PPTX from Layouts — Step 3: Render

Generate consultant-ready PowerPoint presentations from markdown outlines by filling the template's actual slide-master layouts. Core thesis: use the template's layouts and placeholders — never overlay text boxes on slides.

The 3-step pipeline

This skill is Step 3 of a three-skill pipeline. Each step is its own skill:

  STEP 1 — PROFILE          STEP 2 — AUTHOR           STEP 3 — RENDER  ◀ you are here
  pptx-profile              pptx-author               pptx-from-layouts
  ───────────────           ───────────────           ─────────────────
  your-template.pptx        slides.md (+ [HINT:])     slides.md + config
        │                         │                         │
        ▼                         ▼                         ▼
   catalog.py  ──catalog.md──▶  write & lint  ──slides──▶  generate.py ─▶ deck.pptx
        └────────────────── config.json ───────────────────▲   (validated)
  "what layouts do I        "write slides that        "fill the template's
   have?"                    name real layouts"        actual placeholders"

• Step 1 — pptx-profile: catalog.py turns a .pptx into a layout catalog (the menu of [HINT:] names) + a render config.json. One-time per template.
• Step 2 — pptx-author: write slides.md with [HINT: layout_name] per slide, then lint_hints.py validates the hints against the catalog.
• Step 3 — this skill: generate.py fills the named layouts and validates.

You can also start here directly with the bundled Inner Chapter template (no Step 1 needed) — it's the default and the running example throughout this doc.

[HINT:] — author against real layouts

A slide can name the exact template layout it should render on:

# Slide 2: Three outcomes the research must achieve

[HINT: column-3-centered-a]

[Column 1: Level-set] …

[HINT:] resolves against the active template config (from Step 1), so it works for any profiled template — not just Inner Chapter. It's equivalent to the **Layout:** marker, and takes precedence over **Visual:**. Use [HINT:] when you know the layout (precise); use **Visual:** when you want the engine to auto-pick one for a semantic intent (e.g. process-4-phase). Mismatched hints fall back to auto-detection with a warning — so lint in Step 2 first.

Dependencies (check first)

Requires Python 3.10+, python-pptx, and pydantic:

pip install python-pptx pydantic     # or: pip install -r requirements.txt

If you hit ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pptx' or 'pydantic', this is why. The entry-point scripts set their own PYTHONPATH; run them directly with python.

Decision: which path am I on?

The user wants…	Do this
A deck from a brief / notes / source doc (no outline yet)	Delegate to pptx-outline-architect, then generate
A deck and they already wrote an outline	generate.py → validate
To use their own PowerPoint as the template	Delegate to pptx-template-onboarder (one-time setup)
Small text fixes / reorder on an existing deck (<30% slides)	edit.py (inventory → replace / reorder)
Layout changes, added/removed slides, or >30% churn	Regenerate via generate.py — never edit
To know if a deck is good	Delegate to pptx-deck-qa or run validate.py

Mandatory generation workflow (do not skip steps)

1. Pick or confirm the template. First time with a custom template? Onboard it once (see Bring your own template below). Otherwise the bundled Inner Chapter template is the default.
2. Produce an outline with a **Visual: <type>** declaration on EVERY content slide. Choose visual types with the decision order below — do not default everything to bullets.
3. Generate:

   python scripts/generate.py outline.md -o deck.pptx --validate
   

   (Add --template <t.pptx> --config <c.json> for a custom template.)
4. Validate and read the report. A deck is not done until validation is clean of errors and text overflow. If it isn't, fix and re-run.
5. Report the score and the output path to the user.

Definition of done (self-check before claiming success)

• Every content slide had an explicit **Visual:** declaration.
• generate.py exited successfully and the .pptx exists.
• validate.py reports zero errors and no text overflow.
• No anti-pattern below was used (hero-statement for lists, tables for process flows, bullets for comparisons, …).
• You reported the validation score and file path, not just "done".

If any box is unchecked, the task is not finished — fix it or say explicitly what blocked you.

Subagents

Canonical definitions in agents/; install to ~/.claude/agents/ to use them.

Subagent	Use it to
pptx-outline-architect	Turn raw material into a generation-ready outline.md with correct visual types
pptx-template-onboarder	Onboard a user's .pptx as a reusable, on-brand template (one-time)
pptx-deck-qa	Validate a deck and apply a surgical fix or recommend regeneration

They chain as architect → generate.py → QA; for your own template, onboarder runs once up front. (Full write-up: docs/workflows.md in the repo.)

