| name | officecli-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, parsing, or extracting text from any .pptx file; editing, modifying, 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', 'pitch', or references a .pptx filename. |
OfficeCLI PPTX Skill
Setup
If officecli is missing:
- macOS / Linux:
curl -fsSL https://d.officecli.ai/install.sh | bash
- Windows (PowerShell):
irm https://d.officecli.ai/install.ps1 | iex
Verify with officecli --version (open a new terminal if PATH hasn't picked up). If install fails, download a binary from https://github.com/iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI/releases.
⚠️ Help-First Rule
This skill teaches what good slides look like, not every command flag. When a property name, enum value, or alias is uncertain, consult help BEFORE guessing.
officecli help pptx
officecli help pptx <element>
officecli help pptx <verb> <element>
officecli help pptx <element> --json
Help reflects the installed CLI version. When skill and help disagree, help is authoritative. Triggers to run help immediately: UNSUPPORTED props: warning, unknown animation preset, connector.shape= enum drifts, prop-vs-alias (lineWidth vs line.width, color vs font.color).
Shell & Execution Discipline
Shell quoting (zsh / bash). ALWAYS quote element paths ("/slide[1]/...") — zsh globs unquoted [1] to no matches found. Escapes happen at two layers; the CLI handles one for you:
- Shell.
$ in a value still belongs to the shell — single-quote the whole value: --prop text='$15M'. Double-quoted "$15M" gets expanded to M. The CLI does NOT unescape \$ for you.
- CLI (
text=). The two-char escapes \n and \t ARE interpreted, consistently across pptx / docx / xlsx — \n is a line / paragraph break, \t is a tab. To produce a literal backslash-n in text, double it (\\n); this is rarely what you want.
- JSON (batch). Real newlines / tabs can also be passed as
"\n" / "\t" inside a <<'EOF' heredoc; both forms produce the same result.
If in doubt, view text after writing and compare character-for-character.
Incremental execution. One command → check exit code → continue. A 50-command script that fails at command 3 cascades silently. After any structural op (new slide, chart, animation, connector) run get before stacking more.
Requirements for Outputs
These are the deliverable standards every deck MUST meet. Violating any one = not done, regardless of content quality.
All decks
One idea per slide. If a slide needs a second title to explain what it covers, split it. Dense "everything about X" slides lose the audience inside 3 seconds. Use a section divider to group related one-idea slides, not a mega-slide.
Explicit type hierarchy — do NOT rely on theme defaults. Theme defaults drift between masters. Set sizes explicitly on every text shape.
| Element | Minimum | Typical | Min shape height |
|---|
| Slide title | ≥ 36pt bold | 36–44pt | ≥ 2cm |
| Section / subtitle | ≥ 20pt | 20–24pt | ≥ 1.2cm |
| Body text | ≥ 18pt | 18–22pt | ≥ 1cm |
| Caption / axis label | ≥ 10pt muted | 10–12pt | ≥ 0.6cm |
Rule of thumb: min shape height ≈ font_pt × 0.05cm. An 18pt sublabel in a 0.8cm-tall box will overflow — view annotated catches this.
Title must be ≥ 2× body size (36pt over 20pt works; 28pt over 20pt looks timid). Four legit exceptions to body ≥ 18pt: chart axis labels, legends, footer / page number, and ≤ 5-word KPI sublabels (e.g. "Active users"). Descriptive sentences must be ≥ 18pt. Left-align body; center only titles and hero numbers. If "the cards won't fit", drop cards instead of shrinking font.
Two fonts max, one palette. One heading font + one body font (e.g. Georgia + Calibri). One dominant brand color (60–70% weight) + one supporting + one accent. Never mix 4+ colors in body content.
Every slide carries a non-text visual. Shape, chart, icon, gradient band. A bullet-only deck is interchangeable with a Word doc. Exceptions: literal quote slides, code blocks, a single summary-table slide.
Speaker notes on every content slide. --type notes --prop text="...". The speaker needs a script; the audience shouldn't read the slide verbatim.
Preserve existing templates. When a file already has a theme and masters, match them. Existing conventions override these guidelines.
Visual delivery floor (applies to EVERY deck)
Before declaring done, the per-slide render (see QA) MUST satisfy:
- No placeholder tokens rendered as content.
