Google Slides MCP server

Automate presentation creation and updates with an AI agent that builds slides, inserts content, and applies formatting. This MCP server enables creating slides from templates, adding charts from spreadsheets, and applying company branding—turning data into polished presentations without manual work.

Setting up an MCP server

This article covers the standard steps for creating an MCP server in AI Gateway and connecting it to an AI client. The steps are the same for every integration — application-specific details (API credentials, OAuth endpoints, and scopes) are covered in the individual application pages.

Before you begin

You'll need:

• Access to AI Gateway with permission to create MCP servers
• API credentials for the application you're connecting (see the relevant application page for what to collect)

Create an MCP server

Find the API in the catalog

1. Sign in to AI Gateway and select MCP Servers from the left navigation.
2. Select New MCP Server.
3. Search for the application you want to connect, then select it from the catalog.

Configure the server

1. Enter a Name for your server — something descriptive that identifies both the application and its purpose (for example, "Zendesk Support — Prod").
2. Enter a Description so your team knows what the server is for.
3. Set the Timeout value. 30 seconds works for most APIs; increase to 60 seconds for APIs that return large payloads.
4. Toggle Production mode on if this server will be used in a live workflow.
5. Select Next.

Configure authentication

Enter the authentication details for the application. This varies by service — see the Authentication section of the relevant application page for the specific credentials, OAuth URLs, and scopes to use.

Configure security

1. Set any Rate limits appropriate for your use case and the API's own limits.
2. Enable Logging if you want AI Gateway to record requests and responses for auditing.
3. Select Next.

Deploy

Review the summary, then select Deploy. AI Gateway provisions the server and provides a server URL you'll use when configuring your AI client.

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Connect to an AI client

Once your server is deployed, you'll need to add it to the AI client your team uses. Select your client for setup instructions:

• Claude Desktop
• Claude Code
• Cursor
• VS Code
• Windsurf

Tips

• You can create multiple MCP servers for the same application — for example, a read-only server for reporting agents and a read-write server for automation workflows.
• If you're unsure which OAuth scopes to request, start with the minimum read-only set and add write scopes only when needed. Most application pages include scope recommendations.
• You can edit a server's name, description, timeout, and security settings after deployment without redeploying.

Authentication

Google Slides API uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. Create OAuth credentials in Google Cloud Console with application type "Web application" and add the redirect URI https://auth.aigateway.cequence.ai/v1/outbound/oauth/callback. The authorization endpoint is https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth and token endpoint is https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token. Key scopes include https://www.googleapis.com/auth/presentations (full read/write access to presentations), https://www.googleapis.com/auth/presentations.readonly (read-only), and https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file (file operations).

Available tools

These tools enable slide creation, content insertion, formatting, and presentation management.

Tool	Description
Create presentation	Create a new blank presentation
Get presentation	Retrieve presentation metadata and slide structure
Batch update	Apply multiple slide edits in one request
Add slide	Insert a new blank or templated slide
Delete slide	Remove a slide from the presentation
Replace all text	Find and replace text across all slides
Insert text box	Add a text box to a slide
Insert shape	Add rectangles, circles, arrows, or custom shapes
Insert image	Embed an image from a URL or Drive
Insert table	Create a table with specified rows and columns
Update element	Modify position, size, rotation, or properties of an element
Delete element	Remove a shape, text box, image, or table from a slide
Apply layout	Change the slide layout (title, title/content, blank, etc.)
Update text style	Modify font, size, color, and alignment of text
Create link	Add hyperlinks to text or shapes
Insert line chart	Add a line chart linked to Sheets data
Insert bar chart	Add a bar chart with specified data
Insert pie chart	Add a pie chart visualization
Update page properties	Modify slide background color or image

Tips

Use presentations.readonly with drive.readonly when building presentation dashboards or reports where the agent only needs to read existing slides.

Create a master template with placeholders and have the agent populate it rather than constructing slides element by element—template-based creation is more reliable than building from scratch.

Link charts to Google Sheets data sources so they update automatically when the underlying data changes; this keeps presentations current without manual intervention.

Test image URLs before inserting them; broken image links make presentations look unfinished.

Include a final human review step before sharing when automating presentation generation for external audiences—an extra pair of eyes catches formatting issues and ensures the message is clear.

Avoid deeply nested shapes or complex layouts that may not render correctly; stick to simpler designs that work reliably across the API.