sg-optimize

name	sg-optimize
effort	low
description	Run quality analysis and automated improvement on drafted slide content. Use when you have drafted slides and want to improve quality, optimize readability, or get quality scoring before finalizing.
argument-hint	<presentation.md> [--output path]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Glob, Grep

Slide Generator: Optimize Step

Run quality analysis and automated improvement on drafted slide content. Uses Claude with extended thinking (budget_tokens=4096, temperature=1.0) to score and improve content across 5 dimensions: readability, tone consistency, structure, redundancy, and citation quality.

Pre-loaded Context

Working directory: !pwd

Available presentation files: !ls -la *.md 2>/dev/null | grep -i pres || echo "No presentation files found"

Prerequisites

• Preflight: sg --version must succeed before proceeding — if sg is missing, stop and tell the user this requires the private davistroy/slide-generator engine (owner-only; see ADR-0008)
• slide-generator package installed
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set in environment
• A presentation.md file from the draft step

Input Validation

Required:

• <presentation.md> - Path to presentation markdown file

Optional:

• --output <path> - Explicit output file path. If omitted, the sg engine chooses the output location itself — this is not documented in this repository (the engine lives in the private davistroy/slide-generator repo, ADR-0008/D23); run sg optimize --help to confirm current behavior before relying on it.

Instructions

1. Verify input: Confirm the presentation markdown exists and contains slide content
2. Run optimization:

   sg optimize presentation.md
   

3. Verify output: Confirm optimized file was created
4. Report results: Show quality scores (before/after if available), improvements made

How It Works

The optimize step uses:

• Extended thinking: budget_tokens=4096 for deep analysis (temperature=1.0 required)
• 5-dimension scoring: Readability, tone, structure, redundancy, citations
• Representative sampling: For decks >15 slides, samples representative slides rather than processing all
• Batched optimization: Large decks optimized in batches with quality verification
• Assistant prefill: Forces structured JSON output for consistent scoring

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Fix
File not found	Wrong path	Check file path
No slides detected	Malformed markdown	Verify presentation.md has proper slide markers
Token limit exceeded	Very large deck	Set SG_OPTIMIZE_MAX_TOKENS=32768 or reduce slide count

Output

The optimize step produces an improved presentation markdown file — at the --output path if given, otherwise wherever the sg engine defaults to (unconfirmed here; see sg optimize --help) — with:

• Improved readability (shorter sentences, clearer language)
• Consistent tone across all slides
• Reduced redundancy between slides
• Better structural flow and transitions
• Quality score summary

Next Step

After optimization completes, run graphics validation:

sg validate-graphics presentation.md

Or use /sg-validate-graphics to continue the pipeline.