{{name}}, $fy$24, <TODO>, lorem, xxxx, empty ()/[] in chart titles never appear.
- No overflow past slide edges. For 16:9 (33.87 × 19.05cm), every shape satisfies
x + width ≤ 33.87cm AND y + height ≤ 19.05cm. get and check — don't eyeball.
- No text overflow inside shapes. A 72pt KPI in a 4cm-tall box clips. Shrink the number, enlarge the box, or shorten the text — never trim content to fit.
- Cover slide is content-rich. Title + subtitle + presenter/client block + date + a brand band or key-takeaway strap. A cover with 80% whitespace reads as a stub.
- Contrast. On fills with brightness < 30% (
1E2761, 36454F, 000000, deep forest / berry / cherry), every run of body text, card body, chart series fill, and icon color must be FFFFFF or brightness > 80%. Mid-gray (6B7B8D ≈ 44%) reads fine on a laptop and vanishes on projection. Verify via view html after the dark-fill pass.
- No
\$ literals in slide text. If view text shows a literal \$, the shell didn't unescape it (the CLI does NOT interpret \$). Single-quote the value: --prop text='$15M'. Note: \n and \t ARE interpreted as a real paragraph break / tab; seeing those as literals means the value was double-escaped (\\n).
If any fails, STOP and fix before declaring done.
KPI fit math
KPI text must fit the card — pre-compute, don't eyeball. In a 7cm-wide card at 60pt Georgia bold, values with $ and . (wide glyphs) wrap at 4 characters. $9.4M breaks the card; use $9M + "USD millions" sublabel, or move to the 3-card 9.78cm layout. Upper bound: max_size_pt ≈ card_width_cm × denom, where denom = 10 for 1–2 chars, 7 for 3–4 chars, 5 for 5+ chars.
layout=blank and alt text
layout=blank is the default for custom designs. Titles become plain shape elements, not placeholders. view outline / view issues reporting (untitled) / Slide has no title is expected, not a defect. Use layout=title + placeholder[title] only when screen-reader outline compatibility matters.- Alt text verification.
view stats "Pictures without alt text: 0" is a false-positive zero (alt auto-fills to filename) — verify via view annotated.
Design Principles
A deck is not a document. The audience has 3 seconds to get each slide. Before adding anything, ask: "If the audience reads only the biggest element and glances once, do they get the point?" If they have to read the bullets, the biggest element is wrong.
Grid, margins, negative space
Standard widescreen is 33.87 × 19.05cm. Treat it as a 12-column grid internally:
- Edge margin ≥ 1.27cm (0.5") on all sides.
- Inter-block gap ≥ 0.76cm (0.3") between cards / columns / rows.
- ≥ 20% negative space per slide. Filling every pixel reads as amateur.
- For card grids:
usable = 33.87 − 2·margin − (N−1)·gap, then col_width = usable / N. Don't hand-pick x coordinates.
Font pairings
Two fonts max — one for headings, one for body. Pair by document register, not by novelty. "Best For" is a prompt, not a decree; if the topic matches a row, use it as the default and move on.
| Header | Body | Best For |
|---|
| Georgia | Calibri | Formal business, finance, executive reports |
| Arial Black | Arial | Bold marketing, product launches |
| Calibri | Calibri Light | Clean corporate, minimal design |
| Cambria | Calibri | Traditional professional, legal, academic |
| Trebuchet MS | Calibri | Friendly tech, startups, SaaS |
| Impact | Arial | Bold headlines, event decks, keynotes |
| Palatino | Garamond | Elegant editorial, luxury, nonprofit |
| Consolas | Calibri | Developer tools, technical / engineering |
Set both fonts explicitly on every shape (--prop font=Georgia on title shapes, --prop font=Calibri on body shapes) — theme-default inheritance drifts between masters.
