| name | officecli-pitch-deck |
| description | Use this skill when the user wants to create a pitch deck, investor presentation, product launch deck, sales presentation, or business proposal in PowerPoint format. Trigger on: 'pitch deck', 'investor deck', 'Series A deck', 'product launch presentation', 'sales deck', 'fundraising deck', 'startup pitch', 'business proposal slides', 'seed pitch', 'enterprise sales deck'. Output is always a single .pptx file. This skill does NOT use morph transitions -- for morph-animated presentations, use the morph-ppt skill instead. |
Pitch Deck Skill
Create professional pitch presentations from scratch -- investor decks, product launches, enterprise sales decks, and business proposals. Output is a single .pptx file with gradient backgrounds, modern charts, styled tables, stat callouts, and speaker notes on every content slide.
BEFORE YOU START (CRITICAL)
If officecli is not installed:
This workflow expects OfficeCLI, but the skill must not install it automatically. Tell the user OfficeCLI is missing and present these choices before proceeding:
- Install forked OfficeCLI from
https://github.com/lidge-jun/OfficeCLI.
- Switch to the parent PPTX lightweight fallback path if the requested deck can tolerate lower fidelity.
- Stop or cancel.
Before switching to lightweight fallback, ask again and state which pitch-deck features may be lost, such as Office-native validation, theme/master inheritance, CJK/rhwp-aware behavior, or high-fidelity mutation. If the user chooses lightweight mode, save that preference to memory for future Office work.
Use upstream/vanilla iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI only when the task explicitly asks for vanilla upstream OfficeCLI behavior.
After user approval to install the fork:
bash "$(npm root -g)/cli-jaw/scripts/install-officecli.sh"
officecli --version
Use When
- User wants to create an investor pitch deck (seed, Series A/B/C)
- User wants a product launch or feature announcement presentation
- User wants an enterprise sales deck or client-facing pitch
- User wants a business proposal or strategy presentation in slides
- User mentions "pitch deck", "investor deck", "sales deck", "fundraising presentation"
Don't Use When
| User Request | Correct Skill |
|---|
| Morph-animated or cinematic presentations | morph-ppt |
| Edit/modify an existing .pptx | officecli-pptx (editing.md) |
| Excel dashboard or data report | officecli-data-dashboard |
| Word document | officecli-docx |
| Request is primarily about animation/motion effects | morph-ppt |
pitch-deck vs morph-ppt
| Aspect | pitch-deck (this skill) | morph-ppt |
|---|
| Core mechanic | Layout diversity + content density | Morph transition + scene actors |
| Slide construction | Build each slide fresh from scratch | Clone + ghost + modify actors |
| Animation | Standard transitions (fade, push) | Morph (shape-matching across slides) |
| Naming convention | No special naming | !!actor + #sN-content |
| Data visualization | Charts, tables, stat callouts | None (text + shapes only) |
| Helper scripts | None needed | morph-helpers.sh required |
Hard Rules (Non-Negotiable)
These rules are checked by evaluators and will FAIL the deck if violated. No exceptions beyond the explicit list below.
H-FONT: Body Text Minimum Size + Font Consistency
ALL body text must be ≥ 16pt. This applies to EVERY visible text element unless it falls into the explicit exceptions below.
Elements that MUST be ≥ 16pt (no exceptions):
- Card body copy / card descriptions
- Flow diagram node description text
- Team bio text
- Timeline step labels
- Business model card copy
- Sub-labels under stat callout numbers (e.g., "Total Addressable Market")
- Any paragraph or supporting text block
Permitted exceptions (only these — nothing else):
- Chart axis labels / tick labels: 10pt minimum (e.g.,
axisFont="10:64748B:Calibri")
- Chart legend text: 10pt minimum (e.g.,
legendFont="10:64748B:Calibri")
- Table header/body rows: 11-12pt minimum (table cells have constrained space)
- Icon badge initials (letters inside avatar ellipses): any size acceptable
If you are unsure whether something is an exception: it is NOT. Set it to 16pt.
