pak-creation

PAK Creation — Expert Guide

A PAK (Packaged Asset Kit) is an interactive, narrated 9x16 portrait media package. NOT a slide deck. NOT PowerPoint. It's a self-contained web experience with voice narration, video export, charts, and mobile-first design.

Architecture

• Renderer: PHP semantic renderer at 9x16.run generates complete HTML from pure JSON data
• CSS: 9x16-core.css targets custom HTML element tag names directly (not classes)
• Narration: voice.js v3 extracts text from semantic tags and sends to ElevenLabs TTS
• Video: Slides rendered as PNGs, narration generated per-slide, stitched via ffmpeg into 1080x1920 H.264/AAC. Video slides (type: "video" with direct MP4) are spliced in at full quality — no screenshot.
• Charts: Chart.js reads CSS custom properties at runtime — charts auto-theme with the deck

Catalogs — Pre-Built Deck Structures

Before building from scratch, check if a catalog fits. Call list_catalogs to see 10 pre-built structures:

Catalog ID	Category	Best For
quarterly-report	business	Executive performance summaries
product-launch	marketing	New product announcements
company-pitch	business	Investor/partner pitches
case-study	marketing	Client success stories
sales-proposal	business	Client-facing proposals
project-update	business	Stakeholder status reports
training-module	education	Educational content
event-recap	creative	Post-event summaries
brand-overview	marketing	Company story + values
data-dashboard	business	Analytics-heavy reports

Catalog workflow:

1. list_catalogs — browse available structures
2. get_catalog with catalog_id — get the full deck JSON with placeholder content
3. Replace placeholders with real content (keep slide types + structure)
4. Adjust theme if needed
5. Submit to create_presentation

Catalogs save time and ensure diverse slide types. The structure is already optimized — you just swap content.

The Golden Rule

Tag name = CSS target = narration target = MCP data key = API schema field.

When you set slide_title in the JSON, it becomes a <slide-title> HTML element, styled by CSS, narrated by voice.js, and exported in video. One vocabulary, one pipeline.

Slide Types & JSON Structure

Hero (opening slide)

{"type": "hero", "icon": "🧬", "slide_title": "Company Name", "slide_subtitle": "Tagline or Context"}

Stats (metric cards — max 4)

{"type": "stats", "slide_label": "Key Metrics", "slide_title": "Q4 at a Glance", "stats": [{"value": "$847M", "label": "Revenue"}, {"value": "34%", "label": "YoY Growth"}], "slide_callout": "Strongest quarter in company history."}

Chart (Chart.js — bar, doughnut, line, pie)

{"type": "chart", "slide_label": "Revenue", "slide_title": "Quarterly Trend", "chart": {"type": "bar", "data": {"labels": ["Q1","Q2","Q3","Q4"], "datasets": [{"label": "Revenue ($M)", "data": [580,640,720,847]}]}}, "chart_title": "Revenue by Quarter", "chart_caption": "Q4 driven by product launch."}

Bullets (unordered list)

{"type": "bullets", "slide_label": "Pipeline", "slide_title": "Highlights", "slide_body": "Three programs advanced:", "bullets": ["Item one", "Item two", "Item three"]}

Numbers (ordered list)

{"type": "numbers", "slide_label": "Timeline", "slide_title": "What's Next", "numbers": ["Q1: Launch in Japan", "Q2: Phase III data", "Q3: EU expansion"]}

Comparison (before/after, vs)

{"type": "comparison", "slide_label": "Impact", "slide_title": "Before & After", "compare": [{"label": "Old Way", "text": "Manual, slow, 45% error rate", "variant": "old"}, {"label": "New Way", "text": "Automated, fast, 2% error rate", "variant": "new"}, {"label": "Result", "text": "47% cost reduction", "variant": "winner"}]}

Table (headers + rows)

{"type": "table", "slide_label": "Financials", "slide_title": "Summary", "table": {"headers": ["Metric","Q4","Q3","Change"], "rows": [["Revenue","$847M","$720M","+18%"],["Margin","78%","74%","+4pts"]]}}

Testimonial (quotes with attribution)

{"type": "testimonial", "slide_label": "Feedback", "slide_title": "What Clients Say", "testimonials": [{"text": "Transformed our workflow.", "name": "Dr. Sarah Chen", "role": "Chief of Endocrinology"}]}

Quote (pull quote)