Color and contrast
One dominant color does 60–70% of visual weight, two supporting tones, one accent used sparingly. Never use 4+ colors in body content. Columns are: Primary (dominant — the one color you see first), Secondary (the supporting tone), Accent (sparing, one-hit emphasis), Text (body on light fills), Muted (captions / axis labels / footer).
| Theme | Primary | Secondary | Accent | Text | Muted |
|---|
| Coral Energy | F96167 | F9E795 | 2F3C7E | 333333 | 8B7E6A |
| Midnight Executive | 1E2761 | CADCFC | FFFFFF | 333333 | 8899BB |
| Forest & Moss | 2C5F2D | 97BC62 | F5F5F5 | 2D2D2D | 6B8E6B |
| Charcoal Minimal | 36454F | F2F2F2 | 212121 | 333333 | 7A8A94 |
| Warm Terracotta | B85042 | E7E8D1 | A7BEAE | 3D2B2B | 8C7B75 |
| Berry & Cream | 6D2E46 | A26769 | ECE2D0 | 3D2233 | 8C6B7A |
| Ocean Gradient | 065A82 | 1C7293 | 21295C | 2B3A4E | 6B8FAA |
| Teal Trust | 028090 | 00A896 | 02C39A | 2D3B3B | 5E8C8C |
| Sage Calm | 84B59F | 69A297 | 50808E | 2D3D35 | 7A9488 |
| Cherry Bold | 990011 | FCF6F5 | 2F3C7E | 333333 | 8B6B6B |
Pick by topic, not by default — finance reads Midnight Executive, a product launch reads Coral Energy, safety / LOTO reads Cherry Bold. If the closest named theme is not quite right, blend (e.g. Forest primary + gold D4A843 accent). Use Text on light fills, Muted for captions / axis / footer, FFFFFF or Secondary for body on dark fills.
On dark backgrounds, text and chart series follow the Hard rules contrast floor above.
Chart-choice decision table
Wrong chart type kills the 3-second test:
| Data shape | Use | Avoid |
|---|
| Category comparison (A vs B vs C) | column (vertical) / bar (≥ 6 categories, horizontal) | pie (slices merge), line (no time axis) |
| Time series, 1–3 series | line | area (occlusion), bar (implies discrete) |
| Part-of-whole, 2–5 slices | pie / doughnut | pie with 8+ slices (unreadable) |
| Correlation / distribution | scatter | line (implies ordering) |
| Multiple categories × metrics, dense | stacked column or heatmap | one chart per metric — consolidate |
| KPI snapshot (single big number) | Large-text shape (60–72pt + ≤ 5-word sublabel), NOT a chart | gauge chart, tiny bar |
Rule of thumb: if > 3 series and > 8 categories, split into two charts or switch to a table.
Animation restraint
Each animation is a cognitive interrupt. Limits:
- ≤ 1 animation per slide, duration ≤ 600ms.
- Use only
fade, appear, or a single zoom-entrance on a hero slide.
- Never:
bounce, swivel, fly-from-edge, spin, multi-object choreography.
- Animation is runtime-only — verify in a live presentation viewer.
Layout patterns & data display
Vary layout across slides — repeating the same pattern makes every slide feel identical. Pick one per slide from these building blocks:
| Pattern | When to use | Key measurement |
|---|
| Two-column (text left, visual right) | Concept + evidence; feature + screenshot | Each col ≈ 14-15cm; gap 1cm |
| Icon rows (icon in filled circle + bold header + description) | Feature lists, benefits, team roles | Icon circle 1.5-2cm; 3-4 rows max |
| 2×2 or 2×3 grid (card tiles) | Quadrant analysis, SWOT, option comparison | Gap ≥ 0.76cm; consistent card height |
| Half-bleed image (full left or right half, content overlay on other side) | Hero moments, case study openers | Image 16-17cm wide; content column ≥ 14cm |
| Large stat callout (60-72pt number + ≤5-word sublabel below) | Single KPI, milestone, market size | Use shape, NOT a chart; sublabel 14-16pt muted |
Data display quick rules:
- One big number reads faster than a chart — use a
shape with 60-72pt bold for a single KPI.
- Comparison columns (before/after, A vs B) beat a table for 2-3 options.
- Timelines and process flows: numbered step shapes + connectors, not a bullet list.
Visual motif commitment
Pick ONE distinctive element (rounded image frames, section numbers in filled circles, single-side border band, diagonal accent strips) and carry it to every slide. Declare it in your build plan first: ## Motif: numbered circles in brand color.
What to avoid (common design mistakes)
These are the patterns that make a deck look AI-generated or amateur:
- NEVER place a decorative line under slide titles. Underline stripes below headings are the single most common AI-slide tell. Use whitespace or background color change instead.
