Two-Step Process - Poesius API Documentation

Overview

The two-step process gives you more control over the generation workflow:

Step 1: Generate presentation narrative and markdown content (McKinsey-style story with key findings and insights)
Step 2: Create actual PPTX slides from the content using template layouts

This approach is useful when you want to review or edit the narrative before creating slides. The narrative generation step automatically:

Summarizes key findings from your content
Reveals insights and patterns
Structures the story in McKinsey consulting style

Step 1: Generate Presentation Content

Tool: `generate_presentation_content`

Generate presentation narrative and markdown content (Step 1 of 2). This tool creates a McKinsey-style story that summarizes key findings and reveals insights from your content.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`topic`	string	Yes	Main topic or title
`instructions`	string	Yes	Detailed instructions
`document_base64`	string	No	Base64-encoded document
`num_slides`	integer	No	Target number of slides
`template_id`	string	No	Template UUID

Example Request

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "generate_presentation_content",
    "arguments": {
      "topic": "AI in Healthcare",
      "instructions": "Generate comprehensive content for 20 slides",
      "num_slides": 20,
      "document_base64": "<base64_document>"
    }
  }
}

Response

{
  "content": "Generated markdown content...",
  "slides": [
    {
      "slide_number": 1,
      "title": "Introduction",
      "content": "Slide content..."
    }
  ],
  "presentation_id": "uuid",
  "slide_ids": ["uuid1", "uuid2"],
  "conversation_id": "uuid"
}

Step 2: Create Slides from Content

Tool: `slide_from_content`

Create actual PPTX slides from existing markdown content (Step 2 of 2). This tool:

Retrieves layout details (colors, layout zones, typography) from your template
Applies layouts based on content type
Creates slides aligned to template specs and your narrative

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`content`	string	Yes	Markdown content
`instructions`	string	Yes	Instructions for slide generation
`template_id`	string	No	Template UUID (required if no default)
`layout_name`	string	No	Specific layout within template
`conversation_id`	string	No	Existing conversation UUID
`presentation_id`	string	No	Existing presentation UUID

Example Request

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "slide_from_content",
    "arguments": {
      "content": "<markdown_content_from_step_1>",
      "instructions": "Create professional slides with consistent styling",
      "template_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
      "presentation_id": "<presentation_id_from_step_1>"
    }
  }
}

Response

{
  "slides": [
    {
      "slide_id": "uuid",
      "slide_number": 1,
      "layout": "Title Slide",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://...",
      "download_url": "https://..."
    }
  ],
  "presentation_id": "uuid",
  "total_slides": 20
}

Complete Example

Python Implementation

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 call_mcp_tool(tool_name, arguments):
    response = requests.post(
        f"{BASE_URL}/messages",
        headers={
            "X-API-Key": API_KEY,
            "Content-Type": "application/json"
        },
        json={
            "method": "tools/call",
            "params": {
                "name": tool_name,
                "arguments": arguments
            }
        }
    )
    return response.json()

# Step 1: Generate content
document_base64 = read_document("document.pdf")
content_result = call_mcp_tool("generate_presentation_content", {
    "topic": "AI in Healthcare",
    "instructions": "Generate comprehensive content for 20 slides",
    "num_slides": 20,
    "document_base64": document_base64
})

presentation_id = content_result["result"]["presentation_id"]
markdown_content = content_result["result"]["content"]

print("Content generated. Review and edit if needed.")
print(f"Content preview: {markdown_content[:200]}...")

# Step 2: Create slides from content
slide_result = call_mcp_tool("slide_from_content", {
    "content": markdown_content,
    "instructions": "Create professional slides with consistent styling",
    "template_id": "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
    "presentation_id": presentation_id
})

print(f"Created {len(slide_result['result']['slides'])} slides")
print(f"Presentation ID: {presentation_id}")

When to Use Two-Step Process

Use Two-Step When:

You want to review/edit content before creating slides
You need to modify the generated content
You want to generate content once but create slides multiple times
You’re building a workflow with manual review steps

Use One-Step (`generate_slides`) When:

You want the fastest workflow
You trust the AI-generated content
You don’t need to review content before slides
You’re automating the entire process

Best Practices

Review Content: Take time to review the generated markdown content
Edit if Needed: You can edit the content before creating slides
Reuse Content: Use the same content to create slides with different templates
Consistent IDs: Use the same presentation_id and conversation_id across steps

Generate Slides (One-Step)

Learn about the one-step generation process

Examples

See complete two-step process examples

​Overview

​Step 1: Generate Presentation Content

​Tool: generate_presentation_content

​Parameters

​Example Request

​Response

​Step 2: Create Slides from Content

​Tool: slide_from_content

​Parameters

​Example Request

​Response

​Complete Example

​Python Implementation

​When to Use Two-Step Process

​Use Two-Step When:

​Use One-Step (generate_slides) When:

​Best Practices

Generate Slides (One-Step)

Examples

Overview

Step 1: Generate Presentation Content

Tool: `generate_presentation_content`

Parameters

Example Request

Response

Step 2: Create Slides from Content

Tool: `slide_from_content`

Parameters

Example Request

Response

Complete Example

Python Implementation

When to Use Two-Step Process

Use Two-Step When:

Use One-Step (`generate_slides`) When:

Best Practices