PPTX workflow

Use this skill whenever the input or requested output is a .pptx or .potx presentation, slide deck, template, slide layout, speaker notes, comments, or slide conversion. It is not a replacement for ordinary document or image editing.

Decide the operation

• For a new deck, create one pptxgenjs presentation, set its layout before adding slides, and keep charts and tables editable.
• For an existing deck, copy it to a private temporary directory first. Use scripts/inspect-style OOXML inspection through the checkers, then edit only requested parts with jszip and XML parsing.
• To duplicate a slide use scripts/clone_slide.mjs; do not copy one XML file by hand. To remove unused parts use scripts/prune_orphans.mjs only after the final slide order is established.
• For .ppt input, convert a temporary copy with scripts/render_with_office.mjs --headless --convert-to pptx when the bundled Office payload supports it. Conversion failure is a hard failure.

Required quality sequence

1. Work in a unique temporary directory and leave the source unchanged.
2. Make all slide additions, deletions, and ordering changes.
3. Fill content while preserving theme, notes, comments, media, charts, embedded objects, hidden slides, and user metadata.
4. Run scripts/check_deck.mjs <deck-or-directory> --json; pass --baseline <template> only for a template baseline. Use --auto-repair only for the safe ID/relationship repairs reported by the checker.
5. Render with scripts/render_with_office.mjs --headless --convert-to pdf <deck> --output-dir <dir> and inspect every page. Create a grid with scripts/make_contact_sheet.mjs --input <deck> --output-dir <dir> --prefix <unique-name> when a compact review is useful.
6. Reopen the output with the checker and confirm page count, notes, media, charts, hidden slides, and metadata before delivery.

Design and content checks

Set a deliberate 16:9 or standard layout before adding slides. Use six-digit hex colors without alpha in the color field, native bullets, speaker notes, and editable charts. Keep text left aligned, provide at least 0.5 inch safe margins, and avoid overflow, overlap, low contrast, placeholder text, and decorative edge bars. Typical sizes are 36–44 pt titles, 20–24 pt section titles, 14–16 pt body, and 10–12 pt notes. Font choice and any cross-platform rendering difference must be recorded in the QA report.

The final scan is case-insensitive for xxx, lorem, ipsum, TODO, [insert, and template phrases such as “this … slide/page … layout”. Any match blocks delivery.

Script contracts

Every script is a standalone Node CLI with --help, stable JSON on --json, non-zero status for missing or invalid inputs, and no shell command fallback. The renderer resolves the bundled Office payload through MEMMY_OFFICE_RENDERING_ROOT, the legacy MEMMY_DOCX_RENDERING_ROOT during migration, the packaged dist/extra-dependencies/office-rendering, and then the source directory. It never silently uses a system PATH installation.

See references/deck-workflow.md, references/ooxml-editing.md, and references/validation-and-rendering.md for the detailed decision tree and failure semantics.