pptx-deck-context

name	pptx-deck-context
description	Prepare the narrative, sources, and design context for an editable PPTX deck.

PPTX Deck Context

Use this skill before writing a deck spec. It covers three parallel preparation tracks: narrative framework (the business story spine), source context (documents, research, reference PPTX), and design context (predefined style profiles in references/design-profiles.md).

Business Framework & Narrative

The business framework is defined by the user, not by the assistant. If the user has already specified a framework, use it directly. If the user names a framework that does not match any entry in the table, treat it as a custom framework request, confirm the interpretation with the user, and proceed with the custom elicitation questions before planning. If no framework has been specified, present the available options and ask which one to use before planning the deck. Include custom when the user wants to provide their own structure, naming convention, or slide sequence. Do not auto-select a framework on the user's behalf.

Framework	Best for
mckinsey	Executive proposals, consulting deliverables, strategic recommendations
scqa	Problem-solving presentations, situation analysis, incident reports
pyramid	Complex arguments requiring strong logical structure
mece	Issue decomposition, audits, multi-workstream analysis
action-title	Executive communications where every slide must drive action
assertion-evidence	Technical or academic presentations, research findings
exec-summary-first	C-suite briefings, board decks, press releases
custom	User-defined structures, organization-specific playbooks, hybrid narrative patterns

Use the selected framework as the starting narrative spine, then adapt slide count and evidence density to the user's source material.

Framework	Default slide spine
mckinsey	Title → executive summary → situation → complication → key question → recommendation → 2-3 evidence slides → options → roadmap → appendix
scqa	Title → situation → complication → question → answer → evidence → implementation plan → summary
pyramid	Title → main answer → argument 1 → argument 2 → argument 3 → evidence → summary
mece	Title → issue tree → workstream slides → synthesis
action-title	Title → action summary → action-titled content slides → next steps
assertion-evidence	Title → overview assertion → assertion/evidence slides → conclusion
exec-summary-first	Title → full answer on slide 2 → supporting detail → appendix
custom	Ask for framework name, objective, slide sequence, title rules, layout preferences, and evidence expectations before planning. If the user provides only partial answers, apply Pyramid Principle defaults for any unspecified field, such as assertion-style title rules, and document each assumption in summary.business_framework

Record the resolved framework in summary.business_framework, including source, slide sequence, title rules, and approved assumptions.

Storytelling Principles

• Use the selected framework's slide order as the deck spine. Apply the Pyramid Principle as title discipline and synthesis guidance: make each slide title state the slide's conclusion or assertion when the framework stage supports it, avoid vague labels, and treat SCQA question or McKinsey key question steps as narrative roles rather than mandatory question-form slide titles unless the user explicitly requests literal question titles.
• Make every key message answer "So what?" for the audience.
• Keep topics MECE: mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.
• Write specific slide titles, such as "Azure AI cuts development costs by 40%" or "3 implementation patterns enable rapid onboarding," instead of generic labels like "About Azure AI" or "Implementation Patterns Overview."
• Include concrete data, numbers, dates, owners, sources, or quantified directional signals in bullets when the source material supports them.
• Keep speaker notes useful: two to three sentences, never empty and never just a dash.
• Avoid generic statements; every bullet should be specific, defensible, and tied to the selected framework's role in the story.

Source Documents

• For long source documents, ask the user to convert to markdown or paste key sections directly.
• If the source exceeds approximately 1,500 words or covers more than three distinct topics, ask the user to pre-summarize it using their preferred tool, such as an LLM API or summarization pipeline, and paste the result here before proceeding. Do not attempt to call external APIs directly.
• Record the corpus path, summary path, source count, and source URLs in summary.source_enrichment so enrichment evidence survives review.
• Create a stable source ID for each source. Plan a source_ref for each metric, chart value, quotation, and factual claim that the deck will present.
• Use summaries to identify audience, thesis, slide sequence, evidence, risks, and decision points.
• Do not paste entire long documents into the deck spec; summarize into concise slide messages and cite sources in footers when needed.

