Generate a Presentation from a PDF

This guide demonstrates how to use the SlideSpeak v2 API to generate a presentation from a PDF document, using only JavaScript. The process is broken down into clear, numbered steps.

Step 1: Upload Your PDF Document

Upload your PDF file to SlideSpeak. This returns a task_id for tracking processing status.

Code

const API_KEY = 'your-api-key';
const API_BASE = 'https://api.slidespeak.co/api/v2';

async function uploadPDF(file) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('file', file);

  const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/document/upload`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'X-API-Key': API_KEY },
    body: formData
  });
  return response.json();
}

Response

{
  "task_id": "353509d6-8efe-401c-a8a9-53ca64b520a3"
}

---

Step 2: Poll the Document Processing Task

After uploading, poll the task using the task_id until the status is SUCCESS. The task_result holds the document ID to use for generation.

Code

async function pollTask(taskId) {
  const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/task_status/${taskId}`, {
    headers: { 'X-API-Key': API_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
  const result = await response.json();
  if (result.task_status === 'SUCCESS') return result;
  if (result.task_status === 'FAILURE') throw new Error('Task failed');
  await new Promise(res => setTimeout(res, 2000)); // Wait 2 seconds
  return pollTask(taskId); // Recursive call
}

Response

{
  "task_id": "353509d6-8efe-401c-a8a9-53ca64b520a3",
  "task_status": "SUCCESS",
  "task_result": "e1f3ea4d-39f0-45e4-9cce-044ec63f8a5b"
}

---

Step 3: Generate a Presentation from the Document

Generate a presentation with a prompt, the uploaded document_ids, and optional settings such as a design_kit_id (see Design Kits).

Code

async function generatePresentation(documentId) {
  const response = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/presentation/generate`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-Key': API_KEY,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      prompt: 'Summarize the attached document into a concise deck.',
      document_ids: [documentId],
      settings: {
        design_kit_id: 'dk_acme',
        length: 15,
        language: 'ORIGINAL',
        tone: 'professional',
        verbosity: 'concise'
      }
    })
  });
  return response.json();
}

Response

{
  "task_id": "f0db8d6c-6378-4df4-8585-ec3c434b2614"
}

---

Step 4: Poll the Presentation Generation Task

Reuse the pollTask function from above. When generation succeeds, the response includes a request_id used to download the file.

Code

const presResult = await pollTask(genTask.task_id);

Response

{
  "task_id": "f0db8d6c-6378-4df4-8585-ec3c434b2614",
  "task_status": "SUCCESS",
  "request_id": "cr5abc123..."
}

---

Step 5: Download the Presentation

Exchange the request_id for a short-lived download URL, then download the PowerPoint file.

async function downloadPresentation(requestId, filename = 'presentation.pptx') {
  const res = await fetch(`${API_BASE}/presentation/download/${requestId}`, {
    headers: { 'X-API-Key': API_KEY }
  });
  const { url } = await res.json();

  const fileResponse = await fetch(url);
  const blob = await fileResponse.blob();
  const objectUrl = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  const a = document.createElement('a');
  a.href = objectUrl;
  a.download = filename;
  document.body.appendChild(a);
  a.click();
  a.remove();
  window.URL.revokeObjectURL(objectUrl);
}

---

Complete Example Usage

async function handlePDFUpload(file) {
  try {
    // Step 1: Upload
    const uploadTask = await uploadPDF(file);

    // Step 2: Poll document processing
    const uploadResult = await pollTask(uploadTask.task_id);

    // Step 3: Generate presentation
    const genTask = await generatePresentation(uploadResult.task_result);

    // Step 4: Poll presentation generation
    const presResult = await pollTask(genTask.task_id);

    // Step 5: Download
    await downloadPresentation(presResult.request_id);
    console.log('Download started');
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Error:', err);
  }
}

---

Notes

• All API requests require your X-API-Key header.
• The process is asynchronous: always poll the task_id for status.
• Each API call consumes credits based on the number of slides generated.

• For more details, see the API Reference.