2Slides Team
4 min read
Automate Presentation Generation with Python: 2Slides API Tutorial
Python is the go-to language for automation, data pipelines, and AI workflows. This tutorial shows you how to use the 2Slides REST API from Python to generate presentations automatically — from simple one-off slides to complex automated pipelines.
Prerequisites
pip install requests python-dotenvCreate a .env file:
TWOSLIDES_API_KEY=sk-2slides-your-api-keyQuick Start: Generate Your First Slides
import os
import time
import requests
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()
API_KEY = os.getenv('TWOSLIDES_API_KEY')
BASE_URL = 'https://2slides.com/api/v1'
HEADERS = {
'Authorization': f'Bearer {API_KEY}',
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
def generate_slides(topic, theme_id=None, mode='async'):
"""Generate a presentation from a text topic."""
payload = {
'userInput': topic,
'mode': mode,
'responseLanguage': 'en',
'resolution': '2K',
}
if theme_id:
payload['themeId'] = theme_id
response = requests.post(
f'{BASE_URL}/slides/generate',
headers=HEADERS,
json=payload
)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()
def wait_for_job(job_id, timeout=300, interval=3):
"""Poll until a job completes."""
start = time.time()
while time.time() - start < timeout:
response = requests.get(
f'{BASE_URL}/jobs/{job_id}',
headers=HEADERS
)
data = response.json()
status = data.get('status')
print(f' Job {job_id}: {status}')
if status == 'success':
return data
if status == 'failed':
raise Exception(f'Job failed: {data}')
time.sleep(interval)
raise TimeoutError(f'Job {job_id} timed out after {timeout}s')
# Generate a presentation
job = generate_slides('Top 10 AI Trends for 2026')
print(f'Job ID: {job["jobId"]}')
result = wait_for_job(job['jobId'])
print(f'Download: {result["downloadUrl"]}')Convert Documents to Slides
def convert_file_to_slides(file_url, prompt='', theme_id=None):
"""Convert PDF, DOCX, XLSX, or other files to slides."""
payload = {
'fileUrl': file_url,
'userInput': prompt,
'mode': 'async'
}
if theme_id:
payload['themeId'] = theme_id
response = requests.post(
f'{BASE_URL}/slides/create-pdf-slides',
headers=HEADERS,
json=payload
)
response.raise_for_status()
job = response.json()
return wait_for_job(job['jobId'])
# Convert a quarterly report PDF
result = convert_file_to_slides(
file_url='https://your-storage.com/q1-report.pdf',
prompt='Executive summary for the board, 10 slides max'
)
print(f'Download: {result["downloadUrl"]}')Design-Matched Slides (Create Like This)
def create_like_this(topic, reference_image_url, resolution='2K'):
"""Generate slides matching a reference design."""
payload = {
'userInput': topic,
'designStyle': {
'global': {
'referenceImageUrl': reference_image_url
}
},
'resolution': resolution,
'mode': 'async'
}
response = requests.post(
f'{BASE_URL}/slides/create-like-this',
headers=HEADERS,
json=payload
)
response.raise_for_status()
job = response.json()
return wait_for_job(job['jobId'])
# Match your brand template
result = create_like_this(
topic='Monthly Team Update — March 2026',
reference_image_url='https://your-brand.com/slide-template.png'
)Add Voice Narration
def add_narration(job_id, mode='single', voice='Charon', content_mode='concise'):
"""Add AI voice narration to existing slides."""
payload = {
'jobId': job_id,
'mode': mode,
'voice': voice,
'contentMode': content_mode
}
response = requests.post(
f'{BASE_URL}/slides/generate-narration',
headers=HEADERS,
json=payload
)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()
def download_with_audio(job_id):
"""Download slides with voice audio files."""
response = requests.post(
f'{BASE_URL}/slides/download-slides-pages-voices',
headers=HEADERS,
json={'jobId': job_id}
)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()Browse Themes
def search_themes(query=''):
"""Search available slide themes."""
params = {'query': query} if query else {}
response = requests.get(
f'{BASE_URL}/themes',
headers=HEADERS,
params=params
)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()
themes = search_themes('corporate')
for theme in themes.get('themes', []):
print(f"{theme['id']}: {theme['name']}")Production Pipeline Example
"""
Automated weekly report pipeline.
Run via cron: 0 9 * * MON python weekly_report.py
"""
import json
from datetime import datetime
def weekly_report_pipeline():
print(f'Generating weekly report: {datetime.now().isoformat()}')
# 1. Generate slides
job = generate_slides(
topic='''Weekly Engineering Update — Week of March 23, 2026:
- Deployed v2.4 to production (99.9% uptime)
- 3 new API endpoints shipped
- Performance: p99 latency down 40%
- Sprint velocity: 42 story points (target: 40)
- Next week: database migration, new auth system''',
theme_id='corporate-standard-id'
)
result = wait_for_job(job['jobId'])
print(f'Slides ready: {result["downloadUrl"]}')
# 2. Add narration
add_narration(job['jobId'], mode='single', voice='Kore')
print('Narration added')
# 3. Download package
package = download_with_audio(job['jobId'])
print(f'Full package: {json.dumps(package, indent=2)}')
return result['downloadUrl']
if __name__ == '__main__':
url = weekly_report_pipeline()
print(f'\nReport URL: {url}')Error Handling Best Practices
from requests.exceptions import HTTPError, Timeout, ConnectionError
def safe_generate(topic, retries=3):
"""Generate slides with retry logic."""
for attempt in range(retries):
try:
job = generate_slides(topic)
return wait_for_job(job['jobId'])
except HTTPError as e:
if e.response.status_code == 429:
wait = 2 ** attempt * 5 # Exponential backoff
print(f'Rate limited. Waiting {wait}s...')
time.sleep(wait)
elif e.response.status_code == 402:
raise Exception('Insufficient credits')
else:
raise
except (Timeout, ConnectionError) as e:
print(f'Network error (attempt {attempt + 1}): {e}')
time.sleep(5)
raise Exception(f'Failed after {retries} retries')Frequently Asked Questions
Which Python version is required?
Python 3.7+ for f-strings and requests compatibility.
Can I use async Python (asyncio/aiohttp)?
Yes — replace requests with aiohttp for async HTTP calls. The polling pattern works the same way.
How do I handle large batch jobs?
Use asyncio to run multiple generations concurrently, respecting the rate limit (60 req/min).
Start automating — get your 2Slides API key and generate presentations from Python.
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