Google Slides authoring

Coordinates are POINTS from the slide's top-left; a standard slide is 720x405 (read_slide_layout reports the real size). Everything is addressed by objectId from

read_presentation

. Pass

requiredRevisionId

from the latest read or write so a concurrent edit fails the write instead of corrupting it.

Building a new deck: compose, then look

Write each slide as a layout, not as coordinates.

compose_slide

takes a tree (stacks, grids, cards, text, images) or an HTML/CSS subset and lays the whole slide out in one call: equal peer sizes, even gutters, vertical centering, and contrast pairs hold by construction, text can

fit: "shrink"

, and the reply carries every element's box plus lints on the plan. Per slide:

```
add_slide
```
layout BLANK (or the deck's first slide with
```
clear: true
```
), then
```
compose_slide
```
with the SAME
```
theme
```
every time (palette roles background/surface/primary/textSecondary and the font family). Colors in the tree are roles, not hexes, so one theme change restyles a deck.
Read the reply's
```
issues
```
.
```
text_overflow
```
means shorten,
```
fit: "shrink"
```
, or give the node more
```
size
```
; an
```
overlap
```
means two nodes share a box (usually a row that needs
```
gap
```
).
```
get_slide_thumbnail
```
(LARGE) once per slide and LOOK at it: crowding, dead corners, a title that reads as body text, an image fighting the palette. Fix by re-composing the slide (delete the old elements first, or compose onto a fresh BLANK slide and
```
delete_object
```
the old one).

Tree recipes (column root; the root box is the slide minus a 48 pt margin):

Title slide:

stack column justify:center

with a

display

text and an

h2

subtitle in

textSecondary

, both

align:center

KPI cards:
```
h1
```
, then a
```
stack row size:150 gap:24
```
of
```
card
```
s, each with a
```
caption
```
label (
```
textSecondary
```
) over a
```
kpi
```
value.

Text + image:

stack row gap:32

of a

body

text (

bullets:true

size:{flex:1}

) and an

image

(

size:{flex:1}

); the image aspect-fits.

Agenda: one
```
body
```
text with newline-separated items and
```
bullets:true
```
.

HTML form, same result:

<section style="background:#0B2A4A; padding:48pt; gap:24pt">

with

<h1>

<div style="display:flex; gap:24pt; height:150pt">

<article class="card"><span class="caption">…</span><span class="kpi">…</span></article>

<ul><li>

bullets,

<img style="flex:1">

. Only the documented tags and properties compile; anything else is refused by name, never dropped.

Editing an existing deck: place, inspect, fix, look

For decks that already have content, or elements the tree does not model:

```
insert_grid
```
for any row, column, or grid of cards/text/images (one call, aligned, equal sizes);
```
insert_text_box
```
/
```
insert_shape
```
/
```
insert_image
```
for singletons.
```
read_slide_layout
```
: every element's box, z-order, text style, estimated wrapped height (
```
textFit.fits
```
), and
```
issues
```
. Fix every
```
error
```
and
```
warn
```
(
```
text_overflow
```
,
```
overlap
```
,
```
off_slide
```
,
```
low_contrast
```
with the fill actually behind the text named) and the
```
info
```
items when cheap (
```
near_miss_alignment
```
,
```
unequal_peers
```
,
```
tight_margin
```
,
```
empty_placeholder
```
).
```
get_slide_thumbnail
```
once the lints are clean, and look.

Grid conventions (when placing by hand)

Title at x 40, y 32, 640 wide, height 60-70 for one line of 28-34 pt (two lines need ~110); subtitle under it at 16-18 pt. Content region x 40, y 130, 640 x 235 (insert_grid's default). Footer at y 370, 12 pt. Keep 40 pt side margins unless an element is deliberately full-bleed. Process flows:

insert_grid

the step shapes (columns = steps), then

connect_shapes

between neighbors; connectors follow shapes when moved.

A 34 pt bold title wraps past ~32 characters in a 600 pt box and spills over whatever sits below (the API does not grow boxes).

textFit

in the layout read and

issues

in the compose reply predict this; long titles go to 24-28 pt,

fit: "shrink"

, or two lines with the subtitle pushed down.

Palette and contrast

Pick a palette FIRST and reuse it on every slide (as

compose_slide

theme.palette

): background, one card/surface color, one accent, and a secondary text color; on-colors derive automatically. When the user names a template or brand, take its colors; otherwise these pairs pass WCAG AA as-is:

Dark: background #0B2A4A, cards #1E4976, accent #4FC3F7, titles/text #FFFFFF, secondary #B8CCE0.
Light: background #FFFFFF, cards #F1F3F4, accent #0B57D0 (white text on it), text #202124, secondary #444746.

Text color never defaults sensibly on a colored fill: every text-bearing call picks its color against the fill BEHIND the text (the card's, not the slide's). No mid-gray on mid-anything; on white, secondary text is #444746 or darker (#5F6368 is borderline, lighter fails). For a template or brand palette, run

check_contrast

on every text/fill pair you intend to use before writing (it returns a passing tint or shade for each failing pair);

low_contrast

in the layout read is the check afterwards.

Tables on colored slides render dark-on-dark from theme fills:

set_table_cell_fill

every cell (light fill + dark text, or accent + white) and restyle with

set_text_style

(cellRow/cellColumn). Prefer stat cards over a grid of numbers on title and summary slides; a table only for genuinely tabular data, with the header row filled in the accent and kept to a handful of rows.

Slides and repetition

```
create_presentation
```
starts with one blank slide (delete its placeholders, or fill them with
```
set_shape_text
```
); it cannot target a folder, so move it after with google-drive
```
google_drive_move_or_rename
```
.
```
add_slide
```
with a predefined layout fills title/body placeholders in the same call (fastest theme-consistent slide);
```
move_slide
```
reorders.
Repeated layouts (one template, N variants): build the first slide fully, then per variant
```
duplicate_object
```
on the slide id (the copy lands right after) and
```
replace_text
```
scoped by
```
pageObjectIds
```
to the copy; distinct placeholders like {{TITLE}} keep the replaces unambiguous.
```
set_shape_text
```
REPLACES a shape's or cell's whole text (cell = {rowIndex, columnIndex});
```
set_text_style
```
restyles all of one shape or cell, not a range.
```
update_element_position
```
moves but does not resize: delete and re-create at the right size instead.
Speaker notes:
```
set_shape_text
```
with pageObjectId = the slide's notesPageId and objectId = speakerNotesObjectId from
```
read_presentation
```
.
Whole-deck render: google-drive
```
google_drive_export_file
```
(pdf).

google-slides

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content