| name | sg-full-workflow |
| description | Run the complete 7-step slide generation pipeline from topic to PowerPoint. Use when you want to create a full presentation from scratch, generate a complete deck end-to-end, or see the entire pipeline in action. |
| argument-hint | <topic> [--template generic] [--skip-images] [--output dir] |
| allowed-tools | Bash, Read, Glob, Grep |
Slide Generator: Full Workflow
Run the complete 7-step presentation generation pipeline end-to-end. Takes a topic string and produces a finished PowerPoint file through: Research, Outline, Draft, Optimize, Validate Graphics, Generate Images, and Build.
Pre-loaded Context
Working directory:
!pwd
Slide-generator installation check:
!sg --version 2>&1 || echo "NOT INSTALLED"
API key status:
!sg health-check 2>&1 | head -15
Available templates:
!sg list-templates 2>&1 || echo "Cannot list templates"
Preflight Check (Required First Step — Fail Fast)
Before running any pipeline step, confirm sg is actually installed and on PATH:
command -v sg >/dev/null 2>&1 && sg --version || echo "SG_MISSING"
If this reports SG_MISSING (or the "Slide-generator installation check" above shows NOT INSTALLED), STOP immediately. Do not proceed to Research or any other step. Report to the user, verbatim:
slide-gen requires the external sg engine from davistroy/slide-generator (currently a PRIVATE repo — owner-only). Install it and ensure sg is on PATH before running. This plugin ships only the pipeline skills, not the engine.
This check exists so the pipeline never dies several steps in with an opaque sg: command not found — see ADR-0008 (docs/adr/0008-slide-gen-dependency-model.md) for why the engine is external rather than bundled, and the slide-gen README's "External Dependency" section for the current owner-only status.
Prerequisites
slide-generator package installed (pip install -e ".[all]" from the private davistroy/slide-generator repo — owner-only access as of this writing)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set in environment (required for steps 1-5)
GOOGLE_API_KEY set in environment (required for step 6, unless --skip-images)
Input Validation
Required:
<topic> - The presentation topic (quoted string)
Optional:
--template <name> - Presentation template (default: generic)
--output <dir> - Output directory (default: ./output)
--skip-images - Skip image generation (steps 1-5 + 7 only)
--resolution <level> - Image resolution: small, medium, high (default: high)
--tone <tone> - Content tone: professional, casual, academic, technical
--audience <audience> - Target audience description
--target-slides <N> - Target slide count (default: 20)
--no-interactive - Non-interactive mode (no prompts)
Instructions
Step 0: Preflight Check
Run the preflight check above before anything else. If sg is missing, stop and report the message verbatim — do not attempt the Quick Path or Step-by-Step Path below.
Quick Path (Single Command)
For most use cases, the sg full-workflow command handles everything:
sg full-workflow "<topic>" --template generic --no-interactive
This runs all 7 steps sequentially with automatic error handling, retries, and progress reporting.
Step-by-Step Path (More Control)
If you need to inspect or modify artifacts between steps, run each step individually:
Step 1: Research
sg research "<topic>" --output research.json
Produces research.json — autonomous web research via Claude Agent SDK.
Step 2: Outline
sg outline research.json --output outline.json
Produces outline.json — structured slide outline with extended thinking.
Step 3: Draft
sg draft outline.json --output presentation.md
Produces presentation.md — full slide content with batched generation.
Step 4: Optimize
sg optimize presentation.md
Updates presentation.md — quality analysis and improvement across 5 dimensions.
Step 5: Validate Graphics
sg validate-graphics presentation.md
Updates presentation.md — ensures image descriptions are concrete and generation-ready.
Step 6: Generate Images
sg generate-images presentation.md --resolution high
Produces images/slide-*.png — AI-generated visuals via Gemini Pro.
Step 7: Build
sg build presentation.md --template generic
Produces final .pptx file — assembled PowerPoint with all content and images.
Resume After Interruption
If the pipeline is interrupted at any step:
sg resume
Or check status and resume manually:
sg status
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|
sg: command not found | Not installed, or private slide-generator repo inaccessible | Caught by the Preflight Check above before this step runs. If seen mid-pipeline anyway, install sg from the private davistroy/slide-generator repo (owner-only) and ensure it's on PATH |
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not found | Missing env var | Set Claude API key |
GOOGLE_API_KEY not found | Missing env var (images) | Set Gemini key, or use --skip-images |
Rate limit exceeded | Too many API calls | Built-in retry with backoff handles this |
Circuit breaker open | Repeated API failures | Wait 60s for circuit breaker reset |
Research timeout | Topic too broad | Narrow the topic |
Cost Considerations
Image generation dominates the cost of a full workflow run. Research, outline, draft, and optimize stages are comparatively cheap compared to generating 20 high-resolution images. To minimize costs, use the --skip-images flag to run steps 1-5 and 7 without image generation, eliminating most of the expense. You can always generate images later if needed.
Output
The full workflow produces in the output directory:
research.json — Raw research findings
outline.json — Slide structure
presentation.md — Full slide content
images/ — Generated slide visuals
<topic>.pptx — Final PowerPoint file
Configuration
Override defaults via environment variables:
SG_TEMPLATE=generic
SG_OUTPUT_DIR=./output
SG_IMAGE_RESOLUTION=high
SG_TARGET_SLIDES=20
SG_TONE=professional
SG_API_TIMEOUT=120
SG_MAX_RETRIES=3