- Don't repeat the same layout across consecutive slides. Alternate between two-column, callout, grid, and half-bleed patterns. Same layout = same visual rhythm = audience tunes out.
- Don't center body text. Left-align all paragraphs, lists, card descriptions. Center only slide titles and hero numbers.
- Don't default to blue because it feels "professional." Pick the palette that fits the topic — finance reads navy, sustainability reads forest, energy reads coral.
- Don't use inconsistent spacing. Choose either 0.76cm or 1.27cm as your inter-block gap and use it everywhere. Mixed gaps look unfinished.
- Don't create text-only slides. If a slide has only a title and bullets, add a supporting shape, chart, icon, or image. A purely textual slide is a Word paragraph.
- Don't style one slide and leave the rest plain. Commit fully or keep it simple throughout — partial styling reads as abandoned.
Common Workflow
- Open/close mode. Always
officecli open <file> at start + officecli close <file> at end. Resident is the default, not an optimization. Use batch for repetitive shape grids.
- Orient. New deck:
officecli create "$FILE". Existing: officecli view "$FILE" outline first. Never edit blind.
- Build in display order. Add slides in audience-view order: cover → agenda → section-1 divider → section-1 content → section-2 divider → … → closing.
--index on slide add works, but linear append keeps the build script readable and avoids index-arithmetic bugs. Before final delivery, confirm slide count + narrative arc match your build plan. Gate 3's order-sanity check catches cases where the cover ends up as slide 11 of 14 instead of slide 1.
- Incremental per slide. Create slide + background, then title, then supporting shapes / charts / connectors. Always
layout=blank for custom designs. After each structural op, get /slide[N] --depth 1 to confirm shape IDs.
- Format to spec. Per the Requirements table; formatting is deliverable, not polish.
- Close + verify.
officecli close writes the ZIP. Always open in the target presentation viewer before shipping — chart colors, animations, fonts, and zoom are runtime features view html can't render. Full verification in QA below.
- QA — assume there are problems. Fix-and-verify until a cycle finds zero new issues.
Quick Start
Minimal viable deck: cover + one content slide + notes. $FILE stands in for your filename.
FILE="deck.pptx"
officecli create "$FILE"
officecli open "$FILE"
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[1] --type shape --prop text="FY26 Strategic Review" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=7cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=44 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type shape --prop text="Revenue grew 18% YoY" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1.2cm --prop width=30cm --prop height=2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type shape --prop text="Enterprise renewals + new EMEA region drove the beat; NRR held at 118%." \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=30cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=20 --prop color=333333
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type notes --prop text="Lead with the 18% beat, preview EMEA."
officecli close "$FILE"
officecli validate "$FILE"
Shape of every build: open → slide+background → title → body → notes → close → validate.
Reading & Analysis
Start wide, then narrow. outline first, view text / get / query once you know where to look.
officecli view "$FILE" outline
officecli view "$FILE" annotated
officecli view "$FILE" text --start 1 --end 5
officecli view "$FILE" issues
officecli view "$FILE" stats
Inspect one element. XPath-style paths, 1-based. ALWAYS quote. Prefer @name= / @id= selectors over positional [N] (stable across reorderings). [last()] works. Add --json for machine output.
officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]" --depth 1
officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]/shape[@name=Title]"
officecli get "$FILE" "/slide[1]/table[1]" --depth 3
Query across the deck. CSS-like selectors; operators =, !=, ~=, >=, <=, [attr], :contains(), :no-alt. help pptx query lists queryable element types.
officecli query "$FILE" 'shape:contains("Revenue")'
officecli query "$FILE" 'picture:no-alt'
officecli query "$FILE" 'shape[fill=1E2761]'
officecli query "$FILE" 'shape[width>=10cm]'
query --json output schema. Results wrap in .data.results[] — jq -r '.data.results[0].format.id', NOT .[0].id. Shape name is .name; fill is .format.fill; textColor is .format.textColor.
Visual preview (LEAD).
officecli view "$FILE" html
officecli view "$FILE" svg --start 3 --end 3
Creating & Editing
Verbs: add / set / remove / move / swap / batch / raw-set. Ninety percent of a deck is slides, shapes, text, a few charts, pictures, connectors.
