Connect an AI Agent to AgentPreso

In this tutorial you’ll configure Claude Desktop to connect to AgentPreso via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), then create, edit, and export a presentation entirely through conversation. By the end, Claude will have built a complete deck and rendered it to PDF — without you writing a single line of markdown.

What you’ll build: A 4-slide “Team Standup” presentation created and edited entirely through an AI conversation.

Prerequisites:

Step 1 — Get your API key

  1. Log in to the AgentPreso Dashboard
  2. Go to Settings > API Keys
  3. Click Create New Key
  4. Copy the key — it starts with ap_

Keep this key handy. You’ll need it in the next step.

Step 2 — Configure Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop MCP configuration file:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the AgentPreso server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "agentpreso": {
      "url": "https://api.agentpreso.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ap_your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace ap_your_api_key_here with the API key you copied.

Save the file and restart Claude Desktop. You should see “agentpreso” listed in the MCP tools panel (the hammer icon).

Step 3 — Ask Claude to list themes

Start a new conversation and type:

What presentation themes are available?

Claude calls the list_themes tool and responds with something like:

You have 5 themes available:

  • minimal — Clean, lots of whitespace
  • dark — Dark background, high contrast
  • corporate — Professional, muted blues/grays
  • creative — Bold colors, modern typography
  • agentpreso — Official AgentPreso brand

This confirms the MCP connection is working. Claude can see your themes.

Step 4 — Create a presentation through conversation

Now ask Claude to create a deck:

Create a presentation called “team-standup” using the corporate theme. It should have 4 slides:

  1. Title slide: “Weekly Team Standup — Engineering”
  2. What we shipped this week (3-4 bullet points about a fictional feature launch)
  3. A Mermaid flowchart showing the deployment pipeline
  4. Action items for next week

Claude calls create_deck with generated markdown and responds with the deck content. It handles the frontmatter, layout directives, and Mermaid syntax automatically.

Step 5 — Preview the result

Ask Claude to show you the presentation:

Preview the presentation

Claude calls preview_deck and opens an interactive slide viewer. Navigate through the slides to see the title, bullets, flowchart, and action items — all styled with the corporate theme.

Step 6 — Edit a slide through conversation

Let’s refine the content:

Change slide 2 to mention these specific features: OAuth2 integration, dashboard redesign, and API rate limiting. Make the bullets more detailed.

Claude calls edit_slide targeting slide index 1 (0-based) with updated content. The preview updates with the new bullet points.

Step 7 — Export to PDF

When you’re happy with the deck:

Export this as a PDF

Claude calls render_deck with format: "pdf" and provides a download link. Click it to download your finished presentation.

What you’ve learned

  • Configure Claude Desktop to connect to AgentPreso via MCP
  • Browse themes using natural language
  • Create a complete deck through conversation — Claude writes the markdown
  • Preview the result in an interactive viewer
  • Edit individual slides without touching the underlying markdown
  • Export to PDF (or HTML, PPTX) through conversation

Tips for working with AI agents

  • Start with a theme — ask the agent to list themes before creating a deck
  • Be specific about content — the more detail you give, the better the slides
  • Edit slide-by-slide — edit_slide is more precise than replacing the entire deck
  • Preview often — ask the agent to preview after each round of changes
  • Use variables for recurring decks — see Template Variables

Next steps