Claude Desktop MCP Setup – Sardius Slides

Overview

Sardius Slides includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects directly to Claude Desktop. Once configured, you can ask Claude to create entire presentations, edit individual slides, search your decks, and upload images — all through natural conversation.

💬

Natural Language

Describe what you want and Claude builds the slides for you using the correct markdown syntax.

📊

Full CRUD

Create, read, update, and delete presentations. Edit individual slides or append new ones.

🔍

Search

Search across all your presentations by name or content and get context snippets.

🖼️

Image Upload

Upload local images and Claude returns the URL ready to use in your slides.

Setup

There are two ways to connect Sardius Slides to Claude Desktop. The Desktop Extension is the fastest option — just download, install, and enter your API key.

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed on your computer (Download)
A Sardius Slides account with an API key (get one from your admin)

Get Your API Key

An admin needs to create an API key for you. They can do this from the Admin Panel:

Go to the API Keys section
Select your user from the dropdown
Enter a name like "Claude Desktop"
Click Create Key
Copy the key immediately — it won't be shown again

Important: The full API key is only displayed once when created. Copy it and store it somewhere safe before closing the dialog.

Option A: Desktop Extension Recommended

The simplest way to connect. Download the extension file and install it with one click.

1

Download the Extension

Download sardius-slides.mcpb

2

Install in Claude Desktop

Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings → Extensions → Install Extension. Select the .mcpb file.

3

Configure

Claude Desktop will prompt you for two values:

API URL — defaults to https://slides.sardius.io (usually no change needed)
API Key — paste the key you copied earlier (stored securely by Claude Desktop)

4

Done!

The MCP tools icon (hammer) should appear in the chat input area immediately. Try asking Claude to "list all presentations" to verify the connection.

Tip: Your API key is encrypted and stored securely by Claude Desktop. You won't need to enter it again unless you reinstall the extension.

Option B: Manual Configuration Advanced

For developers who want to modify the MCP server or prefer manual setup. Requires Node.js 18+ (nodejs.org).

Build the MCP Server

Clone the Sardius Slides repository and build the MCP server:

# Navigate to the MCP server directory
cd sardius-branded-slides/mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the TypeScript
npm run build

This compiles the server to mcp-server/dist/index.js.

Configure Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows:

%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the Sardius Slides server to the mcpServers section. Replace the paths and API key with your own values:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sardius-slides": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/full/path/to/sardius-branded-slides/mcp-server/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SARDIUS_API_URL": "https://slides.sardius.io",
        "SARDIUS_API_KEY": "srd_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tip: Use the full absolute path to dist/index.js. On macOS, you can find this by running pwd in the mcp-server directory and appending /dist/index.js.

Restart Claude Desktop

Quit Claude Desktop completely and reopen it. You should see the MCP tools icon (hammer icon) in the chat input area, confirming the server is connected.

Tip: If you don't see the tools icon, check the Claude Desktop logs for error messages. The most common issue is an incorrect path to the built index.js file.

Available Tools

Once connected, Claude has access to the following tools. You don't need to call these directly — just describe what you want and Claude will use the right tools automatically.

Presentation Management

Tool	Description
`list_presentations`	List all slide decks with names, IDs, slide counts, and live status
`get_presentation`	Get a presentation's full markdown content and metadata by ID
`create_presentation`	Create a new slide deck with a name and markdown content
`update_presentation`	Update an existing presentation's name and/or full markdown
`delete_presentation`	Permanently delete a presentation by ID

Slide-Level Editing

Tool	Description
`get_slide`	Get a single slide's markdown and parsed directives by index (0-based)
`update_slide`	Replace a single slide's content by index without affecting other slides
`append_slides`	Add one or more slides to the end of a presentation

Search & Images

Tool	Description
`search_presentations`	Search across all presentations by name or content with context snippets
`upload_image`	Upload a local image file and get back a URL for use in slides

Slide Reference Resource

The MCP server also provides a built-in resource called sardius://slide-reference that Claude can read. This contains the complete syntax guide for all slide directives, layouts, themes, content types, and best practices. Claude will automatically reference it when creating slides to ensure correct formatting.

Example Prompts

Here are some things you can ask Claude once the MCP server is connected:

Create a New Presentation

"Create a presentation called 'Q1 2026 Review' with a hero title slide,
a slide showing our key metrics ($2.5M revenue, 142% YoY growth, 99.99% uptime),
a roadmap slide for the rest of the year, and a closing slide."

Edit an Existing Slide

"In my Q1 Review presentation, update the metrics slide to change
the revenue number to $2.8M and add a new stat for 150+ enterprise clients."

Add Slides to a Deck

"Add two new slides to the Product Roadmap presentation:
one about our new AI discovery feature and one about the platform expansion."

Search Across Presentations

"Find all presentations that mention 'Bitmovin' or 'player migration'."

Upload and Use an Image

"Upload the screenshot at ~/Desktop/dashboard-preview.png and add it
as a background image slide to my Product Demo presentation."

Full Workflow

"List all my presentations and tell me which ones haven't been
updated in the last month. Then create a new presentation for our
upcoming client meeting with Acme Corp covering our streaming
infrastructure, uptime SLA, and pricing."

Tip: Claude automatically uses the correct slide syntax including themes, layouts, illustrations, and special content types like icon cards, stat cards, and roadmap timelines. Just describe the content and let Claude handle the formatting.

Troubleshooting

Server Not Appearing in Claude Desktop

Verify the path to dist/index.js is correct and absolute (not relative)
Make sure you ran npm run build in the mcp-server directory
Check that node is in your system PATH
Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen, not just close the window)

Authentication Errors

Verify your API key starts with srd_
Check that the key hasn't been revoked in the Admin panel
Make sure SARDIUS_API_URL is set to https://slides.sardius.io

Tools Not Working

Verify the MCP server is running by checking the tools icon in Claude Desktop
Try asking Claude to "list all presentations" as a simple connectivity test
Check Claude Desktop developer logs for detailed error messages

Image Upload Fails

Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG
Make sure you provide the full absolute path to the image file
Check that the Sardius Slides server has Cloudflare Images configured (ask your admin)

Need Help? Contact your Sardius Slides admin for API key issues, or check the main documentation for slide syntax questions.