Slides and backgrounds
A slide is /slide[N]. Always pass layout=blank for custom designs. Background: solid, gradient, or image.
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop "background=1E2761-CADCFC-180"
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop "background.image=hero.jpg"
Shapes
A shape holds text, fill, border, position, and optional animation / link.
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[2] --type shape --prop name=Title --prop text="Key Insight" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=2cm --prop width=20cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761 --prop fill=none
Positioning is explicit — no layout engine, you own the grid math. --prop preset= picks geometry (rect, roundRect, ellipse, triangle, arrow, star5, ...); custom M...Z paths are not supported — pick a preset. Name shapes at creation (--prop name=HeroTitle) and address later with "/slide[N]/shape[@name=HeroTitle]" — positional /shape[3] breaks after any z-order / remove.
Prefer @name= over @id=. Names you set yourself survive remove-then-add and z-order ops cleanly. After any structural change, re-get --depth 1 before referencing positional indexes.
Text inside shapes (paragraphs, runs, styling)
A shape has paragraphs (paragraph[K]) and runs. For one-line text, --prop text= on the shape is enough. Multi-line or mixed styling:
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[2]/shape[@name=Card1]" --type paragraph --prop text="First bullet"
officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[2]/shape[@name=Card1]/paragraph[1]" --prop bold=true --prop size=20 --prop color=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[2]/shape[@name=Card1]/paragraph[1]" --type run \
--prop text=" (inline detail)" --prop size=14 --prop italic=true --prop color=8899BB
For real newlines inside one run, use a batch heredoc with JSON "\n". Shell-quoted \n in --prop text= is NOT interpreted.
Charts
Pick chart type per the Design Principles chart-choice table. Full prop list (chartType enum, seriesN.*, data=/categories=, axis options): help pptx add chart. Typical multi-series with brand colors:
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[3] --type chart --prop chartType=column \
--prop series1.name=Revenue --prop series1.values="42,45,48" --prop series1.color=1E2761 \
--prop series2.name=Growth --prop series2.values="2,7,7" --prop series2.color=CADCFC \
--prop categories="Q1,Q2,Q3" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=20cm --prop height=10cm
Gotchas: (1) series cannot be added after creation — include all series at add time or remove + re-add. (2) chart titles with (), [], TBD ship as literal text. (3) some viewers normalize chart colors to theme defaults — verify in the target viewer.
Pictures
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[4] --type picture --prop src=hero.jpg \
--prop x=1cm --prop y=1cm --prop width=32cm --prop height=18cm \
--prop alt="Product hero, gradient lit from right"
Confirm with officecli query "$FILE" 'picture:no-alt' — must be empty before delivery (but remember view stats is a false-positive zero because alt auto-fills to filename).
Connectors (LEAD — flowcharts / decision trees first-class)
Draws a line between two shapes or free coordinates. Full prop / enum reference (shape, headEnd/tailEnd values, from/to ref forms): help pptx add connector.
officecli add "$FILE" /slide[5] --type connector \
--prop "from=/slide[5]/shape[@name=BoxA]" --prop "to=/slide[5]/shape[@name=BoxB]" \
--prop shape=elbow --prop color=333333 --prop tailEnd=triangle
Every flow connector needs an arrowhead. Without one, bentConnector3 renders as a directionless line. preset=rightArrow overlay only works for horizontal flows; diamonds / decision trees with diverging edges need tailEnd=.
Animations (LEAD)
One preset per slide, ≤ 600ms. Preset names + duration syntax: help pptx animation.
officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[2]/shape[@name=HeroCard]" --prop animation=fade-entrance-400
officecli set "$FILE" "/slide[2]/shape[@name=HeroCard]" --prop animation=none
Hyperlinks, tooltips, slide-jump
--prop link=slide:N for slide-jump, link=https://... for URL, --prop tooltip="..." for hover text. (Help only documents the URL form — slide:N is skill-only knowledge.)
Tables, placeholders, groups, zoom — one-liners
Deck-level recipes
Patterns not obvious from the primitives. Each gives the visual outcome first, then a runnable block. $FILE = your filename. Use /slide[last()] to address the slide you just added.