Font consistency (enforced across every shape):
The font pairing declared in creating.md Section A.3 (e.g., Georgia for titles, Calibri for body) applies to EVERY text shape in the entire deck without exception. This includes:
- Connector labels (if any)
- Footer shapes
- Page number shapes
- Small caption or source-credit shapes
- Notes callout shapes
❌ BANNED: Using any font not declared in your A.3 pairing (e.g., adding Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, or any other font mid-deck)
❌ BANNED: Omitting the font property on any shape and relying on PowerPoint defaults
Before delivery, scan every add command in your script and confirm every shape has an explicit "font" value matching your declared pairing.
H-OVERLAP: No Shape May Overlap Another Shape's Text
After adding connectors and arrows, immediately take a PNG screenshot and verify:
- Every connector is visible (not missing)
- No connector or arrow overlaps any text box content
If a connector overlaps text, reposition the connector OR send it behind the text box using --prop zorder=back. See creating.md C.9 for the full connector verification protocol.
H-PALETTE: Color Palette Discipline
Use ONLY colors from your pre-defined palette ($PRIMARY, $SECONDARY, $ACCENT1, $ACCENT2, etc.). Do NOT introduce additional accent colors not defined at the start of the script. If you used purple on Slide 3 but it was not in your initial palette definition, remove it. Every color in the deck must trace back to a named palette variable.
Common traps — these WILL cause a FAIL:
- ❌ BANNED: Red (
FF0000, CC0000, E53935, etc.) to indicate "bad/wrong/competitor weakness" — use your palette's darkest color instead
- ❌ BANNED: Green (
00FF00, 4CAF50, 34A853, etc.) to indicate "good/correct/your advantage" — UNLESS green is explicitly declared as a palette variable (e.g., ACCENT1="34A853")
- ❌ BANNED: Gray (
888888, 999999, AAAAAA, CCCCCC, etc.) as a neutral/background color — use a palette light color (e.g., $LIGHT) instead
- ❌ BANNED: Any bare hex color value that does NOT appear in your palette variable block
How to express contrast and status without new colors:
- "Bad/competitor" column or row → use your palette's darkest or most muted shade (e.g.,
$DARK, $DARK2)
- "Good/your product" column or row → use your palette's primary or accent color (e.g.,
$PRIMARY, $ACCENT1)
- Neutral/disabled state → use a light-opacity version of an existing palette color, not gray
- Tick mark vs cross mark in comparison tables → use the same text color as the column; do NOT switch to red/green
Core Concepts
- Layout-First Construction -- Select a slide pattern from creating.md Section C, then fill with content. Never manually calculate x/y from scratch.
- Color Palette Upfront -- Define 5-6 hex colors as shell variables before building. All commands reference
$PRIMARY, $SECONDARY, etc.
- Slide Pattern Library -- 11 pre-tested spatial blueprints with positioning tables. See creating.md Section C.
- Chart Styling is Non-Negotiable -- Every chart uses the modern recipe:
plotFill=none, chartFill=none, subtle gridlines, series.outline.
- Speaker Notes as Checklist Item -- Add 2+ sentence notes after each content slide is complete.
Workflow Overview
Phase 1: Understand -- Identify deck type (seed/launch/investor/sales), slide count, data provided, color preference.
Phase 2: Plan -- Select deck structure from creating.md Section A. Define palette as shell variables. Map each slide to a pattern from Section C. Verify no two consecutive slides share the same layout.
Phase 3: Build -- Create file, set metadata, then officecli open for resident mode. Build slide by slide using batch mode (heredoc syntax for 4+ elements). Apply chart/table recipes from Sections D/E. Add speaker notes after each slide. officecli close before QA.
Phase 4: QA & Deliver -- Run officecli validate. Check the QA checklist below. Deliver with note about validation exceptions if cell merge was used.