Quick Start

# Generate from outline (bundled Inner Chapter template, with validation)
python scripts/generate.py outline.md -o deck.pptx --validate

# Use your own template
python scripts/generate.py outline.md -o deck.pptx \
    --template your-template.pptx --config your-template-config.json --validate

# Edit existing deck (dump inventory, edit its JSON, apply as a file)
python scripts/edit.py deck.pptx --inventory -o inv.json
#   edit inv.json: change the text on the paragraph(s) you care about
python scripts/edit.py deck.pptx --replace inv.json -o edited.pptx

# Validate quality
python scripts/validate.py deck.pptx

# Profile a custom template (one-time onboarding)
python scripts/profile.py template.pptx --name my-template --generate-config

Bring your own template (one-time, then automate forever)

The bundled template is only a demo. To make on-brand decks, onboard your own .pptx once — profile it, generate its layout-mapping config, smoke-test, and reuse it for every future deck.

python scripts/profile.py /path/to/your-template.pptx \
    --name your-template --generate-config --output-dir templates/

This emits your-template-config.json. After that, every deck is a single generate.py call with --template/--config. Full guide: rules/bring-your-own-template.md. To automate the whole thing, delegate to pptx-template-onboarder.

Visual Types

Declare in outlines with **Visual: type-name**.

Type	Use When
process-N-phase	Sequential steps (N=2-5)
comparison-N	Side-by-side options (N=2-5)
cards-N	Non-sequential parallel items (N=2-5)
data-contrast	Two opposing metrics
quote-hero	Powerful quote
hero-statement	Single punchy statement ONLY
timeline-horizontal	Date-based sequences
table	Genuinely tabular data
bullets	Default (3+ items) — last resort

Decision order: sequence → comparison → parallel items → data contrast → quote → table → hero → bullets. Full reference + per-type length limits: rules/visual-types.md.

Typography Markers

Inline	Result		Paragraph	Result
{blue}text{/blue}	IC brand blue		{bullet:-}	Dash bullet (–)
{bold}text{/bold}	Bold		{bullet:1}	Numbered
{italic}text{/italic}	Italic		{level:N}	Indent level
{question}text?{/question}	Blue italic
{signpost}LABEL{/signpost}	Section label

Example outline

# Project Overview
**Visual: hero-statement**
Transforming operations through digital innovation

# Our Approach
**Visual: process-4-phase**

[Column 1: Discover]
- Stakeholder interviews
- Competitive audit
[Image: research process]

[Column 2: Define]
- Workshop facilitation
- Strategic framework

[Column 3: Design]
- Solution architecture
- Prototype development

[Column 4: Deliver]
- Implementation
- Training & handover

Edit workflow

# 1. Dump the inventory — this is the schema replace.py consumes
python scripts/edit.py project.pptx --inventory -o inv.json
# 2. Open inv.json, find the target paragraph, change only its "text" field.
#    e.g. inv.json["slide-2"]["shape-3"]["paragraphs"][0]["text"] = "Q2 2026"
# 3. Apply, then validate
python scripts/edit.py project.pptx --replace inv.json -o updated.pptx
python scripts/validate.py updated.pptx

Mode Decision

Change Type	Action
New presentation	generate.py
Typos/values (< 30% slides)	edit.py
Reorder slides	edit.py --reorder
Layout changes	Regenerate
Add/remove slides	Regenerate
> 30% slide changes	Regenerate

Anti-Patterns (FORBIDDEN)

• DON'T skip the **Visual:** declaration — the parser default may not match.
• DON'T default to bullets when a richer visual type fits — bullets are the last resort, not the reflex.
• DON'T use hero-statement for 3+ items or multi-sentence content.
• DON'T use tables for methodology/process flows (use process-N-phase).
• DON'T use bullet lists for side-by-side comparisons (use comparison-N).
• DON'T use edit mode for layout changes or to add/remove slides — regenerate.
• DON'T edit > 30% of slides — regenerate instead.
• DON'T claim success without a clean validation pass.

See Also

Author-facing rules in rules/: outline-format.md, visual-types.md, typography.md, columns.md, tables.md, editing.md, bring-your-own-template.md, decisions.md.

Reference: references/layouts.md (Inner Chapter layout indices). Subagents: agents/ (this skill). Workflows write-up: docs/workflows.md (repo).