Z-order. Later-added shapes are on top. Add background decoration FIRST, titles LAST. To fix after the fact: --prop zorder=back/front (renumbers siblings — re-get --depth 1 before stacking more).
(a) Cover (and section divider)
Visual outcome. Dark navy fill, centered 44pt title, 18pt ice-blue meta line.
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop text="Strategic Growth Review" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=7cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=3cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=44 --prop bold=true --prop color=FFFFFF --prop align=center
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop text="Prepared for Acme Leadership — FY26 Outlook" \
--prop x=2cm --prop y=11cm --prop width=29.87cm --prop height=1.2cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=18 --prop color=CADCFC --prop align=center
Section divider = same cover, plus a giant translucent number (size=120, opacity=0.15) added FIRST so it sits behind the section title.
(b) Data slide (chart + commentary block)
Visual outcome. Left two-thirds: column chart with brand series colors. Right one-third: "Key Insight" card with 20pt heading + 18pt body — audience reads the takeaway before parsing the bars.
officecli add "$FILE" / --type slide --prop layout=blank --prop background=FFFFFF
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop text="FY26 Revenue Beat Plan by 18%" \
--prop x=1.5cm --prop y=1cm --prop width=30cm --prop height=1.8cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=36 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type chart --prop chartType=column \
--prop series1.name=Actual --prop series1.values="42,45,48,55" --prop series1.color=1E2761 \
--prop series2.name=Plan --prop series2.values="40,42,45,48" --prop series2.color=CADCFC \
--prop categories="Q1,Q2,Q3,Q4" --prop x=1.5cm --prop y=3.5cm --prop width=20cm --prop height=14cm --prop title='FY26 Revenue ($M)'
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop preset=roundRect --prop fill=F5F7FA --prop line=none \
--prop x=22.5cm --prop y=3.5cm --prop width=9.8cm --prop height=14cm
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop text="Key Insight" \
--prop x=23cm --prop y=4cm --prop width=9cm --prop height=1.2cm \
--prop font=Georgia --prop size=20 --prop bold=true --prop color=1E2761
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[last()]" --type shape --prop text="EMEA launch + NRR at 118% drove 12pp of the 18pp beat." \
--prop x=23cm --prop y=5.5cm --prop width=9cm --prop height=11cm \
--prop font=Calibri --prop size=18 --prop color=333333
(c) Flowchart / process diagram (boxes + connectors)
Visual outcome. Four rounded boxes across at y=8cm, each 6×3cm, alternating navy/iceblue, joined by elbow connectors with triangle arrowheads.
Grid math (4 boxes, 33.87cm slide, 1.5cm margins): gap = (33.87 − 3 − 24) / 3 = 2.29cm. x-positions: 1.5, 9.79, 18.08, 26.37.
Each box carries its own label via valign=middle (no separate overlay shape needed). Use batch heredoc for portable coordinate arithmetic — no bc, no bash arrays.
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Step1","preset":"roundRect","fill":"1E2761","line":"none","x":"1.5cm","y":"8cm","width":"6cm","height":"3cm","text":"Step 1","font":"Georgia","size":"20","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Step2","preset":"roundRect","fill":"CADCFC","line":"none","x":"9.79cm","y":"8cm","width":"6cm","height":"3cm","text":"Step 2","font":"Georgia","size":"20","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Step3","preset":"roundRect","fill":"1E2761","line":"none","x":"18.08cm","y":"8cm","width":"6cm","height":"3cm","text":"Step 3","font":"Georgia","size":"20","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Step4","preset":"roundRect","fill":"CADCFC","line":"none","x":"26.37cm","y":"8cm","width":"6cm","height":"3cm","text":"Step 4","font":"Georgia","size":"20","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"center","valign":"middle"}}
]
EOF
for pair in "Step1 Step2" "Step2 Step3" "Step3 Step4"; do
A=${pair% *}; B=${pair#* }
officecli add "$FILE" "/slide[$SLIDE]" --type connector \
--prop "from=/slide[$SLIDE]/shape[@name=$A]" \
--prop "to=/slide[$SLIDE]/shape[@name=$B]" \
--prop shape=elbow --prop color=333333 --prop tailEnd=triangle
done
shape=elbow is canonical (bentConnector3 also works; bentConnector2 is rejected). query --json results are in .data.results[] — use .data.results[0].format.id, not .[0].id.
