Create an editable PowerPoint deck from a clear narrative, source evidence, and
explicit layout decisions. Keep the deck specification and its native
PowerPoint objects as the source of truth. Images may support a slide, but they
must not replace editable titles, labels, data, tables, or diagrams.
Use the bundled references for design-profile selection, reference-deck
analysis, visual-asset decisions, and final quality checks. The skill does not
ship a general-purpose renderer or bundled runtime scripts.
Scope Boundary
Use this skill as the primary workflow for creating a new, editable PPTX deck.
It owns the path from a deck brief through narrative planning, a
coordinate-explicit specification, task-specific PPTX generation, and final
quality assurance. Do not redirect a net-new deck to another skill merely
because the requested deliverable is a .pptx file.
Use @pptx-official when work starts with an existing PPTX and requires
package-level operations: raw OOXML editing, template duplication and text
replacement, speaker notes, comments, animations, or other structural changes
to that file. It may support a build when those operations are necessary, but
it is not the default workflow for a net-new deck authored here.
When to Use This Skill
Use when a user asks to create a new editable PowerPoint or PPTX deck
Use as the default workflow when a new deck needs to be delivered as a .pptx file
Use when a deck needs a narrative framework, a design direction, and final coordinates
Use when analyzing a reference PPTX without copying its binary content
Use when reviewing a generated PPTX for layout, package, or accessibility defects
How It Works
Step 1: Understand the requested deck
Collect the audience, decision or purpose, language, slide count, source
material, brand requirements, and delivery format. Ask the user to select a
narrative framework if they have not already done so. Do not select one on the
user's behalf.
Use one of these framework spines, or a user-defined alternative:
Executive communications with conclusion-led titles
assertion-evidence
Technical or research presentations
exec-summary-first
Board and leadership briefings
custom
User-defined structure or organization playbook
Record the resolved framework, its source, title rules, slide sequence, and
any approved assumptions in the deck summary.
Step 2: Establish source and design context
Give each factual source a stable ID. Record a source reference for every
metric, chart value, quotation, and factual claim that appears in the deck.
Summarize source material into one message per slide rather than pasting long
documents into the specification.
For a reference presentation, inspect it read-only. Extract palette, font,
slide-size, template, layout-flow, and topic-sequence signals. Re-author target
slides with their own explicit coordinates. Do not copy, mutate, or use the
source PPTX as a template for generated content.
Select a documented design profile from
design profiles. Use the user's named profile
first. Use a reference deck when one is available. Otherwise, use Fluent UI
Design Token Guidance by default, use Primer Primitives for GitHub-focused
technical decks, and use a broader style catalog only when the user requests
multiple visual directions. Record the selected profile, source URL, license,
palette, typography, spacing, and signature visual treatment in
summary.design_context.
Step 3: Plan the story and visual structure
Create one defensible message per slide. Use conclusion-led slide titles when
the selected framework calls for them. Keep the storyline mutually exclusive
and collectively exhaustive where appropriate. Include concrete numbers, dates,
owners, and sources only when supported by the evidence.
Every normal content slide needs a visible, style-derived structure such as an
accent band, card shell, divider, grid, diagram primitive, or image treatment.
Avoid plain title-and-bullets slides, default theme colors, and Calibri-only
output unless the user explicitly requests that treatment.
Step 4: Author a coordinate-explicit specification
Create a JSON object with summary and slides. Every generated slide needs
an id, title, and complete layout_tree. Use final inch-based bounding
boxes, z-order, colors, font sizes, and grouping. Do not rely on a renderer to
make layout decisions.
Keep content inside the safe margin and above the footer rail. Use native
text, shape, line, table, and image objects. Add alt text to
meaningful images and a reading order for each production slide. Use images as
supporting visuals only; recreate essential labels, legend entries, process
steps, and data values as editable objects.
Use the following object constraints:
Keep content text at 9 pt or larger; prefer 10 to 12 pt for body copy
Keep every child object inside its parent group bounding box
Keep table column widths equal to the table width and split dense tables across slides
Keep normal content objects within slide bounds; only decorative full-bleed elements may cross an edge
Keep images behind overlapping text and preserve their aspect ratio
Store source_ref with source ID, locator, claim type, and verification status for sourced claims
Step 5: Create the PPTX deck when requested
Own net-new PPTX creation in this workflow. When a PPTX file is required,
create a small task-specific builder with the user's approved environment. Start
slides from a blank layout and create native objects from the final bounding
boxes. Enable word wrap, disable automatic text resizing, set text insets and
alignment explicitly, and reject zero or negative bounding boxes for non-line
objects before building. Validate lines by requiring two distinct endpoints;
horizontal and vertical lines may have a zero-height or zero-width bounding
box.
