pptx

name	pptx
description	Use this skill any time a .pptx file is involved — as input, output, or both. This includes: creating slide decks, pitch decks, or presentations; reading or extracting text from .pptx files; editing or updating existing presentations; combining or splitting slide files; working with templates, layouts, speaker notes, or comments. Trigger whenever the user mentions 'deck', 'slides', 'presentation', or references a .pptx filename. If a .pptx file needs to be opened, created, or touched, use this skill.
license	Proprietary. LICENSE.txt has complete terms

PPTX Skill

Quick Reference

Task	Approach
Read/analyze content	python3 -m markitdown presentation.pptx
Generate structured presentation	Use generate_report.js — see below
Create custom from scratch	Use pptxgenjs directly (see pptxgenjs section)

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Generating Presentations (Recommended)

For structured presentations with cover slide, auto-generated TOC, content slides, and closing, use the pre-built template:

Step 1: Copy the generator script

cp /builtin-skills/pptx/scripts/generate_report.js ./generate_pptx.js

Step 2: Build slides_data.json via Python script

Two phases: write slide content files, then assemble into JSON.

CRITICAL: NEVER write or edit .json files directly. Use a Python script with json.dump() to guarantee valid JSON output.

Phase 1 — Write each slide's content as a plain text file using write_file:

For each major topic, read_file the relevant research data, then write_file the slide content directly:

read_file("research_data/literature.md")           # refresh data in context
write_file("slides/slide_01_intro.txt", "...")      # write slide body
write_file("slides/slide_02_analysis.txt", "...")   # next slide
...

Each content slide body should be concise but substantive (3-6 bullet points or 2-4 sentences with specific data and citations).

NEVER write a Python script that contains slide text as string literals. The slide content goes directly into .txt files via write_file, not into Python code.

Language (CRITICAL):

• All presentation content (title, subtitle, slide headings, body text, chart labels, speaker notes) MUST be written in the user's configured language as specified in the system prompt's ## Language section.
• If the user's language is Chinese (zh), write the entire presentation in Chinese; if English (en), write in English. Do NOT mix languages unless quoting a proper noun or technical term that has no standard translation.

Phase 2 — Assemble into JSON using a standard assembler script:

import json, glob, os

SLIDES_DIR = "slides"
TITLE = "Presentation Title"
SUBTITLE = "Subtitle or tagline"

# Slide config: (file_pattern, type, title, extra_fields_or_None)
SLIDE_MAP = [
    ("slide_01_*.txt", "section", "Introduction", None),
    ("slide_02_*.txt", "bullets", "Key Findings", None),
    ("slide_03_*.txt", "content", "Market Overview", {"layout": "text-image", "image": "chart.png"}),
    ("slide_04_*.txt", "stat", "Key Metrics", {
        "stats": [
            {"value": "25%", "label": "Revenue Growth"},
            {"value": "15%", "label": "Cost Reduction"},
            {"value": "32%", "label": "Market Share"},
        ]
    }),
    ("slide_05_*.txt", "content", "Trend Analysis", None),
    (None, "chart_pie", "Distribution", {
        "labels": ["Type A", "Type B", "Type C", "Other"],
        "values": [35, 30, 20, 15],
    }),
    (None, "chart_line", "Yearly Trends", {
        "x_labels": ["2020", "2021", "2022", "2023", "2024"],
        "series": [{"name": "Metric", "values": [40, 55, 62, 70, 78]}],
    }),
]

data = {
    "title": TITLE, "subtitle": SUBTITLE,
    "author": "ScienceClaw", "date": "2026-03-09",
    "theme": "midnight", "toc": True, "slides": [],
}

for entry in SLIDE_MAP:
    pattern, stype, title, extra = entry
    slide = {"type": stype, "title": title}

    if pattern:
        matches = sorted(glob.glob(os.path.join(SLIDES_DIR, pattern)))
        if matches:
            body = open(matches[0], encoding="utf-8").read().strip()
            if stype == "bullets":
                slide["items"] = [line.strip() for line in body.split("\n") if line.strip()]
            else:
                slide["body"] = body

    if extra:
        slide.update(extra)
    data["slides"].append(slide)

# Closing slide
data["slides"].append({"type": "closing", "title": "Thank You", "subtitle": "Questions?"})

with open("slides_data.json", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    json.dump(data, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2)
print(f"Generated slides_data.json ({len(data['slides'])} slides)")