Reference PPTX

• Implement the on-demand extraction contract in pptx-reference-deck-analysis with python-pptx; use that same skill's OOXML utilities when package-level XML inspection is required to inspect production complexity, slide text, style, brand, template, and layout-rhythm facts.
• If reference PPTX inspection fails or returns no usable data, notify the user, skip reference-derived context, and proceed using the selected design profile as the sole design source. Document this in summary.design_context.
• Use the extracted facts as agent context when the new deck should follow a source deck's language, slide count, topic sequence, executive tone, colors, fonts, template conventions, and layout rhythm.
• When authoring the new spec, translate brands.primary_color, brands.accent_colors, brands.fonts, template.slide_size, template.layout_usage, and layout.slides[*].dominant_flow into explicit layout_tree primitives, colors, typography, spacing, and coordinates.
• Use extraction helpers when the goal is reconstructing or preserving an existing production deck rather than authoring a new editable deck.
• For new editable decks, treat reference layout rhythm as prompt context; generated coordinates must be authored directly by the agent in layout_tree.
• Never copy or mutate a referenced PPTX as the generation strategy. Use analysis as context and build a new PPTX artifact.

Design Profile Selection

Load references/design-profiles.md for the full profile catalog with IDs, best_for guidance, key style signals, and license information. If references/design-profiles.md cannot be loaded, notify the user that design profile selection is unavailable, fall back to fluent-ui-design-tokens defaults using only the inline descriptions in this prompt, and flag the limitation in summary.design_context.

Use bundled design profiles; do not invent a new design template when the user asks for predefined templates.

Apply profile rules in this priority order: (1) explicit user request for a named profile, (2) getdesign-md-design-systems if the deck should visually match a specific real-world brand or product, (3) fluent-ui-design-tokens as the default for all other decks, (4) primer-primitives only when the deck is explicitly developer or GitHub-focused, and (5) corazzon-pptx-design-styles only if the user explicitly requests multiple style options.

• Use getdesign-md-design-systems when the deck should visually echo a specific real-world brand or product (for example Apple, Stripe, Linear, Notion); fetch the matching DESIGN.md entry, lock its tokens in summary.design_context, and translate signals into layout_tree primitives without embedding scraped or proprietary assets.
• Use fluent-ui-design-tokens as the default for all remaining new decks, including Microsoft, M365, Teams, Power Platform, enterprise-aligned, general modern, stylish, product, app, pitch, or unspecified visual style requests.
• Use primer-primitives for GitHub-style product, developer, or token-driven engineering decks.
• Use corazzon-pptx-design-styles when a broader modern style catalog or multiple visual direction options are explicitly useful. Pick one style from the catalog and lock its palette, typography, spacing, and signature element before layout planning.
• Keep source attribution and license metadata attached to the context used.
• If no catalog profile fits, use reference PPTX analysis, search for another public source, or ask the user for a source template.
• Record selected profile IDs, source URLs, and style lock details in summary.design_context before building the PPTX.

Profile descriptions are in references/design-profiles.md — load that file for the full catalog.

Applying Context to Spec Authoring

1. Put the selected profile payload into the agent context before writing deck-spec.json.

Layout Authoring Rules

1. Translate source signals into explicit layout_tree objects, colors, fills, lines, typography, spacing, bboxes, and z-order.
2. Use source CSS or reference deck rhythm only as design evidence; final coordinates must be authored directly in inches.

Design Quality Gates

1. Keep meaningful slide content as classification: "content" objects and decorative/background elements as classification: "layout_design" objects.
2. Add at least one style-derived visible design element to every slide except the title slide, section dividers, and appendix slides: accent band, rule, card shell, grid cell, diagram primitive, shape motif, image treatment, or pattern. A plain title-plus-bullets slide fails the design gate.
3. Do not treat design profiles as content source material; they are design context only.

Source-to-Deck Planning

• Map the selected business framework to the deck outline before authoring visuals, and document the resolved framework in summary.business_framework.
• Convert source material into one message per slide before authoring visual structure.
• Treat charts and dashboard-style slides as source-evidence-driven exhibits; do not create generic metric or dashboard slides when the source corpus does not provide relevant data.
• Preserve important terminology, product names, metrics, dates, and user-provided wording.
• Reduce dense narrative into executive slide titles plus short sections.
• Track open assumptions in speaker notes or audit-facing summary fields instead of overcrowding slides.
• Save a sources manifest with each source ID, title, path or URL, license when known, and the object IDs that use it. This manifest supports later review and correction without changing the slide layout.

Restrictions

• Do not copy external fonts, icon packs, photos, or binary assets unless their license and source are explicitly added.
• Do not claim the output is a Primer, Fluent UI, or Awesome Copilot artifact; these are context sources for a new PPTX deck.
• Do not let source CSS override PPTX quality gates: built decks still need zero content collisions and zero text overflows.
• Do not accept default PowerPoint theme colors, Calibri-only text boxes, plain white backgrounds, or placeholder-style bullet layouts as a finished design.