(d) Multi-slide deck skeletons
No code block — it's a rhythm. Alternate dark divider slides with white content slides using the recipes above:
- 10-slide review: Cover · Agenda · 3 KPI · Div01 · Chart · Chart · Div02 · Flow · Timeline · Close
- 20-slide pitch: same rhythm × 2, sectioned Problem · Solution · Market · Product · Traction · Model · Team · Financials · Ask
- Every divider must appear before its section content (Gate 3 order sanity)
- Cover/divider = (a); chart pages = (b); process pages = (c); KPI pages = (e); decision pages = (f)
(e) KPI callouts — giant-number card grid
Visual outcome. Three or four giant numbers across a row; each card = unit sublabel + small percent-change chip + one-line takeaway. The single most common exec-deck element.
Sizing rule. 60pt Georgia bold fits ~5 chars in a 9.78cm card ($84.2, 118%, 24.5). For longer values ($84.2M), split: $84.2 as the big number, USD millions as the sublabel — never shrink the font to chase a unit suffix, it just wraps.
Grid math (3 cards, 1.5cm margins, 0.76cm gap): col_width = (33.87 − 3 − 1.52) / 3 = 9.78cm. x-positions: 1.5, 12.04, 22.58. Use accent color on a single "watch" card so risk reads in one second.
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"preset":"roundRect","fill":"1E2761","line":"none","x":"1.5cm","y":"4cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"7cm"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"84.2","x":"1.5cm","y":"4.8cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"2.8cm","font":"Georgia","size":"60","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"USD millions · ARR","x":"1.5cm","y":"8cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"0.8cm","font":"Calibri","size":"14","color":"CADCFC","align":"center"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"+24% YoY","x":"1.5cm","y":"9cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"0.8cm","font":"Calibri","size":"14","bold":"true","color":"CADCFC","align":"center"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"preset":"roundRect","fill":"B85042","line":"none","x":"22.58cm","y":"4cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"7cm"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"$1.42","x":"22.58cm","y":"4.8cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"2.8cm","font":"Georgia","size":"60","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"CAC payback (yrs)","x":"22.58cm","y":"8cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"0.8cm","font":"Calibri","size":"14","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"+8% — watch","x":"22.58cm","y":"9cm","width":"9.78cm","height":"0.8cm","font":"Calibri","size":"14","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center"}}
]
EOF
(f) Decision tree — YES/NO branching
Visual outcome. Diamond at top-center; YES/NO child boxes diverging left-right; both converge into a shared terminal box. Layout: diamond at x=13.94, y=2cm, 6×3cm; YES at 3cm, 7.5cm; NO at 22.87cm, 7.5cm; terminal at 13.94cm, 13cm. Convention: red = stop/escalate, blue = standard, green = safe terminal. Every connector needs an arrowhead — readers misparse direction otherwise.
cat <<EOF | officecli batch "$FILE"
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Decide","preset":"diamond","fill":"1E2761","line":"none","x":"13.94cm","y":"2cm","width":"6cm","height":"3cm","text":"Hazardous energy present?","font":"Calibri","size":"14","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"YesBox","preset":"roundRect","fill":"B85042","line":"none","x":"3cm","y":"7.5cm","width":"8cm","height":"3cm","text":"Lockout + Tagout + Verify","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"NoBox","preset":"roundRect","fill":"CADCFC","line":"none","x":"22.87cm","y":"7.5cm","width":"8cm","height":"3cm","text":"Proceed with standard PPE","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"1E2761","align":"center","valign":"middle"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[$SLIDE]","type":"shape","props":{"name":"Done","preset":"roundRect","fill":"2C5F2D","line":"none","x":"13.94cm","y":"13cm","width":"6cm","height":"2.5cm","text":"Begin service","font":"Calibri","size":"16","bold":"true","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","valign":"middle"}}
]
EOF
Then 4 connectors (Decide→YesBox, Decide→NoBox, YesBox→Done, NoBox→Done) using the connector loop pattern from (c).
QA (Required)
Assume there are problems. First render is almost never correct. If you found zero issues, you were not looking hard enough.
