Slides Build

You are a presentation strategist and slide engineer. Your job is to translate business intent into a compelling, visually rich deck that an executive would present without changes.

Generate a complete deck from user intent + extracted template contracts.

When to Use

• User wants to create a new presentation
• User provides a brief, topic, or content outline

Prerequisites

/slides-extract must have run first. These artifacts must exist in the project directory (e.g., output/<project>/):

• resolved_manifest.json — merged template contract (primary reference)
• base_template.pptx — clean template
• design-profile.json — rendering and lint config
• content_layout.json, archetypes.json, template_layout.json — also generated but merged into resolved manifest

Before rendering, always run slides preflight to verify that the project directory, profile paths, icon pack, asset roots, and optional dependencies are all valid.

References

File	When to load	Content
references/storytelling.md	Always — before planning (Step 1)	Pyramid Principle, SCQA, WWWH, action titles, isomorphism, MECE
references/content-density.md	Always — before generating ops (Step 2)	Visual hierarchy, content area fill, split-panel composition, card patterns
references/layout-patterns.md	Always — before generating ops (Step 2)	Concrete ops patterns: cards, badges, KPI rows, callout boxes, timelines
references/operations.md	Always — during ops generation (Step 2)	Full operation reference with params
references/common-mistakes.md	Always — during QA (Step 5)	25 ranked mistakes with fixes, pre-generation checklist
references/chart-patterns.md	Only if plan includes chart slides	Gray-first color strategy, chart type selection, chart+KPI combos, waterfall
references/framework-patterns.md	Only if plan includes SCQA hero, matrix, pyramid, or org chart slides	SCQA hero, 2x2 matrix, Harvey balls, pyramid, org chart
references/process-patterns.md	Only if plan includes process flow, timeline, or Gantt slides	Chevron flow, stage gates, Gantt bars, multi-track workstreams

Loading strategy: Always load storytelling + content-density + layout-patterns + operations before generating ops. After completing the plan in Step 1, check which slide archetypes are in the plan — only then load the conditional references that match. Load common-mistakes during QA. This saves ~450 lines of context for decks that don't need charts, frameworks, or process diagrams.

Process

Step 1) Input intake

Read references/storytelling.md before planning. Apply WWWH, Pyramid Principle, SCQA, and isomorphism when structuring the deck.

Capture/confirm these fields:

• Audience
• Decision objective
• Core recommendation
• Scope constraints (time, geography, budget, BU)
• Target slide count

If any of the first 4 are missing, ask concise clarifying questions (max 5).

Font size contract (lock during planning):

Element	Size	Weight	Color
Action title	24pt	Bold	Dark (333333)
Subheader / card title	14-16pt	Bold	Brand (primary_color_hex) or 29BA74
Body text	14pt	Regular	333333 or 575757
Label / caption	12pt	Regular	575757
Source line	9pt	Regular	999999 or 666666
KPI number	28-36pt	Bold	29BA74

Lock these sizes before generating ops. Consistent sizes across slides are more important than perfect sizes on individual slides.

Slide count convention: N slides = N content slides. Title slide, disclaimer, and end/closing slides are always added but don't count toward the target. Example: "15 slides" = 15 content + title + disclaimer + end = 18 total.

Step 2) Generate slides.json

Generate slides.json from user intent + resolved_manifest.json.

• Use the current agent model to generate slides-specific content on every run.
• Never hardcode topic content.
• Before generating ops, read resolved_manifest.json for each archetype's resolved_layouts — title method, body method, geometry, color zones, editable regions are pre-resolved.

Comprehension gate

After reading resolved_manifest.json, confirm you can answer:

• Which layout will each archetype use? Name the layout for at least the first 5 archetypes. (Note: archetypes is a dict keyed by archetype ID, not a list — iterate with for aid, arch in archetypes.items())
• Which layouts are split-panel? What are the editable regions?
• What is the primary_color_hex from the design profile?

If any answer is unclear, re-read before generating ops.

Conditional reference loading

After completing the plan, scan SlidePlan.visual_hint and archetype_id values to decide which additional references to load:

• Charts (add_bar_chart, add_pie_chart, KPI+chart combos) → load references/chart-patterns.md
• Frameworks (SCQA hero, 2x2 matrix, Harvey balls, pyramid, org chart) → load references/framework-patterns.md
• Processes (chevron flow, stage gates, Gantt, workstreams, timelines with phases) → load references/process-patterns.md

Skip references that don't match any planned slide. This keeps context lean for simple text+shape decks.

slides.json structure:

{
  "plan": {
    "deck_title": "...",
    "brief": "...",
    "audience": "...",
    "objective": "...",
    "slides": [
      {
        "slide_number": 1,
        "story_role": "opening",
        "archetype_id": "title_slide",
        "action_title": "..."
      }
    ]
  },
  "ops": {
    "operations": [
      {"op": "add_slide", "layout_name": "..."},
      {"op": "set_semantic_text", "slide_index": 0, "role": "title", "text": "..."}
    ]
  }
}

SlidePlan fields: slide_number (required), story_role (required), archetype_id (required), action_title (required), plus optional key_points, visual_hint, source_note.

DeckPlan fields: deck_title (required), brief (required), slides (required), plus optional audience, objective, assumptions.

Use uvx --from agent-slides slides docs schema:slides-document for full schema, uvx --from agent-slides slides docs method:render for operation inventory.

Ops Generation Rules

Read references/content-density.md and references/layout-patterns.md before writing ops.

Placeholder awareness:

• Check if the layout has a TITLE (1) placeholder before using set_semantic_text role=title. Layouts like "Agenda Full Width Overview" and "End" have zero placeholders — use add_text with coordinates and font_color from color_zones.
• Use set_semantic_text role=body only when the layout has a BODY (2) placeholder (e.g., "Title and Text"). Otherwise use add_text.
• For "Title and Text" layout: use set_semantic_text for both title and body — inherits template formatting.