{"type": "quote", "slide_label": "Leadership", "slide_title": "CEO Message", "slide_quote": "Patient-centered design and commercial success aren't opposing forces.", "slide_source": "— Maria Torres, CEO"}

Features (icon + title + text cards)

{"type": "features", "slide_label": "Roadmap", "slide_title": "2026 Priorities", "features": [{"icon": "🚀", "title": "Expand", "text": "Launch in 6 new markets"}, {"icon": "🔬", "title": "Innovate", "text": "3 new products"}]}

CTA (closing slide — always end with one)

{"type": "cta", "slide_label": "Close", "slide_title": "Thank You", "slide_body": "Contact us at [email protected]", "cta_heading": "Company Name", "cta_text": "Transforming the Industry", "cta_button": "Learn More →"}

Code (code blocks)

{"type": "code", "slide_label": "API", "slide_title": "Quick Start", "code_content": "curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/create", "code_label": "bash", "code_caption": "Create a new resource with a single API call."}

Video (full-viewport 9:16 — direct MP4 only)

{"type": "video", "video_url": "https://example.com/clip.mp4"}

Video slides take over the full viewport (TikTok-style). Direct MP4 URLs are spliced into exported video at full quality — no screenshot fallback. TTS narration is skipped for video slides. YouTube/Vimeo URLs are NOT supported on video type — use them on other slide types where they render as embedded iframes.

Media (inline image or video embed)

{"type": "media", "slide_label": "Demo", "slide_title": "Product in Action", "image_url": "https://example.com/screenshot.png", "image_caption": "Dashboard view showing real-time analytics"}

For video embeds (YouTube/Vimeo):

{"type": "body", "slide_label": "Demo", "slide_title": "Watch the Demo", "video_url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc123", "video_caption": "3-minute product walkthrough"}

Images & Logos (on any slide type)

• logo_url — brand logo. Centered on hero slides, top-left on content slides. Use PNG with transparency.
• image_url — inline image with frame. Works on any slide type. Add image_caption for description.
• bg_image — full background image for any slide.
• Feature cards accept image_url instead of icon for logo/image cards.

Theme System

12 presets available via list_themes. Set in the JSON:

{"theme": {"preset": "pharma-clean"}}

Override individual values:

{"theme": {"preset": "corporate-dark", "accent": "#e85d04"}}

Theme Recommendations by Use Case

Use Case	Preset	Why
Pharma/Healthcare	pharma-clean	Clinical white + teal, professional
Corporate/Finance	corporate-dark	Navy + blue, authoritative
Internal Demo	default	Dark + orange, energetic
Client-Facing	corporate-light	White + blue, clean
Creative/Marketing	sunset or midnight	Bold colors, memorable
Data-Heavy	monochrome	Zero distraction, data focus

Quality Checklist

Before creating a PAK, verify:

• At least 3 different slide types used (never all-bullets)
• Hero slide opens, CTA slide closes
• Every slide has slide_label + slide_title (except video type)
• Stats limited to 4 per slide
• Charts have chart_title + chart_caption
• Theme matches the audience/industry
• slide_callout used on data slides for key takeaways
• Testimonials have name + role
• 10-17 slides is the sweet spot (enough depth, not overwhelming)
• Video slides use direct MP4 URLs only (not YouTube/Vimeo)
• logo_url uses PNG with transparency for best results

After Creation

• Share the view_url with the user
• Ask "Ready to finalize?" before calling approve_deck
• approve_deck triggers background video pre-caching (narration + encode)
• Video export: Mac Studio hardware encoder when available (~20s), local ffmpeg fallback (~3-4 min)
• Video slides with direct MP4 are spliced into the export at full quality
• Second video request for same PAK is instant (cached)

Available MCP Tools

Tool	Purpose
list_catalogs	Browse 10 pre-built deck structures
get_catalog	Get full deck JSON for a catalog (replace content, submit)
list_templates	List legacy HTML templates (62+)
list_themes	Browse 12 theme presets
get_template	Get schema for a legacy template
get_example_deck	Complete 12-slide reference with ALL slide types
create_presentation	Create a PAK from JSON data
export_slides	Export slides as PNGs
export_pdf	Export as PDF
export_video	Export as narrated 9:16 video (async)
check_video_status	Poll video generation progress
approve_deck	Finalize PAK + trigger video pre-cache