Quick Start -- 6-Slide Seed Pitch
officecli create pitch.pptx
officecli set pitch.pptx / --prop title="FitPulse" --prop author="Alex Kim"
officecli open pitch.pptx
PRIMARY="FF6B35"; SECONDARY="1A1A2E"; ACCENT1="00C9A7"; DARK="16213E"; MUTED="64748B"
cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch pitch.pptx
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/","type":"slide","props":{"layout":"blank","background":"1A1A2E-16213E-180"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[1]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"FitPulse","x":"2cm","y":"5cm","width":"29.87cm","height":"4cm","font":"Georgia","size":"48","bold":"true","color":"FF6B35","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[1]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"AI That Trains With You","x":"2cm","y":"10cm","width":"29.87cm","height":"2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"22","color":"FFFFFF","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[1]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Seed Round | $500K","x":"2cm","y":"13cm","width":"29.87cm","height":"1.5cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"00C9A7","align":"center","fill":"none"}}
]
EOF
officecli set pitch.pptx "/slide[1]" --prop transition=fade
cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch pitch.pptx
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/","type":"slide","props":{"layout":"blank","background":"FFFFFF"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"A $96B Market","x":"2cm","y":"1cm","width":"29.87cm","height":"3cm","font":"Georgia","size":"36","bold":"true","color":"1A1A2E","align":"left","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"$96B","x":"2cm","y":"5cm","width":"9cm","height":"4cm","font":"Georgia","size":"64","bold":"true","color":"FF6B35","align":"center","valign":"bottom","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Total Addressable Market","x":"2cm","y":"9.5cm","width":"9cm","height":"2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"64748B","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
// ^^^ "64748B" = $MUTED declared above. Use $MUTED in your palette; in heredoc use its literal hex value.
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"$14.7B","x":"12.5cm","y":"5cm","width":"9cm","height":"4cm","font":"Georgia","size":"64","bold":"true","color":"FF6B35","align":"center","valign":"bottom","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Fitness App Market","x":"12.5cm","y":"9.5cm","width":"9cm","height":"2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"64748B","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"$320M","x":"23cm","y":"5cm","width":"9cm","height":"4cm","font":"Georgia","size":"64","bold":"true","color":"FF6B35","align":"center","valign":"bottom","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[2]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"AI Fitness (beachhead)","x":"23cm","y":"9.5cm","width":"9cm","height":"2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"64748B","align":"center","fill":"none"}}
]
EOF
officecli set pitch.pptx "/slide[2]" --prop transition=push-left
officecli add pitch.pptx "/slide[2]" --type notes \
--prop text="The global fitness market is 96 billion. Our beachhead is the 320M AI fitness niche."
cat <<'EOF' | officecli batch pitch.pptx
[
{"command":"add","parent":"/","type":"slide","props":{"layout":"blank","background":"FFFFFF"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Explosive Early Traction","x":"2cm","y":"1cm","width":"29.87cm","height":"3cm","font":"Georgia","size":"36","bold":"true","color":"1A1A2E","align":"left","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"chart","props":{"chartType":"areaStacked","categories":"Month 1,Month 2,Month 3","series1":"Casual:8000,14000,19200","series2":"Enthusiast:2500,5200,9600","series3":"Pro:500,1200,3200","x":"2cm","y":"4cm","width":"17cm","height":"13cm","colors":"FF6B35,00C9A7,845EC2","plotFill":"none","chartFill":"none","gridlines":"E2E8F0:0.5","legendFont":"10:64748B:Calibri","legend":"bottom","series.outline":"FFFFFF-0.5"}},
// NOTE: legendFont=10 above is a CHART INTERNAL exception (axis/legend) — allowed.
// All standalone stat sub-labels and body text outside the chart MUST be >= 16pt (Hard Rule H-FONT).
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"50K","x":"21cm","y":"4cm","width":"11cm","height":"2.5cm","font":"Georgia","size":"44","bold":"true","color":"FF6B35","align":"center","valign":"bottom","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"Downloads","x":"21cm","y":"6.8cm","width":"11cm","height":"1.2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"64748B","align":"center","fill":"none"}},
// ^^^ "64748B" = $MUTED. Stat sub-label: must be >= 16pt (Hard Rule H-FONT). Do NOT copy 12pt from old examples.
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"40%","x":"21cm","y":"8.5cm","width":"11cm","height":"2.5cm","font":"Georgia","size":"44","bold":"true","color":"00C9A7","align":"center","valign":"bottom","fill":"none"}},
{"command":"add","parent":"/slide[3]","type":"shape","props":{"text":"MoM Growth","x":"21cm","y":"11.3cm","width":"11cm","height":"1.2cm","font":"Calibri","size":"16","color":"64748B","align":"center","fill":"none"}}
// ^^^ "64748B" = $MUTED. Stat sub-label: must be >= 16pt (Hard Rule H-FONT). Do NOT copy 12pt from old examples.
