sg-outline

name	sg-outline
effort	low
description	Generate a structured presentation outline from research findings. Use when you have research.json and want to create an outline, structure findings into slides, or plan slide structure before drafting.
argument-hint	<research.json> [--output path] [--target-slides N]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Glob, Grep

Slide Generator: Outline Step

Generate a structured presentation outline from research findings. Uses Claude with extended thinking (budget_tokens=4096) to produce a well-organized slide structure.

Pre-loaded Context

Working directory: !pwd

Available research files: !ls -la *.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No JSON 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 research.json file from the research step (or equivalent structured JSON)

Input Validation

Required:

• <research.json> - Path to research findings file

Optional:

• --output <path> - Output file path (default: outline.json)
• --target-slides <N> - Target number of slides (default: 20, configurable via SG_TARGET_SLIDES)
• --multi-presentation - Allow splitting into multiple presentations if content warrants it

Instructions

1. Verify input: Confirm the research JSON file exists and contains valid structured data
2. Run outline generation:

   sg outline research.json --output outline.json
   

3. Verify output: Confirm outline.json was created with slide structure
4. Report results: Show the outline structure (slide titles, approximate slide count)

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Fix
File not found	Wrong path to research.json	Check file path, list directory
Invalid JSON	Corrupted or incomplete research file	Re-run research step
Token limit exceeded	Research too large	Set SG_OUTLINE_MAX_TOKENS=16384 or reduce research scope

Output

The outline step produces outline.json containing:

• Ordered list of slides with titles
• Bullet point structure per slide
• Speaker notes hints
• Graphics description placeholders
• Logical flow and transitions

Next Step

After outline completes, run the draft step:

sg draft outline.json --output presentation.md

Or use /sg-draft to continue the pipeline.