Generate Slides (MCP) - Poesius API Documentation

Tool: `generate_slides` (Recommended)

End-to-end slide generation from a topic or document. This is the recommended tool for most use cases. When you call this tool, Poesius automatically performs three steps:

Generates the presentation narrative - Creates a McKinsey-style story, summarizing key findings and revealing insights from your content
Retrieves layout details - Gets template specifications including colors, layout zones, and design elements (defined visually in the web app at https://app.poesius.com)
Creates slides - Combines the narrative with template specs to produce professional PPTX files

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`topic`	string	No	Topic if generating from scratch
`content`	string	No	Existing markdown content to convert
`instructions`	string	Yes	Generation instructions
`template_id`	string	No	Template UUID (required if no default)
`num_slides`	integer	No	Target number of slides
`conversation_id`	string	No	Existing conversation UUID
`presentation_id`	string	No	Existing presentation UUID to add slides to
`document_base64`	string	No	Base64-encoded document

Example Request

From Topic

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "generate_slides",
    "arguments": {
      "topic": "Introduction to Machine Learning",
      "instructions": "Create a comprehensive presentation covering ML basics, algorithms, and applications",
      "template_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
      "num_slides": 20
    }
  }
}

From Document

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "generate_slides",
    "arguments": {
      "instructions": "Create a professional presentation from this document",
      "template_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
      "num_slides": 15,
      "document_base64": "<base64_encoded_document>"
    }
  }
}

Response

{
  "slides": [
    {
      "slide_id": "uuid",
      "slide_number": 1,
      "layout": "Title Slide",
      "master_name": "Master 1",
      "content": {
        "title": "Introduction to Machine Learning",
        "subtitle": "A Comprehensive Overview"
      },
      "thumbnail_url": "https://...",
      "download_url": "https://...",
      "web_url": "https://..."
    }
  ],
  "content": "Generated markdown content...",
  "presentation_id": "uuid",
  "conversation_id": "uuid",
  "slide_ids": ["uuid1", "uuid2"],
  "total_slides": 20,
  "reflection": "Generated 20 slides covering...",
  "presentation_url": "https://app.poesius.com/presentations/uuid",
  "download_url": "https://poe.poesius.com/api/v1/presentations/uuid/download"
}

Response Fields

slides: Array of slide objects with content and URLs
content: Generated markdown content
presentation_id: ID of the created presentation
conversation_id: ID of the conversation
slide_ids: Array of slide IDs
total_slides: Total number of slides created
reflection: AI reflection on what was generated
presentation_url: Web URL to view the presentation
download_url: Direct download link for PPTX

Template Required Response

If template_id is not provided and there’s no default template, you’ll receive:

{
  "requires_template": true,
  "message": "Please select a template from the list below",
  "available_templates": [
    {
      "template_id": "uuid",
      "template_name": "Professional Blue"
    }
  ],
  "default_template_id": null
}

Solution: Call list_templates first, then provide a template_id in your request.

Python Example

import requests
import base64

API_KEY = "pk_your_api_key_here"
BASE_URL = "https://poe.poesius.com/api/v1/mcp"

def read_document(file_path):
    with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
        return base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode('utf-8')

def generate_slides(topic=None, instructions, template_id, num_slides, document_path=None):
    arguments = {
        "instructions": instructions,
        "template_id": template_id,
        "num_slides": num_slides
    }
    
    if topic:
        arguments["topic"] = topic
    
    if document_path:
        arguments["document_base64"] = read_document(document_path)
    
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/messages",
        headers={
            "X-API-Key": API_KEY,
            "Content-Type": "application/json"
        },
        json={
            "method": "tools/call",
            "params": {
                "name": "generate_slides",
                "arguments": arguments
            }
        }
    )
    return response.json()

# Generate from topic
result = generate_slides(
    topic="Quarterly Business Review",
    instructions="Create a comprehensive presentation with 15 slides",
    template_id="123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
    num_slides=15
)

print(f"Generated {result['result']['total_slides']} slides")
print(f"Download URL: {result['result']['download_url']}")

Best Practices

Use Templates: Always specify a template_id for consistent branding
Clear Instructions: Be specific about what you want in the presentation
Slide Count: Specify a target number based on your needs
Document Encoding: Ensure documents are properly base64-encoded

Two-Step Process

Learn about the two-step generation process for more control

List Templates

Discover available templates

Examples

See more MCP examples

​Tool: generate_slides (Recommended)

​Parameters

​Example Request

​From Topic

​From Document

​Response

​Response Fields

​Template Required Response

​Python Example

​Best Practices