Google Slides Template Text Replacement

#Overview

The gog slides create-from-template command allows you to create a new Google Slides presentation from a template and automatically replace placeholder text throughout the presentation.

#Basic Usage

gog slides create-from-template <templateId> <title> \
  --replace "key=value" \
  --replace "another=value"

#Features

#1. Placeholder Format

By default, the command looks for placeholders in the format {{key}} in your template:

• In your template, add text like: {{name}}, {{date}}, {{company}}
• The command automatically wraps keys with {{}} if not already present
• Use --exact flag to match exact strings without {{}} wrapping

#2. Multiple Replacement Sources

#Command-line flags (for a few replacements):

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Q1 Report" \
  --replace "quarter=Q1 2026" \
  --replace "revenue=$1.2M" \
  --replace "growth=15%"

#JSON file (for many replacements):

Create a JSON file with your replacements:

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "title": "Sales Manager",
  "date": "2026-02-15",
  "sales": 125,
  "target": 100,
  "achieved": true
}

Then use it:

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Monthly Report" \
  --replacements replacements.json

#Combining both (flags override file):

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Report" \
  --replacements base-data.json \
  --replace "date=2026-02-15"  # This overrides  from JSON

#3. Type Conversion

When using JSON files, non-string values are automatically converted:

• Numbers: 125 → "125"
• Booleans: true → "true"
• Null: null → ""
• Complex types: JSON-encoded

#4. Exact String Matching

Use --exact to replace arbitrary text without {{}} wrapping:

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Report" \
  --replace "OLD_TEXT=NEW_TEXT" \
  --exact

This is useful for templates not using the {{key}} convention.

#Examples

#Example 1: Simple Report Generation

Template contains:

• {{employee_name}}
• {{report_date}}
• {{sales_total}}

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123def456 "January Sales Report" \
  --replace "employee_name=Jane Smith" \
  --replace "report_date=2026-01-31" \
  --replace "sales_total=$45,000"

#Example 2: Batch Report Generation

Create report-data.json:

{
  "month": "February",
  "year": "2026",
  "sales": "$52,000",
  "target": "$50,000",
  "performance": "104%"
}

Generate report:

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123def456 "February Sales Report" \
  --replacements report-data.json \
  --parent 1xyz789abc123  # Optional: place in specific folder

#Example 3: Scripted Bulk Generation

#!/bin/bash

TEMPLATE_ID="1abc123def456"

# Read CSV and generate presentations
while IFS=, read -r name title date sales; do
  gog slides create-from-template "$TEMPLATE_ID" "Report - $name" \
    --replace "name=$name" \
    --replace "title=$title" \
    --replace "date=$date" \
    --replace "sales=$sales" \
    --json > "output-$name.json"
done < employees.csv

#Output

#Text Output

Created presentation from template
id              1new456presentation
name            Q1 Report
link            https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1new456presentation/edit

Replacements:
  quarter       3 occurrences
  revenue       2 occurrences
  growth        1 occurrences

#JSON Output

gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Report" \
  --replace "name=John" \
  --json

{
  "presentationId": "1new456presentation",
  "name": "Report",
  "link": "https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1new456presentation/edit",
  "replacements": {
    "name": 3,
    "date": 2,
    "total": 1
  }
}

#Tips

1. Test your template first: Create a test presentation to verify all placeholders are correctly placed
2. Use consistent naming: Stick to {{key}} format for clarity
3. Check replacement counts: The output shows how many times each placeholder was found
4. Use JSON for complex data: Easier to manage many fields or computed values
5. Save folder IDs: Use --parent to organize generated presentations

#Troubleshooting

#Placeholder not found (0 occurrences)

• Verify the placeholder exists in the template
• Check for typos in placeholder names (case-sensitive by default)
• Ensure {{}} wrapping is correct (or use --exact)

#Permission denied

• Ensure you have edit access to the template
• Check that the Google Slides API is enabled for your OAuth client

#Template copy failed

• Verify the template ID is correct
• Check that the template is accessible with your account
• Ensure it's a Google Slides presentation (not a document or sheet)

#Advanced Usage

#Preserve some placeholders

To replace only some placeholders and keep others for later editing:

# Only replace quarter and keep other {{}} placeholders
gog slides create-from-template 1abc123 "Draft Report" \
  --replace "quarter=Q1 2026"

#Case-sensitive vs case-insensitive

By default, replacements are case-sensitive. All placeholders and keys must match exactly.

#Whitespace in values

Values are not trimmed, allowing intentional whitespace:

--replace "description=  Indented text"