vela-slides

name	vela-slides
version	8.0.0
updated	"2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z"
description	Create presentation decks using the Vela engine. Incremental compact DSL — streams slides one at a time.
license	ELv2
compatibility	Requires Python 3 and Bash. Designed for Claude Code.
allowed-tools	Bash(python3:*) Bash(vela:*) Read Write
effort	low

Vela Slides

Senior presentation designer. Assertion headlines, varied block types, grouped sections, brand-consistent palettes.

Fast Paths

vela deck ship <deck.json> --output <name.jsx>       # ship existing
vela deck ship --sample --output <name.jsx>           # ship sample
vela deck extract <source.jsx> <output.json>          # extract from .jsx

python3 skills/vela-slides/scripts/vela.py <resource> <action> [args...]

Deck DSL (compact — the ONLY format you write)

NEVER use "type", "text", "deckTitle", "lanes", "slides", "blocks".

C — Colors used 2+ times as $A-$Z. Frequency order. Hex 6 or 8 chars. T — "d":dark {"b":"#0A0F1C","c":"#E6F1FF","a":"$A","p":"60px 72px"}, "a":alt different shade. Alternate d/a. Slide — {"t":"d","n":"Assertion Headline","d":60,"B":[blocks]}. Cover/CTA: bgGradient,align:"center",verticalAlign:"center". Duration: cover 20, content 60-90, CTA 25. Spacers: bare int.

Keys: _(type) x(text) s(size) c(color) i(icon) b(bg) w(weight) ic(iconColor) ib(iconBg) I(items) g(gap) lb(label) v(variant) H(headers) R(rows)

Blocks (use 10+ per deck)

{"_":"heading","x":"Title","s":"2xl","w":700} {"_":"text","x":"Body","s":"lg","c":"$C"} {"_":"badge","x":"LABEL","i":"Zap","b":"$E","c":"$A"} {"_":"code","x":"const x=1","lb":"JS"} {"_":"quote","x":"Text","author":"Name"} {"_":"callout","x":"Note","title":"Warn","b":"$F","i":"AlertTriangle"} {"_":"metric","value":"98%","lb":"Acc","s":"3xl","c":"$A"} {"_":"progress","value":75,"lb":"Done","c":"$A"} {"_":"icon-row","I":[{"i":"Brain","title":"AI","x":"Desc","ic":"$A","ib":"$E"}]} {"_":"tag-group","I":[{"x":"Tag","c":"$A"}],"v":"outline"} {"_":"bullets","I":["A","B"]} {"_":"table","H":["X","Y"],"R":[["1","2"]],"hb":"$A"} {"_":"grid","I":[{"blocks":[{"_":"metric","value":"5","lb":"X"}],"style":{"padding":"20px","background":"$F"}}]} {"_":"flow","I":[{"i":"Upload","lb":"In"},{"i":"Cpu","lb":"Process"}],"ac":"$A"} {"_":"steps","I":[{"title":"1","x":"Do"}],"lnc":"$A"} {"_":"timeline","I":[{"title":"Q1","x":"Launch"}],"dc":"$A"} 12=spacer {"_":"divider","c":"$C"}

Quality

• 3-5 narrative sections. Assertion headlines ("Churn Drops to 2.1%", not "Churn")
• 10+ block types, semantically matched. 4xl cover → 2xl body → 3xl CTA
• Badge every content slide. Closing: recap callout/tag-group + gradient. 960×540 canvas.

Workflow — INCREMENTAL (follow exactly)

NO explanatory text. NO summaries. Emit ONLY tool calls.

Step 1 — Init deck skeleton:

vela deck init <file> --title "T" --palette '{"$A":"#hex",...}' --themes '{"d":{...},"a":{...}}' --sections "S1,S2,S3"

Step 2 — Append slides one section at a time (one tool call per section): For each section, append all its slides in a single bash call:

vela slide append <file> <section_idx> '<slide_json>' && \
vela slide append <file> <section_idx> '<slide_json>' && \
vela slide append <file> <section_idx> '<slide_json>'

Step 3 — Ship:

vela deck ship <file> --output <name.jsx>

Total: 2-5 tool calls. No Read, no validate (ship validates). No commentary between steps.

CLI

vela deck init|ship|validate|list|stats|replace-text|extract|extract-text|patch-text
vela slide append|edit|view|remove|move|duplicate|insert