Troubleshoot Deckary MCP

Most Deckary MCP problems come from an incomplete OAuth flow, missing permission, inactive sharing session, or document state that changed after the agent read it. Start by identifying whether the task targets a saved Web Builder deck or a live Office document; each surface has different identifiers and recovery steps.

Sign-in keeps repeating#

Remove the Deckary connection from the AI client, add https://deckary.com/mcp again, and complete OAuth with the intended Deckary account. Finish the browser consent flow before returning to the client.

Do not paste your Deckary password into the conversation or configure it as an MCP credential.

Expected tools are missing#

The decks:edit permission exposes saved-deck tools. Live document tools require the separate live-documents:edit permission. A connection authorized before live Excel and Word existed may still carry the retired live-powerpoint:edit permission; reconnect and approve the current permissions.

If all tools are absent, confirm that the client supports remote Streamable HTTP servers and OAuth. A client limited to local standard-input MCP servers cannot connect directly to Deckary's remote endpoint.

No saved decks appear#

Confirm that the Web Builder presentation is saved under the same Deckary account used for OAuth. Remove any overly narrow list query, then call list_decks again. Do not substitute a live session ID for a saved deckId.

No live documents appear#

In PowerPoint, Excel, or Word:

1. Open the intended file.
2. Open the Deckary task pane.
3. Sign in with the same Deckary account used by the MCP client.
4. Turn on MCP sharing.
5. Keep the task pane open and connected.

Then call list_live_documents again. Deckary does not list closed files or documents that have not been explicitly shared.

A live document disappeared#

The session ends when sharing is turned off, the user signs out, the task pane closes, or the connection disappears. Reopen the pane, enable sharing, list live documents again, and use the new session ID, connection generation, and artifact version.

Do not reuse handles from the previous session.

Version conflict#

A version_conflict means the live document changed after the version supplied by the agent. The rejected write made zero mutation.

Read the current live document, reacquire any required handles, update the proposed edit for the new state, and submit it once with the current artifact version. For a saved Web Builder deck, read the current deck revision and rebuild the authoring program against that revision.

Settlement unknown#

Do not automatically repeat author_live_document after settlement_unknown. The command may have reached Office even though the final result was not confirmed.

Reconnect if needed, read the current document, and check whether the intended change is already present. Only prepare another write after current truth is known.

Validation issues#

applied: false with validationIssues means no Office mutation occurred. Follow the returned issues and repair the program. Common causes include a program that starts with the wrong host keyword, a missing placeholder action on slide creation, stale or invalid handles, an Excel write into non-empty cells without overwrite:true, a Word edit whose text does not occur, or a malformed table or chart edit.

For live slide creation, use an exact current layoutId and satisfy every editable placeholder exposed by that layout. For patches, use current slide and shape handles.

An object or table is incomplete#

Use inspect_live_objects only for the current handles that need deeper detail. If a table or cell response asks for a smaller range, request an A1 window such as sh_…!A1:D10 or ws_…!B2:F40. Older PowerPoint hosts may preserve exact table text while reporting some formatting details as unavailable.

Rendering fails#

Refresh document truth first. Saved rendering requires current slide IDs; live rendering requires a current session, generation, artifact version, and current locators. Request no more than four targets, and use visualDetail=atlas only for one live slide. Excel for Mac cannot render cell windows; render a chart or inspect the cells instead. A session whose capabilities.render is false cannot render at all.

If the connection itself is healthy but the issue persists, use the contact page and include the tool name, bounded error code, approximate time, and whether the target was saved or live. Do not send confidential slide content unless support explicitly requests an approved sample.