Delivery Gate (any failure = REJECT, do NOT deliver)
Gates 1–2b are text/schema-level (cannot see a rendered slide); Gate 3 is the only visual check. Done = every gate PASS and Gate 3 loop converged.
FILE="deck.pptx"
officecli validate "$FILE" && echo "Gate 1 OK" || { echo "REJECT Gate 1"; exit 1; }
ISSUES=$(officecli view "$FILE" issues 2>&1 | grep -vE "Slide has no title")
echo "$ISSUES" | grep -qE "^\s*\[[A-Z][0-9]+\]" && { echo "REJECT Gate 2:"; echo "$ISSUES"; exit 1; } || echo "Gate 2 OK"
LEFT=$(officecli view "$FILE" text | grep -niE 'xxxx|lorem|ipsum|<todo>|placeholder|this[- ]slide[- ]layout|\(\)|\[\]')
[ -n "$LEFT" ] && { echo "REJECT Gate 2b:"; echo "$LEFT"; exit 1; } || echo "Gate 2b OK"
Gate 3 — Visual audit (MANDATORY)
Pick one path:
Screenshot (default) — needs image-Read + a headless browser. Loop per slide (viewport screenshot covers only slide 1):
n=1
while officecli view "$FILE" screenshot --page $n -o "/tmp/gate3_$n.png" 2>/dev/null; do
n=$((n+1))
done
[ $n -eq 1 ] && { echo "no headless backend — using fallback"; SCREENSHOT_FAILED=1; }
Read each PNG against the checklist; delegate to a subagent when the harness has one.
Fallback — HTML-text (no image-Read or no browser): read view "$FILE" html as text. DOM cannot prove dark-on-dark / fine overlap / arrowheads / gap-margin metrics / column alignment — flag these as "not visually verified" rather than PASS.
Optional --grid N — only on user request for layout-rhythm, or when view outline shows anomalous layout distribution: officecli view "$FILE" screenshot --grid 3 -o /tmp/grid.png.
Per-slide checklist (assume issues exist):
- overlap — shapes / charts / giant decorative numbers (01/02/03 100pt+) colliding
- text overflow — clipped at slide or shape boundary (KPI cards, narrow boxes)
- narrow text box — content fits technically but wraps to many short lines (1–2 words each); long sublabel in a 3cm KPI card, body line in a too-tight column
- dark-on-dark — fill brightness < 30% with text/icon brightness < 80% (incl. dark icons on dark without a contrasting circle)
- missing arrowheads — flowchart connectors as plain lines
- decorative-line / title mismatch — accent bar sized for one-line title but title wrapped to two (or vice versa)
- footer / citation collision — source line, page number, or footnote touching content above
- tight margin / gap — element within ~0.5" of slide edge, or two cards within ~0.3"
- uneven gaps — large empty area on one side, cramped on another (broken rhythm)
- column / repeat-element misalignment — KPI cards / icons off baseline or inconsistent width
- order sanity — sequence matches narrative (cover → agenda → dividers-before-sections → closing)
REJECT with slide N: <issue> lines, else "Gate 3 PASS" (HTML-text fallback adds " not visually verified").
Fix-verify (mandatory, max 3 cycles). Fix → re-run Gate 3 → repeat until zero new issues; one fix often surfaces another. After 3 rounds without convergence, stop — likely seesaw, template-level cause, or agent misread. Report slide N: <issue> — attempted: <fixes> — likely root: <template|design-conflict|ambiguous> and let the user decide.
Common Pitfalls
Sanity-check cheatsheet — what breaks on the first try. Design + shell traps.
| Pitfall | Correct approach |
|---|
Unquoted [N] in zsh/bash | Always quote paths: "/slide[1]". zsh globs unquoted [1] → no matches found — #1 first-use stumble |
--name "foo" | All attributes go through --prop: --prop name="foo" |
/shape[myname] (bare name in brackets) | Use @name= selector: /shape[@name=myname] or /shape[@id=10007] |
Paths 1-based vs --index 0-based | /slide[1] = first slide; --index 0 = first position |
$ in --prop text= | Single-quote: --prop text='$15M'. Double-quoted "$15M" gets shell-expanded to M |
\n / \t in --prop text= | CLI does NOT interpret. Use multiple --type paragraph, or batch heredoc with JSON "\n" |
