utility-slideshow-creator

Slideshow Creator

Generate professional presentations (.pptx and .pdf) from a JSON deck specification. Zero design decisions at generation time - Claude selects slide types and fills content slots; all visual properties are pre-decided by the theme.

When to Use

• Creating slide decks for stakeholder updates, product reviews, team presentations
• Generating professional .pptx files from content briefs
• Producing consistent presentations without manual formatting
• Exporting presentations to PDF for sharing or archiving

When NOT to Use

• Creating complex data visualizations (use dedicated charting tools)
• Building interactive web presentations (this produces .pptx, not HTML)
• Editing existing PowerPoint files (this creates new decks from scratch)

How It Works

Two-phase architecture:

1. Spec phase (Claude) - Read the content brief, select slide types using decision logic, write a JSON deck specification. Content slots have character limits calibrated to prevent overflow. This is the only phase that costs tokens.
2. Generation phase (Local script) - Run node scripts/generate-deck.js deck-spec.json to produce .pptx. Optionally run node scripts/export-pdf.mjs deck-spec.json for PDF. Deterministic rendering, zero token cost.

Both outputs come from the same JSON spec, so .pptx and .pdf always match.

18 Slide Types

#	Type Key	Purpose	Default Variant
1	title_dark	Opening slide (bold)	dark only
2	title_light	Opening slide (internal/lighter)	light only
3	section	Section divider	dark
4	content	Paragraph explanation	light
5	bullets	3-6 key points	light
6	two_col	Side-by-side comparison	light
7	stat	Single key metric	light
8	dual_stat	Two metrics compared	dark
9	quote	Testimonial or pull quote	dark
10	three_card	Three parallel concepts	dark
11	four_grid	Four concepts in 2x2 grid	dark
12	timeline	Dates or milestones (max 6)	light
13	process_flow	Sequential workflow (max 5)	light
14	agenda	Meeting agenda (max 7)	light
15	highlight	Key finding or executive summary	light
16	table	Tabular data	light
17	icon_rows	Feature list with markers (max 4)	light
18	closing	End slide	dark only

Full slot definitions and character limits: references/slide-types.md

Decision Logic (Quick Reference)

Content Pattern	Use
Opening the deck (bold)	title_dark
Opening the deck (internal)	title_light
Transitioning between topics	section
Paragraph explanation	content
List of 3-6 points	bullets
Side-by-side comparison	two_col
Single key metric	stat
Two metrics compared	dual_stat
Testimonial or pull quote	quote
Three parallel concepts	three_card
Four concepts in a grid	four_grid
Dates or milestones	timeline
Sequential workflow	process_flow
Meeting agenda	agenda
Key finding or summary	highlight
Tabular data	table
Feature list with markers	icon_rows
Ending the deck	closing

Full decision logic with variant strategy: references/decision-logic.md

JSON Deck Spec Format

{
  "title": "Q3 Product Update",
  "author": "Product Team",
  "footerText": "Internal . Q3 Review",
  "slides": [
    { "type": "title_dark", "title": "Q3 Product Update", "subtitle": "October 2026" },
    { "type": "stat", "stat": "94%", "label": "Customer satisfaction score", "accentColor": "secondary" },
    { "type": "bullets", "title": "What Shipped", "bullets": ["Feature A", "Feature B", "Feature C"] },
    { "type": "closing" }
  ]
}

Colors accept theme token names ("accent", "secondary", "tertiary", "warm") or 6-character hex strings ("2563EB").

Full schema and workflow: references/TEMPLATE.md and references/platform-rules.md

Instructions

1. Read the content brief - Understand topic, audience, length, specific requirements
2. Plan the deck - Select slide types using the decision logic table. Assign dark/light variants for visual rhythm (alternate to avoid monotony).
3. Write the JSON deck specification - Fill content slots, respecting character limits from references/slide-types.md
4. Run the generation script - node scripts/generate-deck.js deck-spec.json
5. Optionally export PDF - node scripts/export-pdf.mjs deck-spec.json output.pdf
6. Report the output - Tell the user where the file(s) are

Output Contract

• Planning artifact: JSON deck specification (the file Claude writes)
• Final output: .pptx file (+ optional .pdf), generated locally from the spec
• Quality gate: All items in the quality checklist pass

Quality Checklist

• Every slide has a valid type key (one of the 18 defined types)
• All content slots respect character limits from references/slide-types.md
• Dark/light variants alternate for visual rhythm (no 3+ consecutive same-variant slides)
• Deck has a title slide (first) and a closing slide (last)
• Section dividers separate distinct topics in decks > 6 slides
• Speaker notes included for key slides (stats, highlights, transitions)
• JSON is valid (no trailing commas, proper quoting, correct nesting)
• Color values are valid theme tokens or 6-character hex strings (no # prefix)

References

File	Purpose
references/TEMPLATE.md	JSON deck specification template with field documentation
references/EXAMPLE.md	Worked example: Q3 Product Update deck (9 slides)
references/slide-types.md	All 18 slide types: content slots, character limits, variants
references/decision-logic.md	Content pattern → slide type mapping, variant strategy, deck sizing
references/platform-rules.md	pptxgenjs requirements, Google Slides compatibility, output format