| name | skill-deck |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| description | Generate slide decks from briefs with optional multi-AI research. Use when: AUTOMATICALLY ACTIVATE when user requests:. "create a deck", "build slides", "make a presentation". "generate a pitch deck", "create board presentation" |
| cowork | {"label":"Slide deck","blurb":"Pitch deck, board update, lecture — rendered to PPTX.","icon":"presentation","accent":"amber","primed_prompt":"Use the skill-deck skill to build a slide deck. Topic: ","order":10} |
Slide Deck Generator
Generate professional slide decks from briefs with optional research, outline approval, and PPTX export.
Prerequisites
The document-skills plugin MUST be installed for PPTX rendering:
/plugin list | grep document-skills
If not installed, tell the user:
The document-skills plugin is required for PPTX generation.
Install it with: /plugin install document-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
Pipeline (4 Steps)
Step 1: Gather Brief
Parse the user's topic and description. Use AskUserQuestion to clarify:
Question 1 - Audience:
- Executives / Board
- Engineers / Technical
- Investors / Fundraising
- General / Mixed
Question 2 - Slide count target:
- Short (5-10 slides)
- Standard (10-20 slides)
- Extended (20+ slides)
Question 3 - Tone:
- Formal / Business
- Technical / Detailed
- Casual / Conversational
If the user already provided clear context (e.g., "10-slide investor pitch deck about our Series A"), skip questions where the answer is obvious.
Step 2: Research (Optional)
If the topic needs external research or context gathering:
- Use the Task tool with
Explore or general-purpose subagent to gather relevant information
- For deeper multi-AI research, suggest: "For comprehensive multi-provider research, run
/octo:discover [topic] first, then /octo:deck to build slides from the results"
- If the user provides their own content, notes, or a research file, skip this step entirely
This step is OPTIONAL. Many decks are built from the user's own knowledge or existing documents.
Step 3: Generate Outline
Build a slide-by-slide outline in markdown format. Structure:
## Slide 1: [Title Slide]
- Presentation title
- Subtitle / Date / Author
## Slide 2: [Agenda / Overview]
- Key topics to cover
## Slide 3: [First Content Section]
- Bullet point 1
- Bullet point 2
- Bullet point 3
## Slide N: [Summary / Next Steps]
- Key takeaways
- Call to action
IMPORTANT: Present the outline to the user for approval using AskUserQuestion:
- "Looks good, generate PPTX" — Proceed to Step 4
- "Add more slides" — Expand specific sections
- "Change focus" — Restructure around different themes
- "Start over" — Return to Step 1
This is the wireframe gate — the user MUST approve the outline structure before PPTX generation.
Step 4: Render PPTX
Once the outline is approved:
- Use the
document-skills:pptx skill to convert the approved markdown outline to PowerPoint
- Each
## heading becomes a slide
- Bullet points under each heading become slide content
- Save the PPTX file to the current working directory with a descriptive filename
Example filename: Series-A-Pitch-Deck-2026-02-14.pptx
Slide Structure Best Practices
Apply these when generating outlines:
- Title slide: Presentation name, subtitle, date, presenter
- Agenda slide: 3-5 key topics (for decks > 7 slides)
- One idea per slide: Keep slides focused
- 5-7 bullets max: Per slide for readability
- Summary slide: Key takeaways at the end
- Next steps / CTA: Final slide with clear actions
By Audience Type
Executives / Board:
- Lead with business impact and metrics
- Use "So what?" framing for every slide
- Include financial implications
- End with decisions needed
Engineers / Technical:
- Include architecture diagrams (describe for slides)
- Show trade-offs and alternatives considered
- Include implementation timelines
- Reference technical specifications
Investors / Fundraising:
- Problem → Solution → Market → Traction → Team → Ask
- Include market size (TAM/SAM/SOM)
- Show growth metrics and projections
- Clear funding ask and use of funds
General / Mixed:
- Balance detail with accessibility
- Define technical terms
- Use analogies and examples
- Include visual descriptions
Integration with Other Skills
This skill works well in combination with:
/octo:discover [topic] — Research first, then build deck from findings/octo:docs — For converting existing markdown to other formats/octo:prd — Generate a PRD, then create a presentation summarizing it/octo:brainstorm — Brainstorm ideas, then structure into a deck
Example Workflows
Quick Deck from Brief
User: "Create a 10-slide deck about our Q1 results"
→ Step 1: Clarify audience (executives)
→ Step 2: Skip (user has the data)
→ Step 3: Generate outline, get approval
→ Step 4: Render PPTX
Research-Backed Deck
User: "Build a presentation about AI trends in healthcare"
→ Step 1: Clarify audience and scope
→ Step 2: Research using Task agents
→ Step 3: Generate outline from research, get approval
→ Step 4: Render PPTX
Deep Research + Deck
User: "I need a comprehensive investor deck about the autonomous vehicles market"
→ Suggest: "/octo:discover autonomous vehicles market" first
→ Then: "/octo:deck" using the research synthesis
Slide deck skill for claude-octopus v8.12.0+
