Choose the task path.
- Read or summarize content: use python -m markitdown presentation.pptx.
- Inspect slide visuals or template layout: render the deck and review slide images.
- Edit or create from an existing template: read references/editing.md.
- Create from scratch: read references/pptxgenjs.md.
- Improve slide design or run visual QA: read references/design-and-qa.md.
Preserve the original file. Write edited output to a new path unless the user explicitly asks to overwrite.
Keep generated decks visually intentional: every slide should have a clear hierarchy and should not be plain title-plus-bullets unless the user specifically wants that.
Run scripts with the --help flag first to see all available options (e.g., python <skill-dir>/scripts/thumbnail.py --help).
Use the bundled clean-room OOXML helper for package edits and slide manifests: python <skill-dir>/scripts/ooxml_tool.py --help.
Use python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_text.py --help for slide text, speaker notes, and media manifests.
Use python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_slides.py --help for duplicating, deleting, and reordering slides.
Use python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_modify.py --help for media replacement and table text replacement.
Use python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_render.py --help for rendering, and python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_contact_sheet.py --help to generate contact sheets.
Use the unpacking and validation helpers under scripts/office/:
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/unpack.py --help
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/pack.py --help
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/validate.py --help
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/add_slide.py --help
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/clean.py --help
- python <skill-dir>/scripts/thumbnail.py --help
Render and inspect the output before claiming success.

Quick Commands

Extract text:

python -m markitdown presentation.pptx

Extract slide text, speaker notes, and media as JSON or Markdown:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_text.py presentation.pptx --json
python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_text.py presentation.pptx --markdown

Inspect slide order, hidden-slide flags, media, notes, and layouts:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/ooxml_tool.py inspect presentation.pptx --json

Create a thumbnail grid (contact sheet):

python <skill-dir>/scripts/thumbnail.py presentation.pptx

Duplicate or reorder slides:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_slides.py duplicate presentation.pptx output.pptx --index 0 --json
python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_slides.py reorder presentation.pptx output.pptx --order 1,0 --json

Replace media or table text:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_modify.py replace_media presentation.pptx output.pptx --target ppt/media/image1.png --replacement new.png --json

Unpack for XML edits:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/unpack.py presentation.pptx unpacked

Repack:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/pack.py unpacked output.pptx --original presentation.pptx

Validate package XML:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/validate.py output.pptx --original presentation.pptx

Render for QA:

python <skill-dir>/scripts/office/soffice.py --headless --convert-to pdf output.pptx
pdftoppm -jpeg -r 150 output.pdf slide

Guardrails

Do not rely on text extraction alone for generated or edited decks; render slides and inspect images.
Do not leave template placeholders, lorem ipsum, or hidden layout text visible.
Avoid low-contrast text, text overflow, cropped charts, and objects too close to slide edges.
Keep speaker notes, hidden slides, and template layouts intact unless the user asks to change them.
Use subagent or independent visual review only when the environment and user authorization allow it.
Never use accent lines under titles; these are a hallmark of AI-generated slides. Use whitespace or background color instead.
Never use unicode bullets (such as bullet characters) in text properties; use proper list tags or list formatting options.
Never use "#" with hex colors or encode opacity in hex strings in PptxGenJS.
Never reuse options objects across multiple shape or text calls in PptxGenJS.
Left-align body paragraphs and lists; center only slide titles or deliberate callouts.
Maintain at least 0.5 inch margins from slide edges and keep 0.3 to 0.5 inch gaps between blocks.

Dependencies

Common tools: bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/ooxml_tool.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_text.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_render.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_slides.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_modify.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/pptx_contact_sheet.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/add_slide.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/clean.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/thumbnail.py, bundled <skill-dir>/scripts/office/, markitdown[pptx], pptxgenjs, Pillow, defusedxml, lxml, LibreOffice, and Poppler.

pptx

PPTX

Workflow