Feature Request: the ability to create run-level internal hyperlinks on TEXT that jump to a specific slide in the same presentation, in slideshow mode.

[AnandVetcha]

Use case
Currently, python-pptx allows:

• External links on runs (via run.hyperlink.address).
• Internal slide jumps only at the shape level (via shape.click_action.target_slide).

However, there’s no official way to make just a single word or phrase
inside a textbox/table clickable to jump to another slide. This is important
for inline table of contents slides, dashboards, or navigation menus where
only part of the text should act as a link.

[MartinPacker]

I'm trying to figure out how I've done it in md2pptx. I'll research how I did.

[MartinPacker]

At line 785 in my current (unpublished) level of md2pptx I have the following:

# Creates a hyperlink to another slide and/or a tooltip - for a
# text run
# Note: To get just a tooltip make to_slide be the source slide
#       so it links to itself.
def createRunHyperlinkOrTooltip(run, to_slide, tooltipText=""):
    # Get hold of the shape the run is in
    if run._parent._parent._parent.__class__.__name__ == "_Cell":
        # Run in a table cell has to be handled differently
        shape = (
            run._parent._parent._parent._parent._parent._parent._parent._graphic_frame
        )
    else:
        # Ordinary text run
        shape = run._parent._parent._parent

    if to_slide == None:
        to_slide = SlideFromRun(run)
    hl = run.hyperlink
    sca = shape.click_action
    sca_hl = sca.hyperlink

    # Add a click action to generate an internal hyperlink address
    sca.target_slide = to_slide

    # Use that internal hyperlink address for the run
    hl.address = sca_hl.address

    # Also clone the hyperlink click action
    hl._hlinkClick.action = sca_hl._hlink.action

    if tooltipText != "":
        hl._hlinkClick.set("tooltip", tooltipText)

    # Also clone the hyperlink rId
    hl._hlinkClick.rId = sca_hl._hlink.rId

    # Delete the shape click action
    sca.target_slide = None

Hoping this helps. Improvement suggestions welcomed, of course.

[AnandVetcha]

Hi @MartinPacker ,

Thanks a lot for sharing your approach from md2pptx. Your explanation of creating a temporary shape-level link and then transferring its hyperlink attributes to the run gave me the missing piece.

With help of ChatGPT-5, I adapted your idea and now have a working solution that creates a run-level internal link, even for text inside a table cell . In Slide Show mode, clicking on the text, jumps to the target slide as intended.

Here’s the simplified helper I’m using now:

from pptx.opc.constants import RELATIONSHIP_TYPE as RT
from pptx.oxml.xmlchemy import OxmlElement
from pptx.oxml.ns import qn

def link_run_to_slide(run, dest_slide, tooltip_text=""):
    rId = run.part.relate_to(dest_slide.part, RT.SLIDE)
    rPr = run._r.get_or_add_rPr()
    # Remove any existing run-level hyperlink
    for child in list(rPr):
        if child.tag.endswith('hlinkClick'):
            rPr.remove(child)
    h = OxmlElement('a:hlinkClick')
    h.set(qn('r:id'), rId)
    h.set('action', 'ppaction://hlinksldjump')  # critical for slide jumps
    if tooltip_text:
        h.set('tooltip', tooltip_text)
    rPr.append(h)

This lets me target any run (including one in a table cell) without touching the rest of the text in the shape. Tested and working great.

Really appreciate you taking the time to outline your method in detail. It’s been very helpful!

[AnandVetcha]

I’m happy to close this once we confirm whether adding a public API for run-level slide links for "Text" is in scope for python-pptx.