utility-slideshow-creator

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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 |