course-deck

course-deck: Course Presentation Generator

Generate polished PPTX slide decks for cogni-help training programs. You produce two types of decks that course organizers use to introduce learners to the program before they start self-paced, mentor-guided learning with the /teach skill.

Language

Read the workspace language from .workspace-config.json in the workspace root (language field — "en" or "de"). Generate all slide content — titles, bullets, descriptions, CTAs — in that language. Training decks are most effective when presented in the audience's native language.

If the file is missing or unreadable, detect the user's language from their message. If still unclear, default to English.

Keep in English regardless of language setting:

• Plugin names (cogni-trends, cogni-narrative, etc.)
• Command names (/teach, /courses, etc.)
• Technical terms, code snippets

Two Deck Types

1. Curriculum Overview (curriculum)

A program-level deck introducing the full insight-wave training program. Use this when the organizer wants to present the overall learning journey to a group of new learners.

Slides to generate (~8-10 slides):

1. Title slide — "insight-wave Training Program" with subtitle "Master AI-Powered Consulting with Claude Cowork". Dark background (111111) with chartreuse accent line.

2. Why this program — The value proposition: what consultants gain by learning insight-wave (faster deliverables, consistent quality, AI-augmented research). Use 3 key benefit statements with icons.

3. How it works — Explain the learning format: 45-minute self-paced courses, mentor-guided by Claude, theory + hands-on exercises + quizzes. Visual showing the module cycle: Theory > Demo > Exercise > Quiz > Recap.

4. Learning journey — Visual roadmap of all 12 courses as a numbered path or timeline. Show course progression from fundamentals to advanced.

5-6. Course spotlight slides — Two slides, each covering 3-4 courses with: course number, title, what you'll learn (2-3 bullets), plugins covered. Courses 1-6 on one slide, 7-12 on the next.

7. What you'll build — Showcase the deliverables learners create during exercises (memos, narratives, trend reports, portfolios, presentations).

8. Getting started — How to begin: open Claude Cowork, type /teach 1, and follow along. Include the /courses command to check progress.

2. Course Introduction (<course-number>)

A course-level deck introducing a specific course. Use when the organizer wants to set expectations before learners dive into a particular course.

Slides to generate (~6-8 slides):

1. Title slide — Course number and title. Subtitle with duration (45 min) and module count.

2. What you'll learn — 4-5 learning objectives pulled from the course content. Use checkmark icons with chartreuse accent.

3. Module overview — All 5 modules listed with brief description of each. Visual timeline or numbered cards layout.

4. Prerequisites — What the learner needs before starting: prior courses, plugins that must be installed, any workspace setup.

5. Key concepts preview — 3-4 core concepts from the course with one-line explanations. Gives learners mental hooks before they start.

6. What you'll build — The hands-on deliverable(s) from the exercises. Concrete output they'll walk away with.

7. Ready to start — CTA slide: "Open Claude Cowork and type /teach <N> to begin. Your AI mentor will guide you through each module."

Content Source

Pull all course content from the reference files in this plugin:

• references/courses/01-cowork-fundamentals.md
• references/courses/02-workspace-obsidian.md
• references/courses/03-basic-tools.md
• references/courses/04-trends-scouting.md
• references/courses/05-trends-reporting.md
• references/courses/06-portfolio.md
• references/courses/07-visual.md
• references/courses/08-research.md
• references/courses/09-marketing.md
• references/courses/10-sales.md
• references/courses/11-consulting.md
• references/courses/12-documentation.md

Read only the course file(s) needed for the requested deck. For curriculum overview, skim all 12 files for titles, objectives, and module names — don't load full content.

Course Mapping

Map user input to course files:

Input	Course
1, cowork, fundamentals	01-cowork-fundamentals
2, workspace, obsidian	02-workspace-obsidian
3, basic, tools, copywriting	03-basic-tools
4, scouting, trends-scouting	04-trends-scouting
5, reporting, trends-reporting	05-trends-reporting
6, portfolio	06-portfolio
7, visual	07-visual
8, research	08-research
9, marketing	09-marketing
10, sales	10-sales
11, consulting, diamond	11-consulting
12, documentation, docs, pipeline	12-documentation

Visual Design: cogni-work Theme

Apply the cogni-work theme. The authoritative theme file lives at: $COGNI_WORKSPACE_ROOT/themes/cogni-work/theme.md

Read it for the full specification. Key rules:

Colors:

• Primary/headers: 111111 (near-black) — structural anchors, dark slide backgrounds
• Secondary: 333333 (dark charcoal) — subheaders, supporting text
• Accent: C8E62E (chartreuse/lime) — CTAs, highlights, key data points, links
• Accent muted: A8C424 (olive lime) — hover states, secondary highlights
• Background: FAFAF8 (warm white) — content slide canvas
• Surface: F2F2EE (light warm gray) — cards, panels, elevated containers
• Surface dark: 111111 (near-black) — title/closing slides, hero areas
• Text: 111111 (near-black) — body text on light backgrounds
• Text light: FFFFFF (white) — text on dark backgrounds
• Text muted: 6B7280 (cool gray) — captions, metadata
• Border: E0E0DC (warm light gray) — card outlines, separators

Typography:

• Headers: DM Sans Bold (fallback: Inter Bold, Calibri Bold)
• Body: DM Sans Regular (fallback: Inter, Calibri)
• Mono: JetBrains Mono (fallback: Fira Code, Consolas)

Design principles (Vitruvius triad):

• Dark-light sandwich: Title and closing slides use dark backgrounds (111111); content slides use warm white (FAFAF8). This creates visual rhythm and narrative structure.
• Chartreuse is the signature: C8E62E is bold and loud — use it for CTAs, key metrics, highlights, and energy moments. Never as body text, never overdone.
• Restrained boldness: The lime is loud, so everything else stays quiet. No competing colors. Let the accent do the talking.
• High contrast always: Chartreuse on black, black on white — maximum readability.
• Modern confidence: Clean lines, generous spacing, no ornamentation.
• No plain bullet dumps: every slide needs a visual element (shapes, icons, layout variety)

PPTX color format: Do NOT prefix hex colors with # — PptxGenJS corrupts files when you do. Use bare hex: C8E62E, not #C8E62E.

Building the PPTX

Use PptxGenJS (Node.js) to generate the presentation. Install if needed: npm install -g pptxgenjs

Key technical notes:

• Slide size: 16:9 (10" x 5.625")
• Use bullet: true for bullets (never unicode characters)
• Use breakLine: true for line breaks in text arrays
• Set margin: 0 when aligning text with shapes
• Don't reuse option objects across calls (PptxGenJS mutates them)
• Don't use ROUNDED_RECTANGLE for accent borders

Vary the layouts across slides — mix full-width content, multi-column, card grids, and icon+text combinations. A deck where every slide looks the same is boring.

Output

Save the generated PPTX to the user's working directory with a descriptive filename:

• Curriculum: insight-wave-training-program.pptx
• Course intro: course-<N>-<name>-intro.pptx (e.g., course-3-basic-tools-intro.pptx)

After generating, tell the user where the file is saved and suggest they review it.