shows them. Reads happen when a page opens or you refresh it.

#Limits and troubleshooting

"Connection required" appears in the app. Ask the app owner to open the connector card and click Connect, then reload.

A deck cannot be found, or copying fails while reading works. Finding needs the full title. If the title is right, disconnect Google Slides on its card, connect again, and tick both Google Drive and Google Slides on the access page.

A placeholder was not replaced. Check that the template contains exactly that text, including the braces, and ask the app to list the placeholders it did not find.

An image slide shows only its heading. The image link must be public and point to a PNG, JPEG, or GIF file. A link the service cannot fetch is skipped without an error.

A slide preview stopped loading. Preview links expire after about 30 minutes. Refresh the page.

The app is open to visitors when you meant it to be private. Ask MeDo to add sign-in and require it for every Google Slides action; see Managing access & roles.

#Related

• Connector catalog — the other connectors and what they are for.
• Google Docs — documents, not presentations.
• Google Drive — files and folders across your Drive.
• Skills & Connectors — how Skills are called, priced, and limited.
• Managing access & roles — restrict who can read and change connected data.