]
EOF
officecli set pitch.pptx "/slide[3]" --prop transition=push-left
officecli add pitch.pptx "/slide[3]" --type notes \
--prop text="50K downloads in 3 months with 40% MoM growth. Premium tier growing fastest."
officecli close pitch.pptx
officecli validate pitch.pptx
QA Checklist
Run before every delivery. See creating.md Section G for the full checklist.
officecli validate structural result recorded. Exception: slides with cell merge or modern chart extensions may report schema warnings that must be separated from render/PowerPoint-open proof.- Every chart is editable (click -> Edit Data appears in PowerPoint)
- Every table is a native table object (click -> table editing mode)
- Speaker notes on all content slides (exclude title and closing), >= 2 sentences each
- No two consecutive slides share the same layout structure
- Font consistency: every shape in the deck uses only the declared font pairing (Georgia + Calibri). No shape may use an undeclared font (Hard Rule H-FONT).
- Palette-only colors: scan all
fill and color values — no bare hex outside the declared palette block. No red/green/gray introduced for status indicators (Hard Rule H-PALETTE).
What This Skill Does NOT Do
- No morph transitions, clone-slide, or
!! naming
- No 3D effects, motion paths, or video embedding
- No template merge (
{{key}} patterns)
- No custom SVG geometry or WordArt
- No reading/editing existing .pptx (use officecli-pptx)
Known Issues
See creating.md Section H for the full list with workarounds. Key issues:
| Issue | Impact |
|---|
view issues reports "Slide has no title" for every slide | Expected behavior — safe to ignore. pitch-deck uses layout=blank which has no built-in PowerPoint title placeholder. This is not a bug. |
gap ignored during chart add | Must apply via separate set command |
| Cell merge produces validation errors | PowerPoint renders correctly; note in delivery |
Cell-level color on table cells causes validation errors | Use row-level color instead |
Custom gradient stops (@) fail on slide backgrounds | Use 2-color or 3-color gradients only |
Combo chart requires both comboSplit=1 and secondary=2 | Missing either renders incorrectly |
| Dual-axis scale mismatch makes smaller series invisible | HARD RULE: If ranges differ >10x, MUST split into two separate charts. See creating.md D.4 |
| Stat values wrap at 60pt in 7cm width | HARD RULE: Max 4 chars for $X.YM patterns (wide $+. glyphs); max 5 chars for other values. Use 44-48pt or C.2 (3-stat, 9cm) for longer |
Doughnut chart colors parameter may not apply | CLI accepts without error but PowerPoint renders default colors. No workaround. Verify via screenshot |
Empty table cell c1="" causes validation error | Use c1=" " (space character) instead of empty string |
| Connector arrows may not all render in batch | Add connectors in separate batch after shapes; immediately screenshot to verify each connector is visible (CLI reports success even when rendering fails); if still missing, add one at a time or use --type shape --prop geometry=rightArrow as a reliable fallback |
| Empty series values (gaps) not supported | Use 0 for missing data points; produces zero-height bars |
| Background covers text | In batch, background shapes are added before text shapes. Adding bg shapes AFTER text results in bg covering text completely (higher z-order). Always: bg → text, never text → bg |
Adjustments After Creation
When the user requests changes after the deck is built:
| Request | Command |
|---|
| Swap two slides | officecli swap deck.pptx '/slide[2]' '/slide[4]' |
| Move a slide after another | officecli move deck.pptx '/slide[5]' --after '/slide[2]' |
| Edit shape text | officecli set deck.pptx '/slide[N]/shape[M]' --prop text="..." |
| Change color / style | officecli set deck.pptx '/slide[N]/shape[M]' --prop fill=FF0000 |
| Remove an element | officecli remove deck.pptx '/slide[N]/shape[M]' |
| Find & replace text | officecli set deck.pptx / --prop find=OldText --prop replace=NewText |
After any swap or move, re-query the affected slide with officecli get deck.pptx '/slide[N]' --depth 1 — shape indices shift after reordering.
Help System
officecli --help
officecli help pptx set
officecli help pptx set shape --json
officecli help pptx add --json
officecli view --help