Step 3: Generate the PPTX

python3 build_slides_data.py   # outputs slides_data.json
node generate_pptx.js slides_data.json output.pptx

Supported slide types

Type	Required Fields	Optional Fields
title	(auto from top-level)	title, subtitle, author, date
agenda	items (string array)	title (default: "Agenda")
section	title	subtitle
content	title	body, layout, image
bullets	title, items	subtitle
two_column	title, left, right	each column: {heading, body} or {heading, items}
table	title, headers, rows	caption
stat	title, stats	stats: [{value, label}] (2-4 items)
image	title, image	caption
chart_bar	title, categories, series	series: [{name, values}]
chart_pie	title, labels, values	—
chart_line	title, x_labels, series	series: [{name, values}]
quote	text	author, title
closing	title	subtitle, contact

Chart types for data visualization (use 2-4 per presentation, mix types):

• chart_bar — for comparisons, rankings (e.g. drug efficacy scores)
• chart_pie — for proportions, distributions (e.g. mutation type breakdown)
• chart_line — for trends over time (e.g. yearly incidence rates)

Top-level JSON keys

Key	Required	Description
title	Yes	Presentation title (cover slide)
subtitle	No	Subtitle on cover slide
author	No	Author name
date	No	Date string
theme	No	Color theme (see below)
toc	No	Auto-generate Table of Contents slide (default: true)
slides	Yes	Array of slide objects

Available themes

Theme	Primary	Secondary	Accent	Style
midnight	1E2761	CADCFC	408EC6	Dark navy, professional
forest	2C5F2D	97BC62	F5F5F5	Green, nature
coral	F96167	F9E795	2F3C7E	Warm, energetic
ocean	065A82	1C7293	21295C	Deep blue, calm
charcoal	36454F	F2F2F2	212121	Minimal, modern
teal	028090	00A896	02C39A	Fresh, trustworthy
berry	6D2E46	A26769	ECE2D0	Elegant, warm

Design guidelines

• Every slide needs a visual element — avoid text-only slides
• Vary layouts — don't repeat the same layout across slides
• Use section slides to separate major topics — these also populate the auto-generated TOC
• Use stat slides for key numbers (big number + label format)
• Mix chart types — aim for 2-4 charts per presentation (bar for comparisons, pie for distributions, line for trends)
• Keep bullet points concise — 3-6 items per slide, 1-2 lines each
• Content quality: Each slide body should contain specific data, not vague summaries. Include numbers, percentages, dates, and source references where possible.

Writing guidelines for long presentations

1. Use the two-phase workflow: Write slide content as separate text files first, then assemble into JSON. This avoids context loss and allows iterative refinement.
2. Be specific: Slide bodies should contain concrete data, not generic statements. "Revenue grew 25% to $4.2B in Q3 2025" beats "Revenue increased significantly".
3. Use section slides as dividers: They auto-populate the TOC and give the audience clear navigation.
4. Balance text and visuals: For every 2-3 text/bullet slides, include a chart, stat, or image slide.
5. End with a closing slide: Include contact info or next steps.
6. No page/slide count on cover: Do NOT include total page count or slide count on the cover slide or subtitle — the count is unknown at assembly time and produces inaccurate information.

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Reading Content

python3 -m markitdown presentation.pptx

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Creating Custom Presentations (pptxgenjs)

For fully custom presentations beyond the template's capabilities, use pptxgenjs directly:

const pptxgen = require("pptxgenjs");
let pres = new pptxgen();
pres.layout = "LAYOUT_16x9";

let slide = pres.addSlide();
slide.addText("Hello World!", { x: 0.5, y: 0.5, fontSize: 36, color: "363636" });

pres.writeFile({ fileName: "output.pptx" });

Key rules for pptxgenjs

• NEVER use "#" with hex colors — color: "FF0000" not color: "#FF0000"
• Use bullet: true — NEVER unicode symbols like "•"
• Use breakLine: true between array items for multi-line text
• NEVER reuse option objects — pptxgenjs mutates them in-place; create fresh objects each time
• Coordinates are in inches; LAYOUT_16x9 = 10" × 5.625"

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Converting to Images (for QA)

python3 /builtin-skills/pptx/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide

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Dependencies

• npm install -g pptxgenjs — creating presentations
• pip install "markitdown[pptx]" — text extraction
• pip install Pillow — image processing
• LibreOffice (soffice) — PDF conversion
• Poppler (pdftoppm) — PDF to images