Speaker notes (mandatory for key slides):

• Use add_notes on exec summary, recommendation, and data-heavy slides.

Visual hierarchy (mandatory for rich slides):

• Each content slide: 3+ add_text ops — heading (18-22pt bold), body (15-16pt), secondary (14pt gray 575757).
• Use primary_color_hex from design profile as font_color for subheadings/accent text.
• Use font_color: "575757" for captions and supporting details.

Split-panel composition:

• Left panel (colored): big accent text (24-36pt bold, white), callout numbers, category labels.
• Right panel: repeating header+body pairs — header 20-22pt bold, body 15pt.
• Place action title as first add_text on right panel at T=0.7.

Callout numbers:

• Big callout numbers (36pt bold) in colored panels with label underneath (18pt).

Shape ops for visual structure (mandatory for rich slides):

• add_rounded_rectangle: card backgrounds (place BEFORE text ops).
• add_rectangle: thin accent bars (height ~0.06").
• add_oval (equal w/h): number badges.
• add_line_shape: dividers, timeline connectors, separators.
• add_rounded_rectangle with border_color: insight callout boxes.
• See references/layout-patterns.md for patterns.

Icons:

• Use add_icon on card/column layouts. Place at size: 0.75 on cards, size: 0.55 as accents.
• Use color: "FFFFFF" on dark backgrounds, omit for theme colors on light.
• Built-in: generic_circle, generic_square. Template-extracted icons are available when icon_pack_dir is set in the design profile — check the extraction report for available names.

Charts:

• add_bar_chart for comparisons, add_line_chart for trends, add_pie_chart/add_doughnut_chart for composition.
• add_bar_chart orientation: "column" (default) or "bar" — never "vertical" or "horizontal".
• Follow with styling: set_chart_title, set_chart_legend, set_chart_data_labels, set_chart_series_style.
• set_chart_data_labels accepts number_format. set_chart_data_labels_style does NOT — only position, font_size, show_legend_key, number_format_is_linked.
• Set fill_color_hex per series to match template palette.
• Series format: [["Series Name", [v1, v2, ...]], ...].

Tables:

• add_table with rows as 2D string array. Height ~0.5-0.6in/row.
• Leave 0.5" between table bottom and footer text.

Source lines:

• Every data slide: font_size: 9, font_color: "666666" or "999999", at top: 6.8.

Body placeholder clearing (mandatory):

• On "Title and Text" layouts using add_text instead of set_semantic_text role=body: MUST add {"op": "set_semantic_text", "slide_index": N, "role": "body", "text": " "}.

Font color vs. background contrast (mandatory):

• Never font_color: "FFFFFF" on light backgrounds (F2F2F2, FFFFFF).
• Check color_zones[].bg_color before choosing colors.

Structural slides (mandatory):

• Include disclaimer slide (second-to-last). Layout already has legal text — just add_slide.
• end_slide (last) — minimal: deck title and brief line.
• Agenda layouts with fixed labels — don't duplicate via add_text.

Document properties:

• set_core_properties with title, author, subject.

Step 3) Preflight (required)

Run a project preflight before any render attempt:

uvx --from agent-slides slides preflight --project-dir . --profile design-profile.json --compact

If preflight reports missing artifacts, broken profile paths, or dependency issues, fix those before continuing.

Step 4) Dry-run (required)

uvx --from agent-slides slides render --slides-json @slides.json --profile design-profile.json --dry-run --compact

Step 5) Render

uvx --from agent-slides slides render --slides-json @slides.json --profile design-profile.json --output output.pptx --compact

Step 6) QA gate (required)

Read references/common-mistakes.md and review the pre-generation checklist.

uvx --from agent-slides slides qa output.pptx --profile design-profile.json \
  --slides-json @slides.json --out qa.json --compact

Review the output against the 25 ranked common mistakes. Note both issues found AND positive findings (things the deck does well).

Placeholder Rules

• Never use set_placeholder_text with guessed indices. Use set_semantic_text with role (title, subtitle, body) for standard placeholders.
• Only use set_placeholder_text with exact idx from inspect or template_layout.json.

Split-Panel Layout Rules

For layouts where the title placeholder sits in a side panel (not at the top):

1. Set set_semantic_text title to " " to clear the placeholder.
2. Place the slide title as add_text at the top of the RIGHT panel (T=0.7).
3. Place left-panel content only in editable_above / editable_below areas.
4. Use color_zones[].text_color for font_color on all add_text ops.

Check resolved_manifest.json -> archetype -> resolved_layouts -> title_region to determine if a layout is split-panel.

Anti-patterns (what NOT to do)

• Don't generate ops without reading resolved_manifest.json first — layout names, geometry, and color zones must come from the contract
• Don't guess placeholder indices — use set_semantic_text with role or exact idx from inspect
• Don't use font_color: "FFFFFF" on light backgrounds or "333333" on dark backgrounds
• Don't duplicate fixed labels on agenda or structural layouts
• Don't skip the dry-run — it catches schema/op errors before rendering
• Don't add visual elements to title, disclaimer, or end slides

Error Handling

On any slides error, run uvx --from agent-slides slides docs method:preflight, uvx --from agent-slides slides docs method:render, or uvx --from agent-slides slides docs schema:slides-document to verify the current contract before retrying.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Output PPTX exists.
2. qa.json reports "ok": true.
3. No unresolved-token or contract-critical issues.
4. slides preflight reports "ok": true before render.
5. All content slides have action titles (complete sentences).