Save the authored specification, PPTX, build manifest, audit records, and
source manifest together. Do not add a large shared renderer or copy source
presentation content. Use @pptx-official only when the requested result also
requires an existing-file or OOXML workflow.
Step 6: Validate and repair
Apply the manual audit checklist before and
after building. Check collisions, text capacity, font sizes, safe margins,
group containment, table fit, object bounds, design context, and native
editability. Reopen the PPTX to verify slide count, package structure, hidden
slides, actual geometry, language, image alt text, reading order, and table
headers.
Inspect rendered previews when a compatible renderer is available. Check
clipping, font fallback, contrast, image crops, and visual hierarchy. Repair
the specification or the task-specific builder, rebuild, and repeat the audit
until all deterministic failures are resolved. Report any remaining exception
with the slide ID, object ID, reason, owner, and review date.
Reference-Deck Analysis
The skill provides a read-only analysis contract, not packaged code. For a
specific task, use python-pptx and the Office Open XML package to inspect a
presentation. Use OOXML package inspection when python-pptx cannot expose
theme, master, layout, relationship, notes, comments, animation, media, or
non-modeled formatting evidence. Resolve the package relationship graph;
never infer slide order from filenames or copy source package parts. Produce
only the context needed for the task:
Compact prompt context with slide count, styles, brands, template, and layout
Full extraction with layout_tree, summary metrics, and render-aware elements
Folder-level diagnostics with one result per deck and a manifest
Style-master analysis with colors, fonts, layout usage, and flow patterns
Use reference-deck analysis recipes
and reference-deck analysis patterns as static implementation
references. Use the bundled references/ooxml-parsing.md guidance for the
package-part map, relationship resolution, namespace, and secure parsing
requirements. Keep all extraction read-only.
Visual Assets
Use visual asset guidelines when an icon,
image, SVG, or user-managed infographic is needed. Confirm image licensing
before placing it. Record asset provenance, local path, and alt text. Never ask
users to provide secrets in chat, and never use a placeholder when acquisition
fails.
When a provider, output path, or other required setting is missing, ask for the
non-secret information before generating an infographic. If no configured
provider is available, omit the asset and continue with editable native slide
objects.
Before any external generation call, disclose the provider and model, what
prompt or source material will leave the machine, the likely cost, and the
output path. Obtain explicit confirmation unless the user already authorized
that exact operation. Never overwrite an existing output or manifest without
separate explicit confirmation.
Examples
Example 1: Executive recommendation deck
A user asks for a 10-slide leadership deck based on a project brief. Confirm
the audience, choose exec-summary-first, summarize the brief into one claim
per slide, and create coordinate-explicit content cards with a documented
Fluent UI design context. Add source references for each brief-derived metric,
then build and audit the requested PPTX.
Example 2: Reference-deck-informed proposal
A user supplies a prior PPTX and asks for a new proposal in a similar visual
language. Extract only the existing deck's palette, typography, layout rhythm,
and template usage. Use those signals to design a new outline and native layout
tree. Do not duplicate slides, copy the deck's binary parts, or present the
reference deck as the new deliverable.
Best Practices
Keep the business framework and source lineage visible in the deck summary
Make each slide title convey the slide's conclusion or narrative role
Use source evidence for charts and dashboard-like exhibits
Build meaningful content from native editable PowerPoint objects
Add a deliberate visual structure to every normal content slide
Rebuild and inspect previews after repairing layout or text issues
Limitations
This skill does not replace a user-provided brand guide, legal asset review, or expert accessibility review
It does not include a general renderer, a bundled extraction module, or credentials for external providers
It does not own raw OOXML editing, template duplication, or other mutations of an existing PPTX package
Stop and ask for clarification when the audience, source evidence, brand requirements, or required output path is missing
Security and Safety Notes
Keep reference-deck analysis read-only and never overwrite the source deck
Request confirmation before any task-specific build or repair overwrites an existing output file
Use user-managed providers only and keep credentials outside chat and skill content
Omit unlicensed or license-ambiguous visual assets instead of substituting placeholders
Common Pitfalls
Problem: A slide has more copy than its bounding box can hold
Shorten the copy, enlarge the bounding box, or split the content across slides.
Do not solve the issue by reducing meaningful content below 9 pt.
Problem: The deck resembles an unstyled default PowerPoint file
Select and record a design profile, then add explicit background, typography,
accent, card, divider, or grid primitives to the layout tree.
Problem: A reference deck is used as a source file for the output
Treat the reference deck as read-only context. Re-author the target deck with
its own slide specification and native editable content.
Related Skills
@pptx-official - Use for existing PPTX, OOXML, and template-mutation workflows, not default net-new deck creation
@python-pptx-generator - Use for focused Python PPTX generation patterns
