Check Generation Status

Poll this endpoint to check the status of any async operation (presentation generation, slide creation, export, or transcript generation).

Status values:

• pending - Queued, not yet started
• in_progress - Currently processing
• completed - Finished successfully; results available in response
• failed - Error occurred; check error field for details

Recommended polling: Every 2-5 seconds. Most generations complete within 30-120 seconds.

GET /api/v1/generations/{generation_id}

Check generation status

cURL

curl --request GET \
  --url https://slides-api.getalai.com/api/v1/generations/{generation_id} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

200

{
  "generation_id": "<string>",
  "status": "pending",
  "created_at": "<string>",
  "error": "<string>",
  "completed_at": "<string>",
  "generation_type": "presentation_generation",
  "presentation_id": "<string>",
  "formats": {}
}

Poll this endpoint to check the status of any async operation (presentation generation, slide creation, export, or transcript generation).

Status Values

Status	Description
pending	Queued, not yet started
in_progress	Currently processing
completed	Finished successfully; results available
failed	Error occurred; check error field

Recommended polling: Every 5 seconds. Most operations complete within 1-3 minutes depending on slide count.

---

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
generation_id	string	The generation ID you’re polling
status	string	Current status
error	string	Error message (when failed)
created_at	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
completed_at	string	When generation finished
presentation_id	string	ID of the presentation
formats	object	Export results (when completed)

---

Format Results

When status is completed, the formats object contains results for each requested format:

{
  "generation_id": "abc123-...",
  "status": "completed",
  "presentation_id": "xyz789-...",
  "formats": {
    "link": {
      "status": "completed",
      "url": "https://app.getalai.com/view/..."
    },
    "pdf": {
      "status": "completed",
      "url": "https://storage.../presentation.pdf"
    },
    "ppt": {
      "status": "completed",
      "url": "https://storage.../presentation.pptx"
    }
  }
}

Each format has:

• status: completed, failed, or skipped
• url: Signed download URL (valid for 24 hours)
• error: Error message if failed

---

Example

curl "https://slides-api.getalai.com/api/v1/generations/abc123-def456-..." \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

---

Polling Example (Python)

import time
import requests

def wait_for_generation(generation_id, api_key, max_wait=300):
    url = f"https://slides-api.getalai.com/api/v1/generations/{generation_id}"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}

    start = time.time()
    while time.time() - start < max_wait:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
        data = response.json()

        if data["status"] == "completed":
            return data
        elif data["status"] == "failed":
            raise Exception(data.get("error", "Generation failed"))

        time.sleep(3)  # Poll every 3 seconds

    raise TimeoutError("Generation timed out")

# Usage
result = wait_for_generation("abc123-...", "YOUR_API_KEY")
print(result["formats"]["link"]["url"])

Download URLs in the formats object are signed and valid for 24 hours. Store the presentation_id if you need to export again later.

Authorizations

Authorization · string · header · required

Your Alai API key. Get one from your account settings at app.getalai.com

Path Parameters

generation_id · string · required

Response

200

application/json

Successful Response

PresentationGenerationStatus

SlideCreationStatus

ExportStatus

TranscriptStatus

generation_id · string · required

status · enum<string> · required

Current state: pending → in_progress → completed/failed

Available options: pending, in_progress, completed, failed

created_at · string · required

error · string | null

Human-readable error message when status is 'failed'

completed_at · string | null

ISO 8601 timestamp when generation finished

generation_type · string · default: presentation_generation

Allowed value: "presentation_generation"

presentation_id · string | null

Available once generation starts. Use this ID for subsequent operations.

formats · Formats · object

Export results keyed by format ('link', 'pdf', 'ppt'). Only present when